The weekly feature rounds up the latest updates in museum appointments, openings, funding and new exhibitions from across the UK.
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Appointments
Titanic Belfast has appointed John Paul Doherty as its new chairman.Doherty is currently group creative director at Harcourt Developments, the Dublin-headquartered international property and hospitality company. He has been involved in the development of Titanic Belfast since 2007.
Openings & closures
Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool has begun a phased rehang of its displays ahead of its 150th anniversary in 2027, with rooms housing Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque artworks closed from 3 to 13 June. The gallery says further closures are expected throughout the year, as works from its stores are put on display.
Hull Maritime Museum will reopen to the public on 8 August following a £20.4m transformation of its Grade II* listed building. The museum has been closed since January 2020.
Hull Maritime Museum unveils doubled display space after six-year closure
Manchester City has revealed details of a museum experience set to open later this year at the club’s Etihad Campus in Manchester, The Manchester City Museum Experience.
New Manchester City museum to open later this year at Etihad Campus
Exhibitions
Yinka Shonibare and Thomas Gainsborough: A Conversation
The National Gallery | London
Opening: 15 October 2026 – Closing: 7 February 2027
For the first time since its creation, Yinka Shonibare’s sculpture ‘Mr. and Mrs. Andrews without their Heads’ (1998) is displayed alongside the Thomas Gainsborough painting that inspired it, ‘Mr and Mrs Andrews’ (about 1750). The exhibition is staged on the eve of the 300th anniversary of Gainsborough’s birth and marks a rare opportunity to see the Shonibare work in the UK, on loan from the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Admission is free and the exhibition is held in the H J Hyams Room.
Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica
Barbican Art Gallery | London
Opening: 11 June 2026 – Closing: 6 September 2026
This major international exhibition examines the influence of Pan-Africanism on artistic and cultural production, spanning over a century to the present day. More than 300 works are brought together, ranging from paintings and installations to posters, journals and film, produced across Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, North America and Western Europe. The exhibition is co-organised by the Art Institute of Chicago and MACBA Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, in collaboration with Barbican London and KANAL-Centre Pompidou Bruxelles.
Constantinople to Istanbul: One City, Two Empires
V&A South Kensington | London
Opening: 7 November 2026 – Closing: 9 May 2027
This exhibition explores 1,600 years of artistic production in Constantinople and Istanbul, spanning AD 330 to 1922 across the Byzantine and Ottoman empires. Over 200 objects are brought together including textiles, ceramics, metalwork, manuscripts and sculpture, drawn from the V&A collection alongside national and international loans. It is the first exhibition in the UK to tell this story in full.
Gainsborough at Home: Celebrating 300 years of Thomas Gainsborough
Gainsborough’s House | Sudbury
Opening: 14 May 2027 – Closing: 31 October 2027
This landmark exhibition at Gainsborough’s birthplace marks the tercentenary of Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788), bringing together over 90 paintings, prints and drawings spanning his full career. Highlights include ‘Mr and Mrs Andrews’ (c. 1750) and ‘Cornard Wood’ (1748), on loan from the National Gallery, London, which will be publicly exhibited in Sudbury for the first time. Further loans have been secured from Tate Britain, the Royal Collection Trust, the National Galleries of Scotland, the Ashmolean Museum, the Fitzwilliam Museum, and others.
Matisse: Drawing with Scissors
Preston Park Museum | Stockton-on-Tees
Opening: 15 July 2026 – Closing: 15 October 2026
This exhibition presents 35 lithographic prints of works by Henri Matisse (1869–1954), including cut-outs ‘The Snail’ and the ‘Blue Nudes’, created during the final four years of his life. The prints originate from a special double issue of the art and literature publication ‘Verve’, produced in 1958 by publisher Tériade. The exhibition is a Hayward Gallery Touring exhibition from the Southbank Centre, held in The Spence Building, Preston Park Museum’s two-storey extension.
Funding
The National Railway Museum has received £3m in additional government funding for its Central Hall project, enabling it to sign the main construction contract within days.
National Railway Museum secures £3m to unlock Central Hall construction
