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
The Horniman Museum and Gardens has appointed the second cohort in its Musicians in Residence programme, celebrating the vibrant scenes of London through the creation of new music. Anti.net, Daniel Tsz-shing Lei, and Gabriel ‘Sekuru’ Makamanzi will work with Saava Benjamin Balagadde, Rudi Schmidt and Joseph Rubio from the Horniman’s Curatorial and Community Engagement teams to produce new music, digital content, and immersive live performances at the Horniman Museum Lates in February – April 2025.
Music in museums: Residencies and artworks inspire new scores
Bedford Borough Council and the Trustees of Cecil Higgins Art Gallery have announced the appointment of Dr Jeremy Reynolds to the position of Chair of The Higgins Board, an oversight advisory group for The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum in Bedford. Dr Reynolds has previously chaired a major education charity, a local Multi-Academy Trust, and is currently Chair of Emmaus Village Carlton.
Worthing Theatres & Museum (WTM), an arts and heritage charity consisting of four theatres, a cinema, a museum and gallery in Worthing, West Sussex, has announced the appointment of Yemisi Mokuolu as the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. The award-winning producer and international consultant is also the founder of Hatch Ideas Worldwide and co-founder of the Asa Baako Festival in Ghana.
Exhibitions
A rare 1661 celestial atlas, Andreas Cellarius’ Harmonia macrocosmica, will be displayed for the first time at Norfolk’s Blickling Estate following specialist conservation work. The atlas, one of only 20 known surviving copies worldwide, features hand-coloured plates depicting 17th-century astronomical theories and celestial movements, and forms part of a set of 14 Dutch Golden Age atlases housed in Blickling’s 10,000-item library collection. The exhibition runs from 30 November 2024 – 5 January 2025 (closed 24 and 25 December).
The Power of Persuasion exhibition at Abbey House Museum offers a nostalgic exploration of advertising history, examining how companies have used branding techniques to influence consumer behaviour. Visitors can discover familiar and forgotten brands, advertising slogans, and design strategies that have persuaded shoppers through the years. The exhibition runs from 20 January 2024 – 31 December 2024.
Among the exhibition and major displays announced by Cambridge’s The Fitzwilliam is ‘The Makers of Ancient Egypt’. The exhibition explores the craftsmanship of ancient Egypt, showcasing iconic artefacts including Tutankhamun’s gold mask, Nefertiti’s bust, decorated coffins, Books of the Dead, jewellery, and ceramics from the pharaonic era. The exhibition – which still has a working title – will feature loans from The Louvre and the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, presenting new discoveries from the Fitzwilliam Museum’s collection. The exhibition will run from 03 October – 25 January 2026.
The ‘Deceptioncon’ robot costume, created by GMB union members to protest working conditions at Amazon’s BHX4 warehouse in Coventry, will be displayed at the People’s History Museum in Manchester. The costume was originally worn during a Black Friday strike in November 2023 to symbolise workers’ feelings of robotic treatment. The costume will be on display from 29 November 2024 – 24 March 2025.
As part of the Charleston in Lewes’ 2025 exhibition programme is ‘Vanessa Bell: A World of Form and Colour’, a comprehensive exhibition showcasing over 100 pieces of the artist’s work, including paintings, textiles, furniture designs, ceramics, and book covers. The exhibition explores Bell’s contribution to 20th-century British modernism. It will run from 26 March 2025 – September 2025.
Funding
The Tank Museum has raised more than half of the £50,000 required to restore its M47 Patton tank, in a fundraising campaign which began in June. The museum said it is expected to be in running condition ready for its TANKFEST event in 2025.
