Museums
Comment | When did US museum design get so boring?
While art-museum architecture remains vibrant across the globe, many US institutions are both uninspiring and unwelcoming
Art Fund awards £1.2m to 29 UK museums to support ‘innovative’ projects
Charity's “Reimagine” programme will fund a variety of initiatives, from developing a new model for provenance research to preserving digital heritage
London's Brutalist Barbican Centre to close for £240m renovation
The building, which houses three gallery spaces, will close for a year from June 2028
The best exhibitions of 2025, as chosen by curators and museum directors
From Wolfgang Tillmans at Centre Pompidou to Linder at the Hayward, these are the shows that stood out this year
Taichung’s new ‘Museumbrary’ expands Taiwan’s culture credentials
The cutting-edge institution, which opens tomorrow, fuses museum and library in decommissioned military airport
UK police hunt suspects in ‘high-value’ Bristol museum heist
More than 600 objects were stolen from the collection of the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, which closed in 2008
Saudi art world questions widespread use of consultancies in shaping culture landscape
As the country's art scene continues to expand, the reliance on external companies such as McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group is raising eyebrows
We will always love you: museum dedicated to Dolly Parton to open in her Nashville hotel
The singer and actor’s life story will be told through the Dolly’s Life of Many Colours Museum
Disruption expected at British Library as hundreds of workers strike over pay
The Public and Commercial Service union says library staff face “increased poverty and debt, with a concurrent rise in health issues”
Immersive institution could replace South Beach cinema
The Superhuman Museum will combine ‘elements of theme parks, of art museums and of experiential museums worldwide’
Two more mega museums open in Abu Dhabi
The Zayed National Museum, designed by Norman Foster, and the Natural History Museum, are both located on the emirate’s Saadiyat Island
New £200,000 contemporary art prize is biggest in UK
The Serpentine x Flag Art Foundation Prize is open to artists of any age, based anywhere worldwide, who have been exhibiting professionally for less than ten years
British Museum's looted ewer set for return to Ghana on long-term loan
The 14th-century, English-made Asante Ewer was seized from the royal palace in Kumasi in 1896 and has been held by the British Museum ever since
Despite Putin’s repressive regime, a new private museum opens in Moscow
Zilart will house the huge collection of St Petersburg property developer Andrey Molchanov and his wife, Yelizaveta Molchanov
New UK law makes restitution easier—but excludes national museums, such as the British Museum
Legislation allows non-national museums established as charities to transfer property on a “moral basis” depending on its value
Palazzo of Pop Art: new gallery in Italy will house major collection of 20th-century art
Sonnabend Collection in Mantua—home to the collection of the late dealer Ileana Sonnabend—includes works by Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol as well as contemporary artists
Comment | Turner gets all the kudos, but it was Constable who was the truly radical painter
John-Paul Stonard argues the case for honouring Constable at London's soon-to-be expanded National Gallery
UK government's tourist tax plans could boost funds for culture sector, industry leaders say
The fee, announced ahead of today's budget, would apply to overnight stays, with England's mayors and local leaders able to decide what revenue should be spent on
In bid to diversify KW Institute in Berlin, artist Sung Tieu sells work to fund new board member
The contractual work was sold for €25,000 to appoint curator Mi You to the institution's board
Where will Labour government’s local reforms leave England’s cash-strapped museums?
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ planned overhaul of regional councils promises stability, but delivers confusion for the cultural sector
France's Bonnat-Helleu museum reopens after 14-year renovation with new discoveries and 2,500 loans from the Louvre
Museum in Bayonne, in the southwest of the country, has spruced up its historic building and doubled its display area
Politician demands end to Grand Egyptian Museum ticketing system that leaves locals in ‘secondary category’
The newly opened museum currently allocates a percentage of its daily ticket limit to both Egyptians and foreigners
Rijksmuseum to host study exploring potential benefits of art for people with Parkinson’s
A leading neurologist is working with the Amsterdam museum to see if making or encountering art can help ease symptoms of the degenerative disease
Acquisitions round-up: an ‘exceptionally rare’ portrait of an enslaved person and two large-scale donations
Our pick of the latest gifts and purchases to enter institutional collections worldwide, including the enigmatic “Portrait of Frederick”
Portland Art Museum to unveil $116m transformation with Mark Rothko at its heart
After more than a decade of planning, the US state’s largest ever capital investment in the arts opens with a new pavilion named for Rothko and a gallery devoted to Black artists
In southern Italy, a long-planned excavation is revealing the secrets of an ancient Greek sanctuary
This summer a team of archaeologists resumed their work on a site dating back to around 600BC, known for its three well-preserved Doric temples
Do museums need to crack down on selfies?
The Uffizi in Florence is restricting selfies, and New York’s Frick Collection bans all photography—but other museums encourage them
New York’s Studio Museum—known for championing Black artists—reopens in $300m new home
The legendary institution, which took seven years to build, reopens with an exhibition devoted to the works of Tom Lloyd
How China’s private museums are navigating a post-boom era
Some museums have closed, falling victim to Covid-19 and a slowing economy, while others are scaling back or regrouping
How an old conservation technique involving salts is winning over museums
Research shows that the solutions long used in a German castle are a cheap, effective conservation method with advantages over silica and air-conditioning





























