Britain's best museums of 2025
PLUS: Giant mud splatter to greet National Gallery visitors
Friday 2 May 2025 | news from museums, galleries, heritage and art, including:
Tate Liverpool to reopen with Burman retrospective 🐅
V&A East Storehouse marks month-to-go 📆
Fleet Street satire show scrapped 📰
Happy Friday.
It’s May. Which feels like Fake News but the truth is, yes, we are a third of the way through 2025. And yes, there are only 34 more Fridays until Christmas. Apols.
It also means we are in the final run of Spring exhibition openings. After this month, the slate of new shows begins to dry up over the summer before returning with an autumn bang in September.
So what does May have in store?
Well the major retrospective of conceptualist artist Do Ho Suh has already opened at Tate Modern. It’s Instagram-friendly and the critics seem to like it too — which very-much isn’t usually the case. “Playful and haunting” was the Times’ verdict.
The British Museum continue to be suckers for punishment by opening both their major Spring exhibitions in the same month. Their show on Japanese print artist Hiroshige has just opened, while they’ll dive into sacred art in ancient India from the 22nd.
The Natural History Museum are asking if life can exist beyond Earth in a blockbuster space exhibition, while the small but perfectly-formed Garden Museum will unveil a show exploring the role flowers played in developing iconic photographer Cecil Beaton’s creative practice.
Helen Chadwick — who was one of the first female artists nominated for the Turner Prize and who inspired Damian Hirst — gets her first retrospective in a generation at the Hepworth Wakefield. And brilliant artist Rana Begum has been invited to curate an exhibition of Pallant House Gallery’s collection.
Meanwhile in Berlin, a fascinating show at the Deutsches Historisches Museum looks at how European exhibitions in the period immediately following the Second World War tried to make sense of years of Nazi occupation.
Frieze arrives in New York, Fenix opens in Rotterdam, and the bold and brash performance artist Monster Chetwynd gets a huge show at Kunsthaus Zürich.
And of course, we have the reopening of the National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing and its first full re-hang in nearly 35 years — AND the opening of V&A East Storehouse. News on both of these below.
And perhaps one to miss is Victoria Miro’s exhibition marking a centenary of the birth of Scottish artist Ian Hamilton Finlay. The Guardian’s verdict? “Under the classical veneer, this artist was an idiot.” But you’re welcome to make up your own mind.
Now let’s dive into this week’s news!
maxwell
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Top stories 🚨
Britain’s best museums revealed
The five nominees for the world’s biggest museum prize — Art Fund Museum of the Year 2025 — have been unveiled. All are outside London, and it’s the first time since 2019 all four UK nations are shortlisted.
Beamish, The Living Museum of the North in County Durham is up for the £120,000 prize, alongside Cardiff's Chapter and Compton Verney in Warwickshire. Also competing are Belfast's Golden Thread Gallery and the Perth Museum in Scotland.
The judging panel includes artist Rana Begum and comedian Phil Wang. Speaking on behalf of the panel, Jenny Waldman, Art Fund’s Director said the nominees are “inspiring examples of museums at their best” and that they each showed “the endless creativity and care that goes into making museums inspiring and exciting spaces for everyone.”
The winner will be announced on 26 June at a ceremony at the Museum of Liverpool, marking the first time the event has ever been held outside of the UK capital. (Read more)
🔗 CATCH UP | Read my 2024 interview with Compton Verney CEO Geraldine Collinge on their 20th anniversary
V&A East marks month to go
V&A East Storehouse will have longer opening hours than its sister museum in South Kensington, it’s been revealed. A flurry of new announcements came this week to mark one-month-to-go until it’s opening in London’s Stratford.
The V&A’s new working store will open from 10:00 until 18:00 seven days a week, with late night openings every Thursday and Saturday until 22:00. The South Kensington site closes at 17:45, and has only weekly late.
During opening hours (including late nights), visitors will be able to use the new Order an Object service where they can book to see an item in the collection. Bookings go live on 13 May.
Over 100 mini changing displays will also be on show, featuring 1,500 items including works by Hew Locke, Zaha Hadid, Daniel Liebskind and Thomas Heatherwick. Picasso’s monumental 1924 11-metre-wide stage cloth for the Ballets Russes will also be displayed for first time in over a decade.
Dublin-born, Hackney-based designer Robyn Lynch has designed V&A East’s new front-of-house staff uniforms. They’re inspired by, er, 1990s vintage fishing vests. (Read more)
Challenge to Trump’s museum targeting
Democrats in the US House of Representatives are calling on the Smithsonian inspector general — an independent entity within the museum group to provide scrutiny — to launch an investigation into Donald Trump’s executive order targeting federally funded museums.
In a letter signed by 71 Democrats and seen by Reuters, they argue the directive may violate federal law and compromise the institution’s independence. It states that the order interferes with the Smithsonian's capacity to "document American history and culture accurately." (Read more)
It comes as the Smithsonian was forced to clarify what it called “false” reports that its American History and African American History museums will remove objects from display documenting demonstrations during the Civil Rights Movement in light of Trump’s order.
The historic Greensboro lunch counter and stools — from a famous sit-in protest — “continue to be on display” a statement said.
