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
Edinburgh World Heritage has appointed Megan Veronesi as Interim Director, replacing Christina Sinclair who is leaving after four years in the role. Veronesi, who previously served as a Trustee of Edinburgh World Heritage for over four years, brings 15 years of leadership experience in the charity, social enterprise and technology sectors.
Openings and closures
The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham will open its doors to the public for The Jewellery Quarter Festival on Saturday 26 July 2025, marking its first opening since closing in 2020 for essential maintenance and repairs. Visitors will be able to explore the historic Smith & Pepper factory and Story of the Jewellery Quarter display during this pop-up event, which will be followed by a phased reopening.
Exhibitions
30 Objects Representing Justice’ opens at the National Justice Museum in Nottingham, marking the venue’s 30th anniversary with artefacts spanning over 800 years from the museum’s collection. The exhibition features objects including a 1790 lease listing enslaved Africans, leather handcuffs used on women, and a half-used bottle of brandy given to those awaiting execution, with some items never previously displayed to the public. The exhibition includes commissioned work by Brazilian artist Márcia Porto and was developed with community partners including Refugee Roots, Angolan Women Voice, and the Nottingham Women’s Centre, opens 28 July 2025.
The National Portrait Gallery in London presents ‘Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World’, the first major exhibition dedicated exclusively to the photographer’s pioneering fashion photography. The display features around 250 items including photographs, letters, sketches and costumes, showcasing portraits of iconic figures such as Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and Salvador Dalí. The exhibition runs 9 October 2025 – 11 January 2026.
‘Austen and Turner: A Country House Encounter’ at Harewood House marks the 250th anniversaries of Jane Austen and J.M.W. Turner, featuring nine Turner paintings of the house and landscape alongside Austen’s unfinished manuscript ‘Sanditon’. The exhibition includes a new portrait commissioned by contemporary artist Lela Harris depicting Miss Lambe, Austen’s only character of African heritage, created using charcoal on found 20th-century stationery from Harewood House. The exhibition runs 31 July 2025 – 19 October 2025.
South Shields Museum & Art Gallery presents ‘The Art of Conservation’, showcasing artworks from the South Shields collection that have recently undergone specialist conservation treatment. The exhibition features Henry Thomas Schafer’s painting ‘Feeding the Pigeons’ (1887), which has been extensively cleaned to remove discoloured varnish and surface grime, alongside before and after images demonstrating the restoration process. The exhibition runs from 19 July 2025 – 06 December 2025.
National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh presents ‘Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years’, featuring over 200 works including major installations created specifically for the Royal Scottish Academy building. The exhibition includes drawings, photographs, films, sketchbooks and archival items spanning five decades, with key works including the 20-metre-long Oak Passage made from windfallen oak branches, a floor covered with stones from over 100 Dumfriesshire graveyards, 10,000 suspended reeds, Red Flags comprising fifty canvas flags stained with red earth from each US state, and a stairway installation of sheep fleeces marked with farmers’ colour codes. The exhibition runs 26 July 2025 – 2 November 2025.
The Wallace Collection in London presents Caravaggio’s ‘Victorious Cupid’ (1601-02), making its UK public debut as a major loan from Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie. The exhibition includes two ancient Roman sculptures that were historically displayed alongside the painting in the collection of Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani, recreating the atmosphere of the 17th-century Palazzo Giustiniani in Rome. The display runs 26 November 2025 – 12 April 2026.
Funding
Museums Galleries Scotland has awarded £225,587 to four museums across Scotland through the Museum Development Fund, with support from the Scottish Government, to enhance visitor experiences, accessibility, and sustainability. The funding will support projects including upgrading facilities at Glasgow’s People’s Palace, volunteer training at David Livingstone Birthplace Museum, a new collections cataloguing system at Nairn Museum, and capital redevelopment at Glencoe Folk Museum.
