Features

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

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

Best in show | Queen Alexandra birdwing butterfly

Natural History Museum, Tring

International opening | Bauhaus Museum, Weimar

Rebecca Swirsky explores the centrepiece of the iconic German art and design school’s centenary celebrations 

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

Migration stories

Patrick Kelly on how museums and galleries are acknowledging the huge impact of migration

Best in show | Rain on Princes Street, 1913, by Stanley Cursiter

The McManus, Dundee

Trendswatch | All eyes on icons

As numerous star objects tour UK museums, Catherine Kennedy examines the effect they have had on the host venues and their local communities

Visionary views

On the 200th anniversary of John Ruskin’s birth, Alastair Smart looks at how the Victorian art critic has influenced artists and museums over the past two centuries with his views on social issues, education, the dangers of capitalism and much more