New leadership for British Library as cyber attack recovery continues

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Graves Gallery forced to vacate collections due to heating system failure

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Export bar placed on £4.6m Renaissance sculpture

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National Galleries of Scotland acquires important art collection

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A section of the Bayeux Tapestry shows armored soldiers on horseback, carrying spears and shields, with animals and birds above and Latin text embroidered at the top.

Displayed like never before, the Bayeux Tapestry weaves its magic  

Bayeux-fever has hit the country, but – amid gripes over queue times and photo bans – does the British Museum’s blockbuster live up to the hype? Museums Journal finds out  

Government launches review of human remains guidance for museums

Legal, ethical and moral conversations 'have evolved significantly', says arts minister

UK museums and heritage bodies deepen long-term ties with Ukraine

Historic England in new cultural partnership as V&A unveils display of Kyiv treasures

National museum leaders highlight risks of charging international visitors

Growing calls for London hotel tax as debate continues around free entry

Shanaz Gulzar joins Glasgow Life as director of culture and events

Creative lead at Bradford 2025 swaps West Yorkshire for Scotland's biggest city

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Financial resilience doesn’t happen by accident

Institutions can stabilise their income by integrating commercial thinking into their core decision-making and programming

All that glitters: Is the Treasure scheme losing some of its shine? 

There is some disquiet about the system’s current direction of travel, despite record numbers of finds in recent years

Emergency fundraising campaigns offer museums a lifeline

The sector is increasingly turning to short-term campaigns when in urgent need of money – but this approach must be used sparingly

Digital detox: Is social media still worth it for museums?

The online landscape suddenly looks very different amid a backlash against tech giants. Geraldine Kendall Adams asks how museums are adapting to the post-X era

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Museums are uniquely placed to support people living with dementia

Small adjustments can make a huge difference, says Laura Cunningham

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Generative AI search results are reducing online traffic to sector websites

But is it all bad?

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The impact of overtourism in Athens

Emmanouil Apostolos Rokas on how the Greek capital is coping with the growing number of visitors

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Listening to rising voices

Tarun Nagesh on an exhibition that showcases the diversity of contemporary art from the Asia-Pacific region

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ACE’s renewed emphasis on excellence will play to the strengths of museums

The sector will have more space to emphasise its unique qualities in the next funding round, says Aysha Afridi

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Getting to grips with our collections

Museums must commit to 100% inventory-level documentation ahead of their next NPO applications, says Laura Pye

In practice

Case study | A community-centred approach to storytelling

Hardish Virk shares advice on sharing power with communities

Case study | Embedding accessibility into the visitor experience

National Galleries of Scotland shares its work integrating accessible measures at its sites

Case study | Addressing colonial histories

Ingrid Lewis shares how an international partnership is linking Derbyshire’s cotton mills to the island of Carriacou

Spotlight | Running successful events

A vibrant and relevant events programme is a crucial way to bring in audiences and raise income – so what’s the secret to success?

Guide | Planning seasonal events

Tapping into key seasonal moments can help boost your events programme

Guide | Museum lates

Caroline Parry explores different models for after-hours events

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Black and white photo of Londons Barbican Estate, with three tall residential towers, the Museum of London in front, and modern office buildings surrounding the area.

The boom years | Museums Journal, 1960-2000

Rebecca Atkinson looks at how Museums Journal evolved in the postwar years of the 1960s right up to the millennium

Climate action | Sewing seeds of hope

A deep-dive into how ecological art has moved from the creative fringes into the mainstream, generating a positive public response

Climate action | ‘We’re turning cultural waste into community assets’

Museums and galleries are seeking to become an integral part of local ecosystems

Climate action | It’s time for museums to take their place at the table

Cultural institutions across the UK are doing thoughtful work to tackle the climate crisis, with many individuals in the sector working hard to drive change

‘We needed a building that could be a safe space for everyone’: A museum shaped by the Troubles

Geraldine Kendall Adams visits a border museum in the Republic of Ireland that has brought healing to a divided community 

Q&A | ‘We do not see immersive experiences replacing museums, but broadening access to cultural heritage’

