Image: Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery 2021 (Birmingham Museums)
Key galleries will reopen on 24 October 2024, featuring new displays which “[tell ]stories about Birmingham as a complex, vibrant, multicultural city.”
Birmingham Museums Trust has revealed plans for the next phase in the phased reopening of Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. Several gallery spaces will welcome visitors again from Thursday, 24 October 2024, following the completion of essential maintenance work across the Council House complex.
The reopening will include The Round Room Gallery, The Industrial Gallery, showcasing a new ‘Made in Birmingham’ display, The Bridge Gallery, hosting a changing display area, and The Edwardian Tearooms and Museum Shop.
Sara Wajid and Zak Mensah, Co-CEOs at Birmingham Museums Trust, expressed enthusiasm about the reopening: “We can’t wait to welcome visitors again in time for October half term. It’s such an important institution for the people of Birmingham and we’ve made those people central to the new displays that you will all be able to see.”
The ‘Made in Birmingham’ display in the Industrial Gallery will celebrate the city’s industrial heritage, creative spirit, and global impact. It will feature notable objects such as the HP Sauce factory sign and Benjamin Zephaniah’s typewriter.
A new ‘Wild City’ area will open two galleries dedicated to children and families, focusing on nature in the urban environment. The museum will also present ‘Modern Muse’, an exhibition of works by internationally-recognised artist Arpita Shah, featuring portraits of South Asian women from Birmingham and the West Midlands.The Victorian Radicals exhibition of Pre-Raphaelite art has been extended until at least Christmas 2024 due to popular demand.
The reopening follows extensive maintenance work, including upgrades to the visitor lift, floor restoration in key areas, and roof repairs. The museum will be open Wednesday to Sunday, from 10am until 5pm, with free entry for visitors.