Appointments
Janet Denne has been appointed as permanent Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust, the charity responsible for managing Charlton House & Gardens, Eltham’s Tudor Barn, several Greenwich war memorials, and the borough’s museum collections and archives. Denne has been at the trust since 2020, previously as Director of Public Programming, and since March 2023 as Interim CEO. She has previously relaunched the refurbished National Maritime Museum in 1999 and was a key member of the team that delivered the £8.5M conservation project to restore the Painted Hall ceiling at the Old Royal Naval College in 2019.
Openings / closures
The Titanic Belfast has been forced to extend its closure, which began earlier this week after storm damage to its roof. Storm Isha first caused the damage on Tuesday 23rd January and further inclement weather from Storm Jocelyn had prevented safe access to its roof to assess the damage. It nowplans to close until next week to allow for remedial works to take place.
Exhibitions
A new programme of exhibitions, talks and activities at the Brontë Parsonage Museum will focus on the formative years of Branwell, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë. ‘The Brontës Web of Childhood’ will feature diaries, portraits, schoolbooks and toys, and several of Branwell and Charlotte’s ‘Little Books’ – tiny handmade and written publications smaller than a matchbox created for their toy soldiers. Alongside the exhibition, a new textile installation entitled ‘Tactile Turmoil’ by artist Ellie Brennan. Runs 1 February 2024 – 1 January 2025.
Perth Museum has announced the first exhibition in its programme after a £27m transformation project. ‘Unicorn’ will open this Easter to “explore the cultural history of Scotland’s national animal from antiquity to the present day.” Loans include the ‘Danny Jewel’, an English Elizabethan pendant jewel of narwhal horn and enamelled gold, usually on display at the V&A, which is also lending a narwhal tusk from the early 12th century.
In March, Wellcome Collection will present ‘Jason and the Adventure of 254’, a new solo exhibition by Jason Wilsher-Mills, drawing on the artist’s experience of becoming disabled as a child. Reimagining the gallery space as a hospital ward, the immersive installation will include sculptures, illustrations and interactive dioramas. ‘Jason and the Adventure of 254’ will be followed by Wilsher-Mills taking over Wellcome Collection’s atrium with works from the series ‘Jason and his Argonauts, including the sculpture ‘I am an Argonaut’, which was originally installed in Folkestone. Runs 21 March 2024 to 12 January 2025.
Also opening in March is ‘Women of the RNLI’ at the National Maritime Museum, London to mark the bicentenary of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). The exhibition will feature a series of 42 photographs by Jack Lowe, part of a project which began in 2015 which has seen Lowe photograph over 150 stations across the UK and Ireland. Once finished it will be the first complete photographic record of every single RNLI lifeboat crew. Alongside the portraits, the exhibition will include recorded oral histories from some of the sitters featured who share their experiences of life with the RNLI. Runs 2 March – 1 December 2024.
Contemporary artist Do Ho Suh is to hold his first Scottish exhibition at the National Galleries of Scotland this year. ‘Do Ho Suh: Tracing Time’ will be the largest European exhibition to date of the artist’s work on paper, with artworks spanning 25 years of Suh’s career. The solo exhibition by the South Korean-born, London-based artist will be displayed across the entire ground floor of Modern One. Displayed will be over 100 works, many never seen before. Among them are thread drawings, in which multicoloured threads are embedded in handmade paper to create sewn images. Runs 17 February 2024 – 1 September 2024.
A new exhibition at Newcastle’s Discovery Museum is hoped to inform and inspire visitors to engage with the green energy revolution that is taking place in the North East. in partnership with Newcastle University ‘Steam to Green: A North East Energy Revolution’ will chart a journey over the last 150 years exploring how the area has harnessed different energy sources through displays of science and engineering objects from its collection. Runs 20 July 2024 – 6 September 2026.
‘Happiness!’, an exhibition on comedian Sir Ken Dodd, has been extended by the Museum of Liverpool. The first major exhibition on a comedian has been extended by four months, and will now close to the public on 7 July 2024.
Funding
Restoration works are underway at Valence House Museum following £800k improvement works funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Arts Council England’s Museum Estates Development Fund, with match funding from Barking and Dagenham Council. Roof repair will take place across the museum and visitor buildings, which remain open.
