Underwater, Towner, Eastbourne

3 April-20 June

Paintings, sculpture, photography and video inspired by underwater worlds. The exhibition aims to explore the feelings of dread and allure that this alien landscape provokes. A film by Dorothy Cross follows a woman drifting through a jellyfish-ridden lake, while Daniel Gustav Cramer’s photography shows towers of rock rising from an eerily barren seabed.

The accompanying catalogue includes a discussion by J Malcolm Shick, professor of oceanography, about the history and science of depicting underwater environments.

Cost c£35,000
Main funders Eastbourne Borough Council, Arts Council England. Sponsorship in kind from Devonshire Park Hotel
Curator Angela Kingston

Pioneering Painters: The Glasgow Boys 1880–1900, Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow

9 April-27 September

Pioneering Painters is the biggest exhibition Kelvingrove has staged since its 2006 reopening. This retrospective of the Glasgow artists who introduced impressionism to Scotland will feature more than 140 works. Painters such as Joseph Crawhall, John Lavery and Edward Atkinson Hornel are among those represented. The show will focus on the period 1880-1900, a time when the Glasgow school was beginning to grow in influence across Europe.

Cost undisclosed
Main funders Glasgow Museums, FirstGroup, Royal Academy
Curators Hugh Stevenson, Jean Walsh

Marriage in the Movies, National Museum of Costume, New Abbey, Dumfries

9 April-31 October

A touch of Hollywood glamour comes to Scotland with the National Museum of Costume’s exhibition of movie wedding gowns. Extravagant dresses and accessories seen in films from Pride and Prejudice to Frankenstein will be on display, along with behind-the-scenes details about the practicalities of recreating and shooting costume drama.

Covering fashions from the 18th-century onwards, the exhibition traces the evolution of the modern wedding dress and also takes a look at some long-forgotten Scottish matrimonial traditions.

Cost undisclosed
Main funder National Museums Scotland
Curator Maureen Barrie

A Mixed Bunch, Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall

24 April-26 June

Inspired by Cornwall’s thriving gardens, often seen as the finest in the country, the exhibition will bring together works by artists such as Henri Matisse, Henry Scott Tuke, Penny Macbeth and John William Waterhouse. Highlights include Dave Cooper’s cigarette-laden Ash Tree, and Flora Gave Me the Fairest Flowers by John Ward.

Cost £1,200
Main funders Heritage Lottery Fund, University College Falmouth incorporating Dartington College of Arts, Izella Rose Florist
Curators Brian Stewart, Alex Hooper, Natalie Rigby, Donna Williams

The Inconsistency of Everything: Harminder Singh Judge, New Art Exchange, Nottingham

24 April-3 July

British-born Sikh artist Harminder Singh Judge explores the spiritual meeting point between east and west in his latest work. Developed along the lines of his twin obsessions – religious fable and pop culture – Judge has created a series of tongue-in-cheek installations that merge Christian and Hindu imagery with modern corporate advertising tricks. The venue also hosts a one-off performance of Judge’s live art spectacle, The Modes of Al-Ikseer, on 19 May.

Cost undisclosed
Main funders Arts Council England, Lambeth Council, Nottingham City Council.
Curators Michael Forbes, Barby Asante

A World Observed 1940-2010 Photographs by Dorothy Bohm, Manchester Art Gallery

24 April-30 August

A retrospective of Dorothy Bohm, one of the key players in 20th-century British photography. The photographer’s earliest portraits will be displayed in a reconstruction of her 1940s studio, while in a darkroom next door, visitors can witness the technique of black-and-white photo development.

Bohm’s open-air work from the 1950s onwards charts the changing face of Europe, Israel and the USSR after the end of the second world war. Bohm’s camera equipment is also present as is her correspondence with other noted photographers.

Cost £80,000
Curators Monica Bohm-Duchen, Colin Ford

Magnificent Maps Power, Propaganda and Art, British Library, London

30 April-19 September

The British Library unveils more than 100 rare maps from its cartographical collection, most never before seen by the public. The masterpieces date from 200AD to the present and include wall-maps, atlases, globes and tapestries, many set against reconstructions of their original backdrops. Highlights include the earliest known Chinese terrestrial globe and the 17th-century Klencke Atlas, which is the largest book in the world.

Cost undisclosed
Supporters Bouygues, British Library Patrons
Curator Peter Barber
Interactives Cogapp