Features

Science meets industry

Jean Franczyk, the latest director of the Museum of Science and Industry, tells Simon Stephens how she wants to create a coherent story for this historic Manchester site

The Museum of… Our pick of the UK’s specialist collections

Louise Gray hears about a visitor centre in a windy location above the Avon Gorge

The exhibition programmers

Rob Sharp speaks to some of those involved in exhibition-making to see how temporary shows are faring under budget cuts

London calling

Sharon Ament has already made her mark at the Museum of London by stepping into the debate over Tower Hamlets Council’s controversial decision to sell a Henry Moore sculpture. Simon Stephens finds out what else she is planning

Strategic thinking

Three of the four nations in the UK have a national museum strategy. Geraldine Kendall reports on how they are being implemented and what some of the pitfalls are

Best in show

The Baptism of Christ, 1667–68, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Dulwich Picture Gallery

The Museum of… Our pick of the UK’s specialist collections

Simon Stephens hears about a challenging project to conserve the remarkable London home of a Kenyan-born poet

Facing extinction

The increasing number of specialist curators losing their jobs is leaving orphaned collections that have no one to care for them. Deborah Mulhearn reports

The Museum of… Our pick of the UK’s specialist collections

Louise Gray on a museum dedicated to the achievements of the first woman to practise as a doctor in Britain

The curators

Many curators feel their work is undervalued and under threat. John Holt finds out about some of the challenges that they face

Open plan

Beamish, an open-air museum in north-east England, has a very particular set of challenges. Director Richard Evans tells Simon Stephens about how he is overcoming them

Best in show

British Army tunic, 1916, National Army Museum, London