Steve Slack

It’s very self-reflective for a museum to present its own labels as display objects, but if there was to be a museum of museum heritage interpretation it makes sense to have it in a place like this, which seeks to offer a glimpse behind the scenes of exhibition making. How genuine that glimpse is …

Getting politicians and the public to take notice is hard work. But queer activists know how to get attention. ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) is an international activist movement originally founded in New York in 1987. By the 1990s, it was active in Manchester …

The new art galleries at the IWM open with a mix of paintings, photographs and film from a range of conflicts and perspectives, setting the visitor up for what lies ahead. It’s as broad and engaging as the rest of the galleries, shaped into …

100 years ago, Georgian sovereignty and national identity were being pulled in multiple directions. Beyond the unifying symbol of St George, the scripts present on this money point to various influences …

Is it appropriate to show human remains in museums? And is it right that a human skull that appears to have been ‘exploded’ goes on display? In this case, the skull has been taken apart and is shown like this in order for students to study …

Of the dozen or so portraits of Derek Jarman in the NPG collection, this is perhaps my favourite. Rather than a posed black and white photograph or a more formal form of portraiture, this captures a fluid queerness that’s refreshing to see …

During the Second World War, workers digging peat for the construction of the RAF Valley airfield on Anglesey/Ynys Mon came across a hoard of over 150 Iron Age objects, including weapons, jewellery and tools. The find offers us a glimpse into the trade networks and craftsmanship of ancient Welsh …

Defining words like man, woman, male and female in so-called ‘biological’ terms is a dangerous business. Despite what you might be told, we humans – like many birds, beasts and fish – have a delightfully broad range of biological variance and locking us down to one end of the spectrum is fraught with danger …

Apart from the obvious breakage risk, the physical properties of glass make it a good repository for pharmaceutical products. The choice of colour for that glass has been, over the years, an aesthetic and later a scientifically backed one. In 1836, Teodor Torosiewicz discovered …

At the start of the Second World War, Poland was divided up, not for the first time. The Nazi and Soviet sectors are shown on this map, marked in pencil and signed in red (Ribbentrop) and blue (Stalin) with the date of the German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty …

Millions of American Bison (Bison bison) were hunted across North America in the 1800s to protect the developing railroads and for their skins and tongues. And their removal also persecuted the first nation Americans already living there …

Crisp days and clear skies are here in the UK, yet chilled winds and raindrops still persist in Springtime. When I look at the rain in this painting, I’m reminded that it doesn’t chill us to the bones as it did a few month ago …

Each St Patrick’s Day, curators at the museum hand this object over to St Patricks’ parish, Belfast. The black oblong on the back of this hand is opened up and a relic – a supposed fragment of the man himself – is placed in there for worshippers to see …

That the sitter was a lesbian is clearly on record as was the furore caused around the publication of her novel The Well of Loneliness (1928), which makes the argument for lesbian rights and same-sex marriage. A decade after this portrait was painted, her work would be banned …

The name Terence Higgins sits on queer people's lips with both pride and poignancy. Terence’s biography as a House of Commons Hansard reporter, barman and DJ is largely overshadowed by him being one of the first people in the UK to die of an AIDS-related illness …

Meet the Chevalier, a part of early 19th-century fashionable London society. A French diplomat, soldier, spy, celebrity fencer, performer and author, d’Eon lived and dressed throughout their life as both a man and woman. A source of fascination, people placed bets on …

The camaraderie of a football team is as strong today as it’s ever been.  It’s often captured in a classic pose, arms folded and shoulder to shoulder with team mates. This one was captured by socially engaged photographer Marge Bradshaw who has spent time taking portraits …

Sculpted over 2000 years ago, this sculpture turned up in a bin bag and was called in by a member of the public. It's nearly 80cm tall, so doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would accidentally fall into the household recycling …