While a Bible carried during civil rights demonstrations would be returned to its lender, the Smithsonian said “claims that objects have been removed for reasons other than adherence to standard loan agreements or museum practices are false.” (Read more)
UK news 🇬🇧
Tate Liverpool to reopen with Burman retrospective
The first ever retrospective of much-loved British-Indian artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman will open at Tate Liverpool. The exhibition — announced today by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy on a visit to Delhi — will open in 2027 when the gallery reopens following major restoration. A self-described ‘Punjabi Scouser,’ Burman said “I’m made up to be coming back home to Liverpool.” Nandy said “the exhibition will honour one of Britain's most innovative artists.” (Read More)
Fleet Street satire show scrapped 📰
An exhibition of newspaper cartoons by revered Fleet Street cartoonists, ranging from the Guardian, Telegraph, Private Eye and beyond, was scrapped hours before its private view because the venue didn’t want to “risk anyone getting offended.” Bosses of the Kingston Riverside venue said they must “remain politically neutral” and that “we don’t do politics in our workspace.” Organiser Zoe Dorelli said “management freaked out and thought it might be too offensive.” (Read more)
Mud splatter to greet National Gallery visitors 🤎
Sir Richard Long’s new commission for the National Gallery was reported in this newsletter last week, and it’s now been unveiled. The huge new work is a big splatter of tidal mud that he gathered from the banks of the River Avon in his home town of Bristol. Mud Sun is the title, and it alludes to the earliest origins of image-making. Long told the Sunday Times that while it’s “mud [that] was made billions of years ago…the work itself is my human energy.” (Read more)
In other National Gallery news… 🏛️
The National Gallery has spent £16.4 million on a rare Renaissance masterpiece, despite not knowing who it’s by or where it was painted. The work is an altarpiece depicting the Virgin and Child, and it’s thought to date from 1510. It was acquired from a private collection. It’ll go on display as part of the rehang next week. Curator Emma Capron said it’s “the work of a talented and highly original artist but unknown and I hope that ongoing research… will help solve this conundrum in the future.” (Read more)
Museum collection under review 🏴
Falkirk Council is reviewing the 36,000 objects in its museum collection as it closes its "not fit for purpose" stores. Its promised local history groups that they can claim any objects that are discarded. Items will be considered for disposal if they are duplications, are beyond repair, or do not represent the heritage of Falkirk district. The council plans to “create a modern storage solution that will improve public access and our ability to preserve those objects." (Read more)
Global news 🌎
Netherlands 🇳🇱
A Mark Rothko painting has been damaged by a child in Rotterdam’s Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. The child scratched the 1960 painting Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8 during an "unguarded moment" according to a museum spokesperson. It’s now off display while they look for “conservation expertise” on how to repair it. I was asked my thoughts on this story by CNN, and I said that “it’s impossible to prevent every potential incident, from visitors of all ages.” (Read more — including my comments!)
Ukraine 🇺🇦
US artist Barbara Kruger has unveiled a new work emblazoned across a Ukrainian passenger train. The Ukrainian Intercity train’s maiden voyage was yesterday, and it will operate throughout the country every day until July. The text-based piece — commissioned by RIBBON International — is a poem in Ukrainian, and honours the railway’s vital role in maintaining the function and defence of the country at war. (Read more)
France 🇫🇷
Fourteen vertical golden shipping containers now tower above the heads of pedestrians in the heart of Lille’s historic city center. This vast new public artwork — titled Golden Monoliths — is by Spanish artist SpY, who is known for subversive interventions. The work reflects on our addiction to consumerism, and in a twist of good timing, they’ve been unveiled at the height of a global trade war. (Read more)
USA 🇺🇸
The first major exhibition to examine Man Ray’s ground-breaking camera-less photography will open at the Met in September. Man Ray: When Objects Dream will focus on the artist’s rayographs, a term he coined for his version of the 19th-century technique of making photographs by exposing paper to light. Over 50 international lenders will give works. Director Max Hollein said the show will “explore his ground-breaking manipulation of objects, light, and media, which profoundly reframed his artistic practice.” (Read more)
News in brief
Heart of the Ocean/Museum
The large glass-covered court of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich will reopen in June, a year after closure for repairs. The Ocean Court will also feature a new floor projection of “a map of the world according to fish.” (More)
Job-share at top of Historic England
Two former civil servants in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have been appointed joint chief executives of Historic England. Claudia Kenyatta and Emma Squire will job-share leading the government’s heritage advisor body. (More)
Penny 4 PM Museum
Sword-wielding former defence secretary Penny Mordaunt has been cleared to join the advisory board for the in-progress Museum of the Prime Minister. Founded by historian Sir Anthony Seldon, the museum is an “aspirational” project for now. (More)
Brum history gallery reopens
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery today opens its refurbished history galleries in the latest phase of its reopening after years of redevelopment. The galleries mark a significant increase in publicly accessible space in the museum. (More)
Museum name does it justice
The Bow Street Police Museum in central London has renamed itself, just four years after opening. Now it’s the Bow Street Museum of Crime and Justice, to “better reflect the breadth and depth of the stories we have to tell.” (More)
👀 Last week’s most clicked news story
— The architect renovating the National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing said criticism of her plans from the Wing’s first designer “was very hurtful.”
💬 Catch up on my latest 250 Take
— After 40 years, it’s ‘Mission: Accomplished’ for the Science Museum’s Space gallery
📊 Last week’s poll results | Are you excited for Sir David Attenborough's immersive show at the Natural History Museum?
— Yes! It sounds incredible! 46%
— No! Immersive experiences are naff! 54%
— This edition took 7 hours to write. If you value it, please donate. Every penny will make those 7 hours worth it.