Appointments
The Board of Trustees of Royal Museums Greenwich, has elected Lance Batchelor as Chairman of the Museum. Royal Museums Greenwich incorporates the National Maritime Museum, the Queen’s House, Royal Observatory Greenwich and the clipper ship Cutty Sark. Batchelor takes over the position from Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope today, 19 January 2023. Batchelor has formerly served as CEO of Tesco Mobile, Domino’s Pizza and Saga Cruises and head of marketing for Amazon.com in Seattle. Batchelor is also the lead external director on the Royal Navy’s board.
Jane Marriott has been appointed to the new role of Director of Chatsworth House Trust. Marriott has recently started in her new position following a six-year tenure as Director of Harewood House Trust.
Openings
The Science Museum has announced it will open a new gallery dedicated to engineering innovations.The Engineers gallery will open in June 2023. The gallery will feature stories from more than 60 engineers working in industries, such as farming, fashion, robotics and medicine. Objects on display will include a CMR ‘Versius’ surgical robot arm, the first digital camera, and a miniature atomic clock which the entire GPS system depended upon.
Exhibitions
Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales has this week exhibited a newly restored painting by Édouard Manet at National Museum Cardiff. The painting has been conserved by museum experts thanks to support from the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund, Finnis Scott Foundation and the Friends of National Museum Wales. It was acquired by Amgueddfa Cymru in 2019 after more than ninety years in a private collection
An exhibition celebrating new works by the 2020 John Moores Painting Prize winner Kathryn will go on display at the Walker Art Gallery next month. In Maple’s first major show, work will be displayed at the gallery which has hosted the painting prize since 1957. The biennial prize celebrates and showcases the best new painting produced in Britain today. Maple’s ‘Under a Hot Sun’ opens on 11 February 2023 and runs until 30 April 2023. The exhibition coincides with the call for entries for the 2023 John Moores Painting Prize.
‘The Magic of Middle-earth’ exhibition, which opens at The Novium Museum will explore the fantasy worlds brought to life by J.R.R. Tolkien this Spring. The exhibition will feature a rare first edition copy of The Hobbit from 1937, models and dioramas including The Battle of Helms Deep, and concept artwork, theatre, music and movie-inspired memorabilia and prop replicas. Runs 1 April – 24 September 2023.
The Ashmolean’s first exhibition in 2023 explores the classical myth of the Labyrinth, the Minotaur and the Palace of Knossos. The exhibition features more than 200 objects, over 100 of which are on loan from Athens and Crete, shown for first time in more than a century, alongside the Ashmolean’s collections and the archive of photographs and documents. Runs from 10 February–30 July 2023
Football legend Eric Cantona and artist Michael Browne have curated a newly opened exhibition at the National Football Museum. ‘From Moss Side to Marseille: The Art of Michael Browne and Eric Cantona’ is a collection of art by Browne which “chronicles the relationship between sport and modern society”. The exhibition opened on Saturday 14 January and will run until June 2023.
Funding
Over 100 projects across the country have been successful in bids for Levelling Up funding from the government, with £594m of the latest round supporting local heritage site restoration. A full list of the heritage and museum projects successful in their bids is covered here:
The heritage and museum projects to receive part of latest £2bn Levelling Up funding
