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.
Appointments
The Association of Independent Museums has announced the appointment of a new Chair. Rhiannon Goddard takes up the role at the organisations, often known as AIM, after an open search. Its current Chair Andrew Lovett OBE is due to step down as Chair in the New Year, a role he has held for six years and after three terms as a Trustee.
Association of Independent Museums appoints Rhiannon Goddard as Chair
London’s Vagina Museum has announced the appointment of a new Chair of Trustees and permanent Director. Stacey-Leigh Dolan, who was recently announced as Manchester’s National Football Museum Head of Programmes, joins the Vagina Museum as Chair of Trustees.
Openings & closures
The Bowes Museum in County Durham has opened a newly refurbished gallery space dedicated to showcasing the efforts and challenges of preserving the museum’s growing collection.
New Bowes Museum gallery meets demand for ‘Behind-the-Scenes’ experience
The Holburne Museum in Bath said it aims to open a new gallery next Summer, displaying Renaissance objects from the Schroder family collection.The museum is currently in the middle of a redevelopment, creating new galleries and other public spaces. Its building work involves converting archive and picture stores on the lower ground floor, underneath its cafe. The new Schroder Gallery is expected to open in Summer 2025.
The Rural Life Living Museum in Surrey has announced that its three-month fundraising campaign has successfully raised the £150,000 it needed to stay open. The museum in the town of Farnham said it has survived “hand-to-mouth” through ticket sales and donations for 50 years.
The People’s Story Museum in Edinburgh is set to reopen to the public on Monday 2 December after a temporary closure.The museum, run by Edinburgh council, had been temporarily closed due to staff shortages but was also set to close over autumn and winter to save costs.
Exhibitions
Kingston Museum presents works by seventeen Korean female artists in collaboration with Korean art group 4482 [SASAPARI], featuring ceramics, sculptures, photographs, videos, paintings and performance art. It will feature pieces from Estonian sculptor Dora Gordine and selections from Kingston Museum and Dorich House Museum collections. ‘K-Women: Celebrating Korean Female Artists’ runs from 22 November 2024 – 8 March 2025.
A new V&A exhibition ‘The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence’ showcases over 200 objects celebrating the artistic achievements of the Mughal court’s ‘Golden Age’, including rare paintings, illustrated manuscripts, textiles, carpets, and precious objects crafted from mother of pearl, rock crystal, jade and precious metals. Key highlights include a deep red engraved spinel from the al-Sabah Collection, a Gujarati Mother of Pearl shield from the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, and a nephrite jade dagger adorned with rubies, emeralds and pearls from The Al Thani Collection. The exhibition runs from 9 November 2024 to 5 May 2025.
A new exhibition at Perth Museum traces stories and objects connected to flooding from Scotland and abroad, including an Egyptian sarcophagus, rare illuminated bible, ceremonial brass bowls, and artworks by Norval Morrisseau, Will Maclean, and Alan Kilpatrick. ‘Waters Rising’n explores the growing threat of the global climate emergency and its impact on local communities, and invites the public to submit photographs and memories of flooding to create a new archive. Waters Rising will be on display from 08 November 2024 – 16 March 2025.
The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Walk the House at Tate Modern will present a major survey of the work of Do Ho Suh, featuring his large-scale installations, sculptures, videos, and drawings that explore themes of home, identity, and inhabiting the world. The exhibition will include new site-specific works, such as the fabric architecture installations Nest/s 2024 and Perfect Home: London, Horsham, New York, Berlin, Providence, Seoul 2024, as well as other major works including Who Am We? 2000, Rubbing/Loving Project: Company Housing of Gwangju Theater 2012, and Rubbing/Loving Project: Seoul Home 2013-22. Runs from 1 May to 19 October 2025.
The National Gallery of Ireland has announced its 2025 exhibition programme, headlined by a monographic exhibition of Pablo Picasso. In collaboration with the Musée Picasso national-Paris, it will present ‘Picasso: From the Studio’, an exhibition featuring paintings, sculptures, ceramics, works on paper, and photographic and audio-visual works by Picasso. The exhibition explores the key locations that defined the artist, from his arrival in Paris to his studio in Villa La Californie. ‘Picasso: From the Studio’ will run from 11 October 2025 to 22 February 2026.
A new ‘Prisoner of War’ exhibition has opened at Cheshire’s Nantwich Museum. It features displays about World War II POW camps and hostels in Cheshire, highlighting the diverse backgrounds and work of the prisoners. The exhibition runs until 21 December 2024.
