Museums and heritage

The number of people visiting DCMS-sponsored institutions from outside the UK showed slow signs of recovery last year, according to new figures released by the department.

Between April 2021 and March 2022, there were an estimated 1.3m overseas visitors to DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries.

The number is nearly 23 times higher than the previous year, when there were just 54,000 visits from people living outside the UK, largely due to lockdown restrictions.

But the number of overseas visitors remains 94% down on the last financial year unaffected by the pandemic, when 22.7m visited DCMS-sponsored sites in 2018/19. 

Museums and galleries supported by DCMS include the British Museum, Imperial War Museums, National Museums Liverpool, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum Group and the Tate Gallery Group.

The department says the current trend largely mirrors the decrease in overseas visitors to the UK since the pandemic.

A museum designed with and for young people will open in London on 1 July.

Young V&A, in London’s Bethnal Green, is the culmination of a £13m capital project on the site of the former V&A Museum of Childhood, which was east London’s first museum.

The new museum has been designed collaboratively with children under-14s and will showcase more than 2,000 works from the V&A’s collection of art, design and performance.

Gallery spaces feature interactive and hands-on activities, with curated areas designed for babies, teenagers and family-friendly exhibitions.

V&A Director Tristram Hunt commented: “Children and young people have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic and its aftermath, alongside the dramatic fall in creative education in schools. 

“Young V&A is our response: a flagship project investing in creativity with and for young people and their futures. 
 
“Our plan is to foster Britain’s next generation of artists, thinkers, makers, innovators, and entrepreneurs.”

A museum in Durham that closed in 2016 due to council cuts is set to reopen.

Durham County Council's planning committee has approved plans to renovate the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) Museum.

The council hopes the refurbished museum, gallery and café will attract between 60,000 and 150,000 visitors a year.

The museum will be free to enter and will display a selection of objects from the DLI collection.

The majority of the collection will be held at a new cultural centre, The Story, which is currently being built.

Elizabeth Scott, cabinet member for economy and partnerships, said: "Key objects from the DLI collection will be on display at the venue, maintaining links to the building's heritage and, more specifically, showcasing the role the DLI played in world history. 

"The venue will also have strong links to The Story which, when complete, will be a permanent home for the DLI collection."

Plans for a Welsh national football museum have received a £5.4m boost from the Welsh Government. 

The money will go towards the creation of the Museum of Two Halves in Wrexham, which last year became Wales' newest city.

The Football Association of Wales was formed in the city in 1876.

More recently, Wrexham AFC has been the talk of Welsh football after Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the club in February 2021.

Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport Dawn Bowden said: "Wrexham is the birthplace of Welsh football so it's the ideal location to celebrate the sport's heritage."

The museum, which is set open by 2026, will display a wide range of Welsh football memorabilia, including some of the 2000-plus items currently held in Wrexham's museum archives.

Jonathan Gammond, project manager of the Museum of Two Halves, said the museum will be "about any football played in Wales or any football played by Welsh people outside Wales". 

He added: "All aspects of the game will be covered: amateurs, professionals, men and women, different nationalities and minorities – everyone who loves the game."

A plan to create a permanent home for the East End Women’s Museum in Barking town centre has been scrapped.

The trustees of the museum said that problems finalising the lease for the new building meant it was not able to accept some of the funding it had been awarded, making the project unviable.

“Despite exploring multiple avenues, it was not possible to agree a way of working that was acceptable to all stakeholders,” the museum said in statement.

The museum, which claims to be the only dedicated women’s museum in England, currently operates on a ‘pop-up’ basis, presenting temporary exhibitions at different venues.

It describes its mission as to "record, research, share and celebrate the stories of East London women past and present".

A spokesperson for the museum said they had not given up looking for a permanent space in the future.

They added: “We are beyond disappointed that we won’t be moving into the building in Barking.

"The board, our volunteers, supporters, and the project team have worked so hard to make this a reality. We are sad and frustrated we have got to this point.

“The support we have received and the work that has been completed to date means we know that more than ever, a museum like ours is needed to tell the stories of the great women in history.”

Northern Ireland is hoping to secure its first Cultural World Heritage site through a joint bid with the USA and Germany.

The proposal to UNESCO is for Gracehill in County Antrim, an 18th century settlement associated with the Moravian Church.

The picturesque village became Northern Ireland’s first conservation area in 1975.  

The other sites in the bid are settlements in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Herrnhut in Saxony, both of which also have strong links to the Moravian Church.

The nomination is being led by the USA in conjunction with the UK and German governments. 

Colum Boyle, Permanent Secretary, Department for Communities, said: “If successful in securing World Heritage Site status, Gracehill and the wider community will benefit culturally and economically from this important accolade that will further protect an important piece of history for future generations.”

The transnational nomination will be considered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee next year.