More and more local authorities are considering moving their museums and galleries to trust status. Julie Nightingale looks at the pros and cons

The director of London's Natural History Museum, Michael Dixon, tells Felicity Heywood how he juggles fundraising for major capital projects with communicating science to the public

Roland Lloyd Parry on why the Louvre's plan to lend its name to a new museum in Abu Dhabi is causing outrage in France

Simon Stephens on how museums have used personal testimonies to give new perspectives on the 25th anniversary of the Falklands war

Immigration is a hot topic at the moment, but some museums are trying to go beyond the sensational media headlines and make a real difference to the lives of refugees and asylum seekers. By Deborah Mulhearn

It is 30 years since a pioneering group of independent museums set up an association to represent their views. Julie Nightingale looks back at those exciting times and asks what challenges the sector faces today

Sherry Doyal, the head of organic artefacts at the British Museum, talks to Felicity Heywood about the fascination she has always had for ethnography and ethics

Aaron Davies gets a life, at least a virtual one, and explores an online community of seven million residents where imagined museums are starting to make an impact on those in real life

From the mangrove swamps of the Horniman to the red-bellied piranhas of Bolton, it seems that museums have never been more serious about the wet side of life, writes Dea Birkett

This month the National Trust celebrates the centenary of the acquisition of its first major historic property. But what does a curator do with a collection that is spread over 150 locations and an inventory bigger than several British Museums put together, asks Maev Kennedy

Could knowledge repatriation, a system of international cultural exchanges, offer a way out of the problems of returning objects to their countries of origin, asks Andrew Burnet

Ken Arnold tells Felicity Heywood why ideas are at the heart of London's newly opened Wellcome Collection, a £30m venue that aims to connect medicine, life and art