Museum Moves 23 – 29 October 2026

Appointments

Second World War historian, author and broadcaster James Holland is to join The Tank Museum’s Board of Trustees, where he will help guide the strategic direction of the museum and its collection of tanks. Holland, who has worked with the museum for some time, will also appear alongside Al Murray at The Tank Museum Presents: The Tank Story at the Royal Geographical Society’s Ondaatje Theatre in London on 28 November.

Openings & closures

The Monument Micro Museum, commissioned by Eastern City BID, has opened beside The Monument in a 4 square-metre building that was partly a former public toilet, and is billed as the first museum dedicated to the Great Fire of London. The free attraction, open daily, tells the story of the fire through a 3D map of old London with bespoke lighting and audio in a five-minute looping experience, supported by displays around its external walls, and is expected to welcome more than 200,000 visitors a year.

Exhibitions

Piero della Francesca
The National Gallery | London
Opening: 2 October 2027 – Closing: 30 January 2028
The National Gallery presents the first fully monographic exhibition of the Italian Renaissance painter Piero della Francesca (about 1407/11–1492), with approximately 25 pictures and manuscripts. Taking as its starting point the Gallery’s three paintings by the artist — ‘The Baptism of Christ’, ‘Saint Michael’ and ‘The Nativity’ — it brings together loans including the portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino from the Uffizi and the ‘Sant’Antonio Polyptych’ from Perugia, reuniting panels of the artist’s disassembled altarpieces for the first time in centuries.

Pillar 200: 200 Years of Climbing in England and Wales
The Beacon Museum | Whitehaven
Opening: 31 October 2026 – Closing: 12 February 2027

The Beacon Museum presents ‘Pillar 200’, a Mountain Heritage Trust exhibition marking 200 years of rock climbing in England and Wales, from John Atkinson’s 1826 ascent of the Old West Route on Pillar to the present day, and the museum’s first exhibition dedicated to climbing and mountaineering. Through stories, photographs and objects drawn from collections including the Mountain Heritage Trust, the Fell and Rock Climbing Club and the Abraham Brothers, it charts the evolution of climbing equipment, from pebbles and machine nuts to prototype camming devices, carabiners, ropes and boots.

Catharina van Hemessen: Signature Works
The National Gallery | London
Opening: 4 March 2027 – Closing: 30 May 2027

The National Gallery presents ‘Catharina van Hemessen: Signature Works’, the first UK exhibition of the 16th-century Antwerp painter (1528–after 1566?), the earliest woman artist in the Gallery’s collection and the earliest European female panel painter whose works can be identified with certainty. The free exhibition brings together eight signed portraits from international collections, including her Self Portrait of 1548 (Kunstmuseum Basel), thought to be the first artist’s self portrait at an easel, shown in the UK for the first time, alongside two devotional paintings and a copy of Lodovico Guicciardini’s 1567 ‘Descrittione di tutti i Paesi Bassi’.

Panacea: From and Inspired By
Panacea Museum | Bedford
Opening: 6 June 2026 – Closing: 28 November 2026

The Panacea Museum presents ‘Panacea: From and Inspired By’, a mix of paintings, drawings, sketchbooks, textile and sculpture works created by the local art group Beds Urban Sketchers, inspired by the Panacea buildings and history during the early months of 2026. The works relate to the story of the Panacea Society, a religious community formed on the site in 1919, led and populated by women.

Wounded Planet
IWM North | Manchester
Opening: 22 January 2027 – Closing: 5 September 2027

IWM North presents ‘Wounded Planet’, described as the UK’s first major exhibition to explore the impact of conflict on the natural world, covering the period from the First World War to modern conflict and climate change. The free exhibition is arranged around four sections — soil, wildlife, water and air — and features more than 60 objects, many shown for the first time, including the ‘Lone Tree’ bearing a First World War bullet, John Keane’s painting ‘Learning to Fly’ on the Falklands Conflict, and a mask worn by photojournalist Suzanne Plunkett after the collapse of the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001. It also includes stories of recovery, such as the Green Mosul Initiative tree-planting project in Iraq.

Celebrating Endangered Crafts
Bailiffgate Museum | Alnwick
Dates: 3 November – 13 December 2026, then 12 – 31 January 2027

Bailiffgate Museum presents a combined museum and makers exhibition on lost, endangered and heritage crafts, placing historic objects from its archives alongside work by makers from across the region. Inspired by the Heritage Crafts Association’s listings of extinct and endangered UK crafts, it features stained glass, wood and stone carving, hand papermaking, basketry, horn carving, lace making, rag rugging and the making and repairing of bows for stringed instruments, with an accompanying programme of workshops and demonstration days.

Funding

Fashion Museum Bath and the surrounding area of its new home have secured £7m from the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.

Fashion Museum Bath secures further £7m for 2030 opening

London Transport Museum has been awarded £237,000 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund for Acton Access: Signs, Stories and Skills, a project to review, conserve and reorganise 3,314 historic signs spanning more than 150 years of the capital’s transport network, held at its Acton Depot. Working with volunteers and community participants, the museum will research the stories behind the signs, offer training and paid work experience placements in collections management and interpretation, and free up storage space by identifying duplicates, some of which may be transferred to other museums and public organisations.