Across three exciting nights in May (15-17), we will all have the chance to venture into museums, galleries and heritage venues 'after dark' as they open their doors for Museums at Night - a nationwide festival of inspiring after-hours arts and cultural events.
Across three exciting nights in May (15-17), we will all have the chance to venture into museums, galleries and heritage venues 'after dark' as they open their doors for Museums at Night - a nationwide festival of inspiring after-hours arts and cultural events.
The festival, which is run by Culture24 and supported by public funding through Arts Council England, bursts into life Thursday 15 May and runs through to Saturday 17 May. This year will see more than 500 events and activities across the UK, with nearly 60 taking place across London.
The Museums at Night campaign ties in with its European equivalent - La Nuit Des Musées - which takes place on 17 May 2014, creating a European-wide celebration of arts and culture. In contrast to its European counterpart, Museums at Night is spread across three nights in the UK - giving venues greater flexibility in the programming and providing audiences with more opportunities to get involved.
Museums at Night offers people the opportunity to explore museums they already know and love, but in a new light; or to discover a museum or venue that they have never encountered before. It represents a really important part of audience development for the arts and culture sector and helps to introduce people to the inspiring wealth of arts and heritage venues that we have in England.
There will be a broad range of activities across London, including the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, Horniman Museum and Gardens, Orleans House Gallery and the Cartoon Museum.
A significant part of Museums at Night is Connect10, which pairs up leading contemporary artists with venues across the country to create ten very special events. Each artists' partner museum was chosen by the public through an online vote that saw more than 62,000 votes - venues across the country set out their bids for artists and rallied their audiences to vote for them! Connect10 is supported by public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England's Grants for the arts programme.
The William Morris Gallery, London, is one of the 10 organisations nationwide to have been paired up with an artist thanks to nearly 2,500 votes by supporters; Mr Smith will be taking his extraordinary Letterpress Workshop on the road. Under his direction and with the support of his team of assistants the public will be invited to create a typographic archive, the content of which is defined by the venue, its visitors and its collection.
The final line up for Connect10 is:
Alex Hartley at Market Hall Museum, Warwick
Amy Sharrocks, Swansea Museum
Fred Deakin, The Wilson (Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum)
Grayson Perry, Yorkshire Museum, York
Janette Parris, The Cardiff Story
Jessica Voorsanger, 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe
Matt Pyke, National Football Museum, Manchester
Mr Smith's Letterpress, William Morris Gallery
Rankin, St Ann's Allotments, Nottingham
Spencer Tunick, Georges House Gallery
For more information about events planned near you, please visit the Museums at Night website and enter your postcode.
http://www.culture24.org.uk/places-to-go/museums-at-night