Appointments
The director of London’s Museum of Brands Anna Terry is to step down from the role after 18 years, beginning the search for a successor. In an announcement Terry said “I joined the museum in its very first year, and it’s been a privilege to be part of this journey. I plan to take a career break while I decide what my next challenge will be.”
Scarborough Museums and Galleries (SMG) are also to search for a new leader as Andrew Clay steps down from the role of . Clay has been appointed as general manager of SEA LIFE Scarborough.
Openings/closures
A new museum will open its first exhibition this weekend in North Yorkshire. Beginning with pop-up exhibitions under the name Knaresborough Town Museum Group (TMG), a crowdfunding campaign saw the charity renamed Knaresborough Museum Association, and it will open Knaresborough Heritage Centre on 27 April 2024. The first exhibition at the Centre showcases the geology and archaeology of Knaresborough from 350 million years ago to the present day.
Billingsgate Roman House and Baths has reopened for public tours after a seasonal closure. Based in the basement of an office block beneath the Square Mile, visitors are once again able to see the remains of Roman buildings first built around A.D. 150.
Exhibitions
After its run at Tate Britain, exhibition ‘Women in Revolt!’ will take over Modern Two in Edinburgh for its only Scottish tour date. A select range of works from the London show, drawing from public and private collections across the country, will be displayed. The major survey of feminist art celebrates the work of over 100 women artists and collectives, through paintings, drawings, sculptures, textiles, films, photography, and documentation of performances alongside a range of archival materials, with many artworks on display for the first time since the 1970s. Runs 25 May 2024–26 January 2025.
The British Motor Museum is to host ‘The Gallery 2024’ from this weekend, an exhibition in continued collaboration with Historic Car Art. Visitors will be able to enjoy a collection of motoring-related pieces from a variety of Britain’s automotive artists and sculptors including Simon Britnell, Kate Alger, John Ketchell, Emma Carpenter and Neil Collins. Runs 29 April – 30 June 2024.
In June London’s Tower Bridge will open a free, summer-long exhibition, ‘Launching A Landmark: The Unseen Opening Weeks’ (pictured above). It will showcase a collection of never-before-seen photography from the Bridge’s final few weeks of construction and public opening 130 years ago in 1894, featuring the workers of the Bridge and members of the public. The photography was undocumented until recently discovered by the Molineux family, descendants of Tower Bridge resident engineer, Edward Cruttwell. The exhibition images focus on the workers in the final weeks of its creation, and the ordinary Londoners and members of the public who came to use the new Bridge for the first time. Runs 22 June and will run until 29 September 2024.
Next week, the University of Liverpool’s Victoria Gallery & Museum presents a new exhibition exploring the position that animals held in ancient Egyptian and Sudanese society and culture. ‘Creatures of the Nile’.features more than 250 objects, many of which have never been on public display, including one of the earliest known depictions of a domesticated dog, a sheet from the 3,500-year-old Book of the Dead and a bronze statue which entombed a mummified cat. Runs 4 May – Saturday 5 October 2024.
Following a 182-year absence, Strawberry Hill will once again display the Bronze Head of Caligula after an extensive search has re-discovered this long-lost treasure. ‘Journey Through Time: Caligula’s Bronze Head and the Art of Treasure Hunting’ will offer visitors the chance to view the bronze head and delve into the successes of Strawberry Hill’s treasure hunting over the last decade.
Sculpture lost for more than a century rediscovered by Strawberry Hill House curator
The Museum of East Dorset has unveiled a new exhibition, ‘Rebellion and Revolt’, which will tell the story of two national struggles that profoundly impacted Dorset: the English Civil War of the 1640s and the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685. it will “challenge visitors to consider the moral complexities of these conflicts and the potentially fatal consequences of picking the wrong side”, and will feature a new themed trail around the museum, crafts and ‘Decide Your Side’ dressing up. Runs 27 April – 12 October 2024.