How clever to create an exhibition about something we walk on every day – soil. There’s a whole world down there, hidden away. Scientific explanations of what lies under our feet are all very well, but this creative and visually attractive response to the subject of soil is very attractive to me …

29 January is the start of the Year of the Snake. This enchanting beast’s skeleton is on display in Chinese zodiac cultural relics joint exhibition at the museum. Some 50 snake specimens and a large number of snake-related cultural relics …

One of the first musical acts to have a video game tie-in was a queer band who’d already hit the headlines. When a gaming company so prominently featured a band who’d had a controversial run in the press, we might wonder …

Today, the Blasket Islands are uninhabited. This newspaper article documents the decline in population, leading to their abandonment in 1954. These images have an air of melancholy about them, especially the boy and his dog, shy and unsure about what the future holds …

While the world tells us that the new year means we all ought to be leaping into new ventures, the image of January in this panel seems to show a tired bearded man, warming his hands by the fire. According to this wooden panel, probably from the early 1700s …

It’s refreshing when museums invite visitors to vote on a meaningful and relevant question – and one which can have impact on the future of the display. The recent Work in Progress exhibition involved a series of interactive prototype exhibits …

With its dragons, daffodils and leeks, this is an undeniably Welsh object. Caernarfon blankets, sometimes called Pwllheli blankets are something of an oddity in Welsh textiles. In the centre here is a picture of the Old College …

Mix up cream cheese, cheddar and blue cheeses, Worcestershire sauce, and minced onion, chill the mixture and shape it into a Christmas tree. Perhaps it’s not that disgusting, but then it’s one of the tamer items in the Disgusting Food Museum, a pioneering institution dedicated to …

This exhibition is titled in English and the endangered Nordic language of Southern Sámi. No equivalent word exists for ‘film’ in this language, interestingly the closest translation is ‘Life within an image’. The film itself slowly documents the 360-degree panoramic …

“Think of me” reads the inscription on this pin cushion, made by a soldier recovering from the First World War. It’s a poignant memento of a moment in time that points to the folklore, art and customs of the local area …

The name of this artist remains anonymous, but the subject is clear to see. Made in a secure children’s home, the artist is putting their tag on clear display for us. What do they want us to understand or feel about tagging children? …

Is this street sloping up or downhill? Harold Riley wrote “I played with pictures of streets. I can’t tell if it’s going up or down, Some think it’s going down to the sea, or rising up to the hills. I like to play this trick. I find it interesting.” Like his friend, associate and local Salford artist L. S. Lowry …

There’s more to any (half-decent) heritage site visit than reading. Engage the visitors’ senses and you’ll encourage them not only to interact with your site, but also to take in information in a different ways. And that always leads to better outcomes for your audiences …

So proud are the people of Chesterfield of George Stephenson that they held not only these celebrations outside the market hall in 1881 (marking the centenary of his birth) but also further festivities in 1948 on the centenary of his death …

We know very little about Molly. She was baptised in November 1764 in the Priory Church close to the Judges’ Lodgings and was buried just a month later. It’s likely she was intended to live as a servant, free or enslaved, with a local merchant family. In the same year …

The interpretation doesn’t have much detail on these pots, but the copy seeks to entice us into the display: “Colours can dazzle us, inspire us and calm us. Cherry blossom pink, chestnut brown, sky blue: the way we describe a colour can help us imagine it …

The famous battle took place in 1066 on this day, but not where you think. And The Bayeux Tapestry isn’t even a tapestry. With its countless details embroidered on linen cloth, the embroidery (not tapestry) …

Regarded by many as the single most important document in Thai history, this object is not without controversy. The pillar features inscriptions which have traditionally been regarded as the earliest example of the Thai script. Discovered in 1833 by King Mongkut …

Antinous was the so-called ‘favourite’ of Roman Emperor Hadrian. But we know it was more than just favouritism. You don’t turn your best friend into a god, create a cult in their name and make a statue like this, shown here as Dionysus, the god of wine. They were lovers ...

