Appointments
London Transport Museum has announced Sarah Fellingham-Adkin as its new Enterprise Director. The appointment will lead the museum’s commercial and enterprise strategy, and develop its retail offer and Hidden London tours, and its venue hire and filming
Openings/closures
National Museums Liverpool venues will begin to close from this weekend for “an extended period” as potentially hundreds of employees begin to strike. The organisation has announced that it will close several of its museums and galleries from 17th February and all will be closed from 19th February. Its venues include the International Slavery Museum, Maritime Museum, Museum of Liverpool, World Museum and Lady Lever Art Gallery.
Strike forces ‘extended closure’ of National Museum Liverpool venues
A new Jurassic Coast museum and visitor centre could be created in Weymouth if newly proposed plans go ahead. The plans were shared by the Jurassic Coast Trust, the charity responsible for protecting and conserving the UNESCO World Heritage status of the Jurassic Coast, which stretches across the coasts of Dorset and East Devon.
New museum and visitor centre planned for Jurassic Coast World Heritage site
Exhibitions
The statue of Edward Colston, toppled during protests in 2020, will feature as part of an upcoming exhibition at M Shed on the theme of protest, set to open in March 2024, if plans for its formal relocation go through.
The National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin is staging an entire exhibition dedicated to ‘the tronie’ – an old Dutch word for ‘face’ that represented creative experimenting with facial expressions and particular heads. ‘Turning Heads: Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer will feature “some of the most iconic examples of the genre by Dutch and Flemish artists, including Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt and Johannes Vermeer.” Runs 24 February – 26 May 2024.
A new exhibition at Inverleith House in Edinburgh has opened which features a collection of works by 16 international artists that explore themes of social injustice, history, and the botanical world. A “rich mix of historic and contemporary works” are on display including new commissions by contemporary artists responding to the themes of the archive, memory, history and storytelling. Runs until May 12 2024.
Tate Modern’s next annual Hyundai Commission will be created by Mire Lee, it has been announced. The new site-specific work for the Turbine Hall will be open to the public from 8 October 2024 to 16 March 2025, and will be the first major presentation of Lee’s work in the UK.
The role of the African Caribbean community in St Albans will be explored and celebrated in a new exhibition. ‘Becoming Us: African Caribbean St Albans’ at St Albans Museum will explore the multifaceted contributions to the city over the past 80 years. The exhibition “aims to inspire the next generation and encourage people from different backgrounds to embrace a shared history”, focussing on the period between 1948 – 1971. Runs 16 Feb – 30 Jun 2024.
Killerton in Devon – home of the National Trust’s largest fashion collection – has opened a new exhibition: ‘Playing by the rules, childhood, dress and imagination’. Using children’s clothes from Killerton’s costume collection, the exhibition explores developments in clothing and fashion for children between the ages of two and 12 over the last 200 years. The exhibition outlines how attitudes to children’s fashion have changed over 200 years, including dressing boys and girls almost alike in petticoats until the age of four or five.
Funding
The government has announced the fourth round of its Museum Estate and Development Fund, with £23.8m to be committed to Arts Council England accredited museums. Intended to support capital projects, fund urgent repairs, and improve visitor experience, it will make available grants from £50,000 to £5 million.
