Reviews

Books: Museums, Equality and Social Justice

Sharon Heal is engaged by a provocative book that asks how museums can help challenge inequality and injustice

We Face Forward: Art from West Africa Today, various venues, Manchester

Jane Weeks is impressed by an ambitious city-wide exhibition programme that links Manchester's history to contemporary art in west Africa

Joseph Wright of Derby Gallery, Derby Museum and Art Gallery

The dramatic works of Derby's most famous son are shown to great effect in a new exhibition. By Stuart Burch

Books: Banksy: The Bristol Legacy

Timothy Mason on a hugely enjoyable book that assesses the impact that street artist Banksy had on Bristol when he returned to his home city to put on a show

Catalogue: Francis Bacon to Paula Rego

Jeanette Edgar on why Abbot Hall's 50th anniversary was the chance to publish a special catalogue

On my bookshelf

Natural History Collecting by Reg Harris

Musselburgh Museum/John Gray Centre, East Lothian

Simon Stephens on two very different museums that have opened recently in East Lothian

Cutty Sark, London

About £50m has been spent on the Cutty Sark restoration, but Oliver Green says the resulting visitor experience needs more atmosphere and excitement

Museum of British Surfing, Braunton, Devon

Surfing is more popular than ever and the sport now has its own museum. Peter Mason catches a wave in north Devon

SeaCity Museum, Southampton

The story of the people of Southampton and the city's maritime connections is well told in a new museum, says Oliver Green

On my bookshelf

Watching the English by Kate Fox (2004)

Catalogue: Henry Moore: Large Late Forms

Anita Feldman on the challenges of saying something new about one of the Britain's best-known artists