The weekly feature rounds up the latest updates in museum appointments, openings, funding and new exhibitions from across the UK.
Museum Moves is supported by DJW Projects Limited: DJW Projects Limited. DJW Projects Limited is recognised as one of the UK’s leading forces in the audio-visual industry, providing creative lighting, Audio Visual and multimedia solutions globally to achieve the ultimate technological experience, using sound, lighting, vision and interaction.
Openings & closures
Blackpool’s Tramtown museum is to close permanently after an independent structural survey found the building was unsafe, with demolition the only option.
Blackpool heritage tram museum to close as building deemed unsafe
Sibsey Trader Windmill, one of England’s last surviving six-sailed mills, reopens next month following a five-year restoration by English Heritage. Built in 1877 in Lincolnshire at the peak of British milling technology, the mill has had its cap and sails rebuilt, its curb replaced, and decades of black coal tar stripped from its red brickwork. Visitors can now tour the working mill and meet trained volunteer millers, with plans for on-site flour production and baking workshops to follow.
Exhibitions
Vennels: Perth’s Little Streets
Perth Museum | Perth
Opening: 29 May 2026 – Closing: 6 September 2026
The exhibition explores the history of Perth’s vennels, closes, alleys and lanes, featuring rarely-seen archaeological discoveries from the city centre that illuminate daily life in medieval Perth. It traces the city’s street plan and the trades and craftsmanship associated with the historic vennels. The exhibition also showcases five newly-commissioned public artworks by six artists, created in response to Perth’s craft heritage in collaboration with Perth & Kinross Council and the UNESCO City of Craft and Folk Art designation. Admission is free.
The 90s: Art and Fashion
Tate Britain | London
Opening: 8 October 2026 – Closing: 14 February 2027
Tate Britain presents ‘The 90s: Art and Fashion’, the first exhibition to explore the art, photography and fashion of the 1990s in Britain. Curated by Edward Enninful OBE, the show features nearly 70 artists, photographers and designers, including the Young British Artists and Alexander McQueen, bringing together over 100 photographs, paintings, sculptures and garments. The exhibition examines the decade’s creative movements, from DIY grunge aesthetics and subculture nightlife to conceptual art and the blurring of boundaries between art and fashion.
Regeneration
Streetlife Museum | Hull
Opening: 25 April 2026 – Closing: 5 July 2026
‘Regeneration’ is an exhibition of artwork created by adults with learning disabilities, produced through CASE Training Services, a Hull-based charity supporting adults with learning disabilities since 1985. The exhibition features a diverse range of artistic styles and media, with themes of renewal, growth and individual journeys. Entry is free.
Inspiration
Stockport Station (hosted by Avanti West Coast, co-curated by the National Railway Museum and Network Rail) | Stockport
Opening: 1 May 2025 – Closing: 6 May 2025
The exhibition train ‘Inspiration’, co-curated by the National Railway Museum and Network Rail, will stop at Stockport station’s platform 0 as part of the Railway 200 celebrations marking 200 years of the UK’s railways. The free attraction spans four carriages featuring interactive displays on the history, innovations and careers of the railway. The visit will also include guided music tours by Stockport Music Story and a display of a model version of ‘Inspiration’ by record producer Pete Waterman and his team Railnuts.
Our Story with David Attenborough
Outernet London (The Now Building) | London
Opening: 8 May 2026 – Closing: 31 May 2026
A free five-minute adaptation of the Natural History Museum’s immersive experience ‘Our Story with David Attenborough’ is screening at the Now Building at Outernet London. Created in collaboration with Open Planet Studios, the 360° production combines animated sequences and real-world footage narrated by Sir David Attenborough. The experience runs at regular intervals and requires no ticket.
Lynn Chadwick at Houghton Hall
Houghton Hall | Norfolk
Opening: 2 May 2026 – Closing: 4 October 2026
Houghton Hall presents over 30 sculptures by post-war British artist Lynn Chadwick CBE (1914–2003), spanning four decades of his career from the 1950s to the 1990s. The exhibition, curated by Pangolin London, includes previously unseen and rarely exhibited works displayed across the house and grounds, among them kinetic sculptures, monumental stainless-steel beasts, and paired figure works. It is the largest exhibition of Chadwick’s work in the UK in more than two decades, following the 2003 retrospective at Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries.
Funding
Chiswick House & Gardens has raised £201,025 for three new community spaces opening later this year, exceeding its £165,000 crowdfunding target. The month-long appeal, which closed on 23 April, drew donations ranging from £5 to a single £25,000 gift, with most supporters coming from West London. The funds will complete a £5.5 million development comprising a net-carbon-zero Learning Hub, the outdoor Foyle Learning Yard and a new Kitchen Garden Hub, with the official opening due in September.