Perhaps the last thing I expected to find in a Nazi documentation centre were Minnie and Mickey Mouse Pride toys. But in an exhibition about the pushback against Anti-feminism, it's a good conversation starting object ...

Museums can be so straight at first sight. But it doesn’t take too long looking at these characters to realise that the one in a dress has rather impressive sideburns, mutton chops even. Subverting and celebrating at the same time ...

The River Thames, full of evocative atmosphere, mysterious light and radiant colour as captured by someone who understood exactly how to replicate the effects of light on the canvas. It’s on display in London, just a few metres from where Monet made the painting ...

An oil rig is a little like the tip of an iceberg – only a little is visible over the horizon, leaving our imagination to fill in what’s under the water. It’s just that one is being destroyed by climate change and the other is part of the network of problems that have led us to the planetary crisis ...  

Getting into costume allows us to step into another character, to put on a show. Picasso was intrigued by performance – bullfighting but also concerts, cabaret, puppetry and costumed balls. As a parent, he dressed his kids up ...

“Seeing two men being intimate was something I never saw growing up in small town UK. I was 18 before I saw two men kissing, that was on TV and was just the briefest of pecks” writes a participant in a Queer interpretation project at the Whitworth …

Perhaps one of the most striking objects in the new museum displays is a very early sketch of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament logo. It’s a privilege to get up close to something in the making that is now recognisable the world over. But here you can see the artist working …

These personal objects are among items found at sea following shipwrecks, each of them able to tell a story of a life in flux – a straw hat, a Koran, an Eritrean child’s drawing testifying to the torture. Did these objects belong to those who survived crossing the Mediterranean Sea, or those who perished? …

For three months in 1966, Hendrix lived in a flat in Brook Street, which is now a museum to his time in London. He is known to have given his phone number out to so many people that his girlfriend had a …

French King Louis XIV had hundreds of scale models made, showing key defensive landscapes across France made. These strategic tools at 1/600 scale, are accurate representations of the towns and surrounding countryside, making it possible to plan …

The process of raku firing uses fire and air and produces unique pieces like this bowl. The appearance reflects the landscape around Allison Weightman’s home on a remote peninsula of Wester Ross in north-west Scotland, which is only accessible by boat …

As part of the process for sitting for this portrait, Horse sang her best-loved song Careful live and a cappella for the artist in her London studio. Roxanna Halls has captured something of Horse’s charismatic and enthralling performance style …

Executed in 1381 for his role in the first great rebellion in English history, John Ball is today remembered by the people of the town, right on the place where he was tried for his crimes. The rebellion, in response to low pay and the introduction of an unpopular poll tax …

In the early 1700s, the emerging industry of buildings insurance (following the Great Fire) was doing big business. Insurers created plates, such as this one, in order to identify which houses were insured by each company when the fire brigades arrived …

Visitors to the museum on 21st June are invited spend an hour doing daylight astronomy from the garden where William Herschel discovered Uranus in 1781. It’s the summer solstice, when the Earth is fully tilted towards the sun …

Hands are reputedly the hardest part of the body to paint. And so I typed ‘hands’ into ArtUK and waited to see what came back. There’s a lot, and largely very well executed (to my untrained eye). This pair of hands caught my eye. Even though there’s only one full hand visible …

Museum objects tend to stay still in their display cases. Chatting with an interpretation friend who works in natural heritage recently, I reflected on how difficult it must be to tell stories about things that move. And so meet Dash, a three-year-old tiger …

Not the beady eyes of a spider with heterochromia, nor shining lamps at a harbour entrance marking port and starboard, this is instead a ruby and an emerald, set into a golden ring from the 1400s. It was probably a love token or betrothal ring …

Cross boomerangs such as this one were used in throwing competitions by older Aboriginal boys and men of the Yidinji language group near Cairns in northern Queensland. The contests judged both the skill of the player and the quality of their boomerang's construction. The tips …

