Museum Moves

Museum Moves 10 – 16 January 2025

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 Courtauld Institute of Art today announces two new senior appointments. Professor Dorothy Price FBA, currently Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Critical Race Art History at The Courtauld, has been appointed Executive Dean and Deputy Director from August 2025. Professor Steve Edwards has been appointed Manton Professor of British Art. Beginning in April, he will serve as the inaugural Director of The Courtauld’s new Manton Centre for British Art, the new home for The Courtauld’s research and teaching on British art.

Historic England is on the search for a new Chief Executive, as Duncan Wilson CBE, the organisations first Chief Exec, announces plans to step down from the role later this year. He is set to retire in October after a decade in the role. Wilson was appointed during the creation of the organisation in 2015, after the split of English Heritage into two organisations.

Historic England’s Chief Exec announces retirement

The current Director of Collection and Curation at the British Library is set to leave the role after four years for a new position at the British Museum. Dr Xerxes Mazda will join the museum’s Executive team in Spring as its new Director of Collections. He will be responsible for the stewardship and care of the collection.

British Museum appoints new Director of Collections from British Library

A new Interim Director has been appointed at Edinburgh World Heritage after its former Director stepped down.Megan Veronesi will take up the role of Interim Director, previously held by Christina Sinclair, who leaves the organisation after four years as Director.

New Interim Director steps in at Edinburgh World Heritage

Openings & closures

A free-to-visit public space and children’s education space inside the City of London’s tallest building is set to open, in partnership with London Museum. Proposals have been approved for 1 Undershaft – which will become the City of London’s tallest building – between the ‘Gherkin’ and the Leadenhall building.

Plans approved for tallest City of London tower featuring London Museum partnership

Exhibitions

The Young V&A‘s exhibition ‘Making Egypt’ explores ancient Egypt’s enduring creative influence through over 200 objects spanning 5,500 years, including Princess Sopdet-em-haawt’s painted inner sarcophagus, ancient inscribed stelae, and contemporary pieces from Minecraft, Lego, and Moon Knight. The child-centred exhibition features hands-on activities, contemporary craft responses from Marjan van Aubel Studio and Azza Fahmy, and newly commissioned films exploring ancient Egyptian art techniques. The exhibition runs from 15 February 2025 – 2 November 2025.

‘E. H. Shepard: From the Western Front to the Hundred Acre Wood’ features original sketches of Winnie-the-Pooh alongside wartime drawings from his service as a Royal Garrison Artillery officer, including pencil sketches, pen and ink drawings, and watercolours depicting trench life. The exhibition will display Shepard’s military kit, including his officer’s forage cap and identification tags, as well as original artwork for ‘Betsy and Joe’ and ‘The Secret Garden’, on loan from the University of Surrey Archives and The Shepard Trust. The exhibition runs at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock from 18 January 2025 – 31 August 2025.

The ‘Sci-Fi Galactic Adventures’ exhibition at Glasgow’s Riverside Museum showcases an extensive collection of replica props and models from the 1977 space film, including space speeders, galactic soldiers, fighter models, a well-known android, and a full-size spaceship. The exhibition runs from 11 January 2025 – 6 April 2025.

‘Graham Crowley: I Paint Shadows’ at Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool presents new works by the 2023 John Moores Painting Prize winner, featuring his Prize-winning painting ‘Light Industry’ alongside fresh pieces exploring light, shadow, and everyday scenes through his distinctive tonal approach. The exhibition marks Crowley’s return to the gallery after nearly five decades, investigating what he terms ‘sites of creativity’ from gardens to workplaces. The free exhibition runs from 14 March 2025 – 13 July 202

Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery has announced ‘FOOD: Beyond the plate’, an exploration of humanity’s relationship with food through objects from their collection. The exhibition features an extensive array of artefacts including ancient stone butchering tools, fish hooks, food baskets, pottery vessels, a clotted cream stove, tea and coffee cups, botanical drawings, a camel bell, dining utensils, an Exeter milk cart and Georgian under butler’s livery. The exhibition runs from 22 March 2025 – 29 June 2025.

The British Museum Spotlight Loan ‘Ancient Sudan: enduring heritage’ is set to display at Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery, featuring artefacts from the Kushite Kingdom including a bronze figurehead of a goddess from 300 BC, a sandstone offering table with Meroitic inscriptions, and a clay jar decorated with Nile crocodiles. The exhibition explores the craftsmanship, religious beliefs, and role of women in Kushite society, whilst also highlighting modern Sudanese efforts to protect their heritage amid civil conflict. The exhibition runs from 1 February 2025 – 19 April 2025.

Funding

Seven heritage projects spread across the UK are to share £27m in funding, newly announced by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. A restored Greek-revivalist school in Edinburgh, a new home for young musicians in Sheffield, a listed water tower in Colchester, and a repurposed studio once used by Dame Barbara Hepworth are among the projects to be backed.

7 heritage projects share £27m from The National Lottery Heritage Fund