Features

History lessons

Patrick Kelly on the new breed of museums in Northern Ireland which, far from sweeping old divisions under the carpet, are embracing distinct identities

Trendswatch

Museums are holding events in pubs to help raise their profile, target new audiences and build links with the local community

Museum of…

Ledbury’s tiny museum of local history is lute-rich, loot-poor, finds Lucy Alderson

Back to the future

Our 1985 front cover featured three curators surrounded by objects they chose to reflect contemporary collecting. Thirty years on, we asked three social history curators to recreate the image using artefacts chosen to represent the 1980s to now. Our first article sees Mark Suggitt discuss the objects picked in 1985. In the second piece, Catherine Newley, Jen Kavanagh and Jemma Conway describe their choices

International opening: Fifa World Football Museum, Zurich, Switzerland

Are football and Switzerland the perfect match? Scott Anthony finds out from the director of the new Fifa World Football Museum

Think tank

The new director of the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, Sarah Munro, isn’t afraid of thinking big. Eleanor Mills talks to her about brewing a rich cultural broth

The bloggers

John Holt reveals how bloggers engage online audiences in the work of museums as he delves into the art of display in the digital domain

Museum of…

A museum dedicated to two great – but very different – musicians

International opening: Rivesaltes Memorial Museum, near Perpignan, France

Generations of refugees and prisoners from 20th-century wars were held at this former internment camp. Director Agnès Sajaloli tells Eleanor Mills what is unique about the site and its museum

Ways of seeing

Director Paul Hobson shares his perspectives on Modern Art Oxford with Eleanor Mills as the gallery celebrates its 50th birthday

Off the beaten track

Capability Brown’s garden designs changed the way people saw the landscape in the 18th century. This year, his 300th birthday is providing a chance to do the same in the 21st century, says Caroline Ikin

Trendswatch

Historic houses are updating their offer with increasingly bold displays of contemporary art