Designed for being blasted into space and orbiting the Earth, the word Soyuz (in English, Union) has come into modern parlance and is synonymous with the Soviet space programme from the 1960s onwards …

Even on dry land and with no flesh on its bones, this whale is still a stunning sight. This 9m (29ft) skeleton of a young humpback was washed ashore near Barry in 1982. It’s thought to have been …

The jostling legs, the frocks and the headdresses of the cancan dancers of the Moulin Rouge capture a moment in 1890s Paris, summoning something of the thrills and delights of Bohemian Montmatre. This is Toulouse-Lautrec’s first poster for the club …

This bronze head, created by the so-called ‘father of modern sculpture’ is one of the earliest works going on display in the Pompidou’s current temporary exhibition. The gallery podcast says this object: “hints at dreams and utter tranquillity, free of all material …

In 1965, portable defibrillators were brand new and, in the case of this prototype, powered by a car battery. Frank Pantridge was the person responsible, developing this kit in Belfast where he was an emergency medicine doctor who believed strongly in the rapid treatment …

Concealed for over 30 years within an unassuming Victorian semi-detached house, Ron Gittins’ magical home remained a secret until his death in 2019. Now it’s been granted a Grade II* listing by Historic England, meaning it can be protected and preserved. And not just save, also used …

Try ordering a copy of Earth Platinum from your local bookshop and they’ll get quite the surprise. There were only 31 printed and the price tag is $100,000 USD. It would also take quite the delivery truck at 1.8 metres tall and weighing 150 kilograms. I viewed this copy ten years ago …

Art is beautiful, but also dangerous. Sappho (on the right here) wrote nine books of poetry, the principal subject of which is the joy and frustration of love. That these two women are lovers is clear by the pair of doves seated above them …

There’s something rather special about placing multiple museum objects together into a display, especially items that would usually only be seen on their own, such as these train signs. There’s power in numbers …

If protests in the name of the climate don’t harm museum collections permanently, and they bring real attention to the cause they’re championing, are they valid? Conservators have cleaned this bust of QV …

In 27 BC, an earthquake shook the head of the great Rameses to the ground, leaving it in pieces on the floor, 20 metres below. Carved out of the rock, the façade has four statues of Rameses II, each 20 metres high, flanking the entrance to his great temple. When the Aswan High Dam was created…

There are thought to be more than 1.5 million species of beetle on the planet, meaning that one quarter of all animal species are beetles. This display of shimmering jewel-like insects seems like …

Encountered at lifesize, the unrealistic nature of these aspirational bodies is impossible to ignore. This special edition scaled-up version Barbie doll has a 21-inch waist, with a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.65. Were she a living woman, her body would fall into the underweight range. She is accompanied by …

This garment speaks to the generosity and resilience of women in the face of hugely challenging, and radically changed, circumstances. The woman who made it, donated the dress to another woman, who was expelled from her home during the Nakba of 1948 …

Did you ever stick a picture of a celebrity on your bedroom wall or into your school books? Byron was fascinated by the culture of celebrity. In the early 1800s, the lives of boxers and actors were the stuff of gossip and their printed portraits were widely available …

Brightly coloured and smiling, this bear was made in a prison cell by someone who had plenty of time on their hands. Letters, cards and gifts pass constantly into and out of prisons …

Special Operations Executive agents operating in South-East Asia during the Second World War used overshoes like these to cover their tracks. Strapped under the wearer’s shoes …

With its dinghies, dilutants, solutions and snowfall, is this a poem? Or is it a painting? Given how much I enjoy looking at it, I don't really mind if it’s neither or both. The intertwined words and phrases …

Tulips might be best associated with spring, but they’ve just started to reappear on florists’ stands across Britain, bringing some colour and light to these dark months …

Tell visitors they are welcome! Made from brightly coloured aluminium and stainless steel, contrasting with the stone building surrounding it, this landmark work is inspired by the historical identity of Bury, taking elements from its industrial past …

