That was the year that was
Looking back at a traumatic year in which museums were forced to rethink their fundamental purpose
Features
Rooted in the people
How Coventry, the UK City of Culture 2021, is working with residents to produce a programme that addresses activism, radicalism and social change
Museum of… | The River Tweed Salmon Fishing Museum, Kelso
A collection assembled from artefacts stored in people’s attics places Atlantic salmon fishing in the context of its location
Switzerland | Kulturstiftung Basel H Geiger, Basel
This new venue not only offers free admission – visitors get a complimentary catalogue as well
Making space
How museums are turning to makerspaces to encourage informal connections with diverse local communities
A new approach to repatriation
The two museums that are nurturing relationships with communities of origin
Best in show | Fishermen and Visitors, 1931, by Joseph Edward Southall
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
The Museum of… | The Museum of Comedy, London
How an empty crypt was transformed into a shrine to comedy
Crisis management
Javier Pes investigates the challenges facing medical museums during the Covid-19 pandemic
Best in show
Lights at Sunset in Ostia by Tullio Crali, 1930, Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, London
A watershed for the sector
Museums have learned a huge amount while acquiring items related to the pandemic and it could have a lasting impact on the sector. Simon Stephens reports
Opening | Albertina Modern, Vienna
Geraldine Kendall Adams finds out how a new modern and contemporary art museum had no choice but to postpone its opening because of the Covid-19 pandemic