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
Andrew Wathey has been reappointed Chair of The National Archive. The former Vice-Chancellor of Northumbria University has been appointed for a five year term from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2030.
A UK spaceflight expert has been appointed by London’s Science Museum as its first ‘Head of Space’. Libby Jackson will assist in the museum’s enhanced space-related public engagement activities, including online content, and will support its curators to acquire new space technologies for the national collection.
Spaceflight expert joins Science Museum as its first ‘Head of Space’
Openings and closures
A new calm space is to be opened at Blists Hill Victorian Town in Telford, the result of a project funded by capital from five trusts and foundations. The attraction, managed by The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, has opened the ‘Sunflower Room’ at its largest museum to provide a space for visitors to find privacy and quiet.
Exhibitions
Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool presents ‘No Iconic Images’, a thought-provoking exhibition exploring contemporary war photography in partnership with The Guardian and Magnum Photos. Featured works include perspectives from Magnum photographers Peter van Agtmael and Newsha Tavakolian on conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, alongside investigations from Forensic Architecture and the Centre for Spatial Technologies. The exhibition runs from 20 March 2025 – 4 May 2025.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park in West Yorkshire presents ‘William Kentridge: The Pull of Gravity’, featuring over 40 sculptures created between 2007 and 2024, including bronze, steel, paper, and found objects. The exhibition will fill the Underground Gallery and outdoor spaces, showcasing sculptures such as the new commission ‘Paper Procession’ and large-scale bronzes in the Bothy Garden. The exhibition runs from 28 June 2025 – 19 April 2026 in West Yorkshire.
Barbican Music Library in London presents ‘Black Sound London’, a free exhibition charting British black music’s 100-year journey from underground to mainstream. Objects on display include records, photos, posters, reviews and films, with the exhibition featuring key figures from Lord Kitchener to Central Cef and exploring how record shops, pirate radio and community spaces played crucial roles in the scene’s development. The exhibition runs from 10 March 2025 – 19 July 2025.
Newport Street Gallery in London presents ‘Raging Planet’, a group exhibition featuring works by Angela Bulloch, Roger Hiorns, Oliver Marsden, Hwang Samyong, Bosco Sodi, and Keith Tyson. The exhibition spans three galleries and includes sculptures encrusted with copper sulphate crystals, large-scale paintings incorporating natural materials, and interactive sound installations. The exhibition runs from 28 March 2025 – 31 August 2025 in London.
The National Gallery in London presents ‘Millet: Life on the Land’, the first UK exhibition in nearly 50 years dedicated to the French artist Jean-François Millet, featuring around 15 paintings and drawings including ‘L’Angélus’ from the Musée d’Orsay and ‘The Winnower’ from the National Gallery’s own collection. Other works include ‘The Sower’, ‘Wood choppers’, ‘The Wood Sawyers’, ‘The Goose Girl’, ‘The Milkmaid’, and ‘The Faggot Gatherers’, mostly drawn from British public collections. The exhibition runs from 7 August 2025 – 19 October 2025.
Moco Museum in London presents ‘Robbie Williams: Radical Honesty’, featuring never-before-seen works and sculptures that explore themes of anxiety, self-love and introversion through the artist’s signature style of sarcasm, self-deprecation and playful irreverence. The exhibition displays Williams’ visual diary documenting his mental health journey since the 1990s through creative expression. The exhibition runs from 25 April 2025 – 24 October 2025
Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery in Penzance will host ‘Through My Lens’, a collaborative project between the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust and Bridging Arts, featuring photographs and video interviews of international nurses working in Cornwall. Objects on display include photographs taken by nurses during workshops led by Penzance photographer Mike Newman, video interviews, and written statements from participants. The exhibition will run from 01 March 2025 – 31 August 2025 in the Heart of Cornwall Gallery.
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery presents The In Crowd: Mod Fashion & Style 1958-66, an exhibition celebrating the bold style of the Mod movement. Over 35 mannequins will display rare and early Mod outfits from Roger K. Burton’s collection, featuring pieces by Mary Quant, John Stephen, and Ben Sherman. A special section will highlight Ready Steady Go, the TV programme that shaped 1960s music and fashion. 10 May 2025 – 4 January 2026.
Winifred Nicholson: Cumbrian Rag Rugs at Tullie in Carlisle showcases nearly 40 artworks, including rag rugs, paintings, and archival materials. The exhibition features 28 rugs designed by Winifred Nicholson, her family, and friends, crafted by local Cumbrian women, many never shown in public before. Notable pieces include ‘Animal Squares’ (c.1926) by Ben Nicholson, ‘The Sun and the Moon’ (1960s) by Winifred Nicholson, and ‘Four Storks’ (c.1983) designed by Li Yuan-chia and made at LYC Museum & Art Gallery. The exhibition runs from 05 April 2025 – 15 June 2025.