Museums Journal meets the chief executive of DEM Museums, a global pioneer of the immersive exhibition model

Q&A | ‘It is a salutary reminder of the minutiae that ultimately shapes the course of history’

A new display on HMS Belfast examines the decision-making process at the heart of world war two’s D-day operations

Q&A | ‘I have great joy in working with artists to realise the visions that they have’

What is it really like curating a show with Ai Weiwei? Museums Journal sits down with Low Kee Hong, the creative director at Factory International in Manchester, to find out

Q&A | ‘The disability rights movement is presumed to have been small and niche, but it was huge’ 

David Hevey tells us about a new digital archive dedicated to the civil rights struggle that Britain forgot

Working life | ‘I’m passionate about exploring all sides of the criminal justice system’

Simon Tansley, the director of London’s Bow Street Museum of Crime and Justice, discusses a project inspired by the writer Oscar Wilde

Profile | ‘I don’t have a typical museum background – I’m really proud of getting to where I have’

For someone who never expected to work in the sector, Helen Hartstein now has her dream job at Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum

Reframing the value of living heritage – Un/Common People: Folk Culture in Wessex

This exhibition at Salisbury Museum takes a modern approach to celebrating the rich cultural traditions of rural England

Field of vision | Sheep Field Barn, Henry Moore Studios & Gardens, Perry Green, Much Hadham, Hertfordshire

The exhibition space of this world-famous sculptor has been sympathetically upgraded to embrace a more inclusive, educational environment

A fascinating model for temporary exhibitions – Genghis Khan: How the Mongols Changed the World

Rebecca Atkinson is impressed by a show at the Royal Armouries that makes the world-shaping Mongol emperor relevant to British audiences

Digital | Moving paintings, fashion history, whaler’s memories

We take a close look at the cache

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Watch and listen

Radical Museums | S3E4: Nelson Cummins

Simon Stephens travels to Glasgow to meet Nelson Cummins, curator of legacies of slavery and empire at Glasgow Museums

Radical Museums | S3E3: Marian Gwyn

Sharon Heal speaks to Marian Gwyn, whose transformative initiative has worked to diversify and decolonise local museums in Wales

Radical Museums | S3E2: E-J Scott

Simon Stephens travels to south London to interview E-J Scott, founder of the Museum of Transology

Radical Museums | S3E1: William Mitchell

Sharon Heal meets William Mitchell, project director for the Action for Community Transformation (ACT) Initiative in Belfast

Radical Museums | S2E4: Agrippa Njanina

Sharon Heal travels to Belfast to meet Agrippa Njanina, a community engagement officer at National Museums Northern Ireland

Radical Museums | S2E3: Ken Paranada

Simon Stephens meets Ken Paranada, the curator of art and climate change at the Sainsbury Centre

Radical Museums | S2E2: Jane Henderson

Sharon Heal meets Jane Henderson, a professor of conservation at Cardiff University

Radical Museums | S2E1: Leonie Bell

Simon Stephens meets Leonie Bell, the director of V&A Dundee

Europe after empire

Europe after empire

Gary Younge introduces a series of articles that explore how decolonisation is being approached in European museums

‘Return the bones. Empty the museums’

Museums need to address the issue of the ancestral remains in their collections with transparency, openness and accountability, argues Dan Hicks

A whole new world

The Wereldmuseum Amsterdam has been working with artists and other creative practitioners to explore the impact of Dutch imperialism, but Carol Ann Dixon says more needs to be done to empower its own staff to contribute to meaningful change at the organisation

Representations of Blackness at Vienna’s Belvedere Museum

How Tayla Myree is bringing a much-neglected discussion to the public with her tour exploring Black iconography in the museum's artwork

What’s in a name?

Tracing ancestry through a surname uncovered a complex history shared by many, writes Rachel Ama Asaa Engmann

Profile | ‘I’ve been to prison several times. It’s no big deal’

Our guest editor Gary Younge meets restitution activist Mwazulu Diyabanza, who explains why he is taking the law into his own hands

We are committed to publishing accurate, engaging, challenging and constructive content on the issues, ideas, debates and practices that help museums serve the public better.

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