Christmas is, for many, a time of contradictions, and I feel them very much here, in the choice of dark black and bright pink. With rosy cheeks from the cold and a clutch of festive goods being hurried along in the snow …

Everyone who worked on the redevelopment of the museum is represented here. It’s a way of crediting everyone’s hard work with more than just a name on a list – and wherever they go in their careers from here onwards …

Since he died last week, and with Christmas not long away, I’ve been re-reading Benjamin Zephaniah’s famous Turkeys poem and it’s been making me smile. I can imagine him writing on his typewriter, the rhythm of the poem matched by the clacking of the keys …

How should one go about describing this painting in a gallery label? Or perhaps not even describe it but to direct visitors’ eyes, brains or emotions in a certain direction? It’s part of the skill of the curator to write this text and also the interpreter …

2,000 pieces of white porcelain formed into letters of the English alphabet, and components of Chinese characters, are suspended from the ceiling of the museum. Liu, one of China's best-known contemporary ceramic …

The yellow pigment has faded over time, leaving a white canary and blue foliage, but the subject of this painting – a young girl’s sadness at her first confrontation with death – is as clear to us as it was to viewers nearly 300 years ago …

Incongruous as it may seem in a museum about the history and heritage of this country, among the traditional art and artefacts there are also many rooms of ‘general heritage’ – tea pots and ties, kids’ bikes and tourist t-shirts …

What drama, peeking around the red curtain. A devil-like figure, once considered too controversial for the audience of its time, has resurfaced from the depths of this painting, thanks to investigative conservators. They found layers of …

What is this thing, the MET? I found it quite difficult to categorise it. Is it an arts space? Yes, but it’s also a local community centre. Is it temporary? Yes, but it is fairly hefty and can’t simply be moved on. The MET is an opportunity. Instead of finding answers to existing challenges …

Current reading of this book from 1873 provides us with a reminder to keep on seeing things afresh, to keep on learning and to keep on reinterpreting. Abbi Parcell, a PhD candidate, has been reading this book …

Designed for measuring the height of the flood waters on the River Nile each year, Ancient Egyptians used this gauge, in part, for predicting the level waters would rise further downstream. But its real function …

50 loaves of stale bread have been shaped into a head in an exhibition called Ingenuity. The artist says “He may look like a big tough chap, but he is actually quite a delicate flower. Please treat him with the love …

Officially recognised by the world record people from Guinness, this really is the biggest pencil on the planet. The museum shows how pencils are made, why they’re made in the Lake District (a ripe seam of graphite exists there) and even …

W. E. Gladstone – tried, trusted and true – peeks out of this image with his trademark grimace, amongst a bouquet of lurid flowers. Silk pictures made by Thomas Stevens of Coventry, known as Stevengraphs, became popular from the late 1870s …

In August 1990, this box was used for the ballot on East Germany’s accession to the Federal Republic of Germany. Intentionally made from glass, it symbolised a new transparency in parliamentary decision-making …

Leandro Erlich designed this ‘pool’ especially for Voorlinden. At first sight, it seems like a real swimming pool – the pool blue on the walls, the typical lamps and even a real ladder on which visitors seem to be able …

Step into the world of Igor Gazdík (1943–2006) – art historian, librarian and bibliophile – in this innovative display of books. Once housed in a block of flats, today in the gallery space, the collection offers visitors …

Each square in this patchwork quilt commemorates the life of a woman who was killed by a current or former partner – 598 of them in England and Wales between 2009 and 2015. It’s a visual representation of …

There are 375 instruments in the college’s collection of historic instruments. In addition to being heard, some of them have to be seen to be believed. This one might look like it belongs in a fairy tale with its fantastical serpent’s head …

Something magical happens when letters and the book become the raw material of art, so says the curator of temporary exhibition Alphabets Alive! Next to the carefully crafted lettersets and exacting alphabet books, I found the irregularity of print rather charming …

