Meandering round the galleries

At a loose end in the evening? Tiffany Jenkins suggests a cultural outing could be just the answer Now that the nights are longer and lighter, evenings out are a more attractive proposition. Those who want some art and design with their summer drinks should go down to the Victoria &

Albert Museum on a Wednesday night for 'Late View at the V&A'. Doors stay open long past the usual cut-off of 5.45 p.m. and do not shut until 10 p.m. As well as a weekly after-house session, once a month there is a 'Friday Late' to kick off the weekend.

Visitors can pick up an outline of what is on upon entering the gallery. Like a treasure map it discloses special events, displays, concerts and talks to be held that night. Drinks are served in a makeshift bar at the grand entrance. While I sat there supping, as the sun went down, the accompaniment of a guitar duo in the corner filled the air. For those with an appetite, tasty dinners are served in the café. People lounge around talking, drinking and eating before and after looking and thinking.

In the sculpture room, Geoff Wilson, a professional photographer, ran an open workshop on portrait pictures. A group congregated to find out about setting up, taking photographs and printing images.

State-of-the-art equipment was passed around and used. 'Get in and do it. Here is my camera.' encouraged Geoff. There were nice comfy seats, lighting umbrellas and machines to improve the photos. We pressed buttons, fiddled with angles and

found out about f-stops. He constantly threw out questions: 'What would you do to brighten things up?' 'Why should the model turn to the left?' Some of us even replied, or wrote down the answer.

Late nights at museums and galleries are cropping up in many locations with much success. The National Gallery in London is open until 9 p.m. every Wednesday, with a special 'Wednesday Late' once a month.

The Royal Academy of Arts is open on Fridays up to 10 p.m. for you to look, drink, have a snack and listen to music in the Friends Room, which is then open to all. And the Saatchi Gallery stays open until 10 p.m. every Friday and Saturday.

There are other tempting events outside the capital. On Wednesdays in Leeds the Henry Moore Institute is open until 9 p.m. In Edinburgh the National Gallery of Modern Art holds an 'After Hours: Dropin-and-Draw' session for those of us with itchy fingers and a keen eye for sketching.

When I first heard about these special extended openings, I had a nightmare vision of DJs, dancing and something too close to a bar-like atmosphere, with the pictures or objects pushed to one side. I imagined galleries trying to be clubs and failing. And there is a danger of designed distraction fuelled by a desperation to appear hip and get the punters in. But on the whole the right balance is struck.

Most play music but not Muzak. It is performed live and never piped. With many there is a choice between entertaining but discreet background accompaniment, and a sit-down-be-still-and-listen-quietly concert. The British Galleries in the V&A recently held a concert by the Zephyr Ensemble wind quartet, which included work by Jacques lbert, Rossini and Jerry Brock, and the week before a string quartet performed Mozart, Schnittke and Beethoven. For those who don't want to be seated and to soak up the melodies, the National Gallery has a jazz band strumming in a corner.

In contrast to the big blockbuster showing new pieces; late nights can concentrate on deepening our understanding of the permanent collection. Curators and guest speakers can demonstrate their knowledge, elaborate on an idea and be quizzed on their specialist subject. In April, John Guy, the senior curator at the V&A and

author of Woven Cargoes — Indian Textiles in the East, explored the techniques of and influences on the painted cottons produced in the 17th and 18th centuries in India, alongside the materials themselves.

Themed twilights can create a space to develop ideas and issues. One Friday Late was devoted to all things floral. The 'Garden Party' invited people to attend a potted history of the tulip, an examination of botanical illustration, and the creation of 18th-century court dress in flowers with a garden designer. In the hall, others constructed paper flowers with guidance from members of the British Origami Society.

One evening in June the British Museum focused on classical mythology. A lecture on 'Classic myths and legends' was followed by various gallery talks on enduring tales from specific regions. A performance of Euripides' Trojan Women was given by the Actors of Dionysus a couple of nights earlier.

Late nights are very popular. People throng through the aisles: at one, there were Sloanes with phones, fathers with sons, groups of friends all enjoying themselves, and many on their own with headphones, walking and regarding in a world of their own. Most visitors look more dressy than the adorned mannequins on display, perhaps because they are visiting a design museum, or perhaps simply because it is an evening out.

At the Vivienne Westwood exhibition at the V&A, students discussed fabrics, pointing out the skirt lengths, textures and colours, adding ideas and sketches to their notebooks. They like visiting later in the day because, 'To be perfectly blunt, there are no shouting schoolkids,' a precocious teenager told me. Another, in drag, explained, 'It's far more edgy.'

Wandering around in the evening does feel different from doing so in the day or at the weekend. The pace is less rushed, there is a reduced pressure to absorb everything and cram detail in then and there, As a result, you take your time looking, and probably see a little better. Meandering through the galleries, serendipity takes over: you stumble upon something unplanned, and catch yourself concentrating at leisure.

Tiffany Jenkins is director of the arts and society programme at the Institute of Ideas.