Features

Climate control

Gareth Harris looks at how artists are working with environmentalists to respond to the human impact on our planet, and asks if this is leading to real change

A life not so ordinary

A number of new museums are moving away from traditional ways of collecting and are working at a grassroots level to tell the stories of marginalised communities, as Rob Sharp discovers 

The world’s a stage

John McGrath, the artistic director and chief executive of Manchester International Festival, talks to Eleanor Mills. Portrait by Phil Sayer

One small step…

Half a century ago, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the first steps on the lunar surface as part of Nasa’s Apollo 11 mission. John Holt talks to curators and scientists about how their institutions are marking the final lap of the space race

Trendswatch | Take your partners

Museums are making all the right moves to appeal to visitors

International opening | University of Michigan Museum of Natural History

This venue combines scientific research with hi-tech exhibits

Museum of… The Devil’s Porridge Museum, Dumfries and Galloway

John Holt discovers the vital munitions role HM Factory Gretna and its female workers played during the first world war

Best in show

Raleigh Vektar, 1985, Willis Museum and Sainsbury Gallery, Basingstoke

Making waves

Eleanor Mills talks to Dominic Tweddle, the director-general of the National Museum of the Royal Navy

Museum of… The Cromwell Museum, Cambridgeshire

Miles Rowland visits the former lord protector’s grammar school

Trendswatch | Baby boom

Catherine Kennedy learns that by starting visitors young, museums are establishing lifelong connections

Kicking the habitat

The world’s leading scientists are warning that urgent action is needed to address biodiversity loss. Miles Rowland finds out how museums are helping to address this crisis