‘How much noise can you make with Annie’s pram?’ visitors are asked as they enter the museum. The infamous fishwife used to sell ware from her pram, making as much noise as she could …

Just think, it could have been known as a ‘snargleglow’. But as you well know, the author reached instead for the word ‘gruffalo’ – and here’s the very first time she scribbled it …

While the building is being renovated, the hands of the town hall clock have been brought down to our level and are now on display in the Central Library. Viewing them up close, is a completely different prospect …

A group of girls chatting in their school playground during a break makes for a seemingly innocent piece of textile art. But these girls are in Afghanistan, where an innocent scene like this simply can’t play out any more, since the return of the Taliban there and the barring of girls and women from formal education …

 The dagger, flint arrowheads, wrist guard and ceramic pot are all trappings of burials belonging to a group of people who arrived in the British Isles somewhere around 4500 years ago. The pot – or beaker – led to them being called the ‘Beaker people’ by historians, which seems a little unfair …

Portraying something of the personality and character of the sitter is just one of the challenges facing the portrait artist. Jean Muir is described as being ‘calm in a psychedelic storm’, a symbol of understated elegance in British fashion …

A table plan for a ceremonial meal, laid out neatly in ‘the Russian style’, as described by Aunt Marie, the authority on French cooking and kitchens. But Marie wasn’t a real person – she was made up by …

On mid-summer morning, throngs of people will gather to see the stone circle at the heart of this must-see monument in perfect alignment with the rising sun. Testament to human ingenuity …

Former enemies, united by love – these outfits were worn by German Sigrid Krueger and British Army officer on their wedding day in 1990. Anthony was serving in West Germany as part of the occupying forces when the couple met in an Anglo-German choir …

Birds have long been related to shamans – the messengers of the spirits, their associations with crossing over into other worlds, with the ability to inhabit both our realm and that of the unseen. This bird figure, with its strangely familiar human-like face …

Nature isn’t always presented naturalistically in art. As our relationship with nature changes, so too do the ways in which look at artworks. The Age of Nature gallery at the museum turns the focus towards humanity as part of …

To some, it’s a medical specimen in a jar. To Jennifer Sutton, it’s an ‘incredibly surreal’ experience – that of visiting her own heart in a museum gallery. It was removed from her body during transplant surgery …

Disabled people often use this slogan to communicate the idea that no decision should be made by anyone without the involvement of people affected by it. It’s a principle as true to activism as it is to co-curation, which is fitting for this object …

Is this girl dancing, singing or perhaps trying to fly? Either way, her song is joyful, even if it is somewhat cautious. Taking to the stage to share a song of spring is no easy task, as the competitors at this week’s Eurovision Song Contest know …

London is set to host ceremonial processions through the streets of London this week, although likely with a different tone to that inspired by Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector and the first (perhaps not the last) commoner to become head of state in Britain …

Farewell, gentle possum. In 1997, Barry Humprhies wore these specs in an episode of Dame Edna's Work Experience in which she visited workers at the H.J. Heinz and Company baked beans' factory …

Happy International Bat Appreciation Day. While the museum has real bat specimens in its collection, along with cricket bats, my eye was drawn to this small Victorian playing card …

Many of Gyles Brandreth’s iconic jumpers were made as one-offs by his partner George Hostler, a sculptor who abandoned his hammer and chisel in favour of knitting needles. His appearances on breakfast television …

The royal we were in Istanbul last week, visiting museums and heritage sites. And by chance, this is where the mother of the Ottoman Sultan would carry out her ablutions in private, in her own loo …

As I wondered what to pack on a trip to Istanbul, instead of looking at my own wardrobe, I could have been taking inspiration from this 1790s album of Turkish costume. This clown or harlequin with jerkin, breeches and tall cap …

‘Queer’ and ‘South Asian’ are not mutually exclusive. However, growing up in the UK without many visible role models, people often feel as though they do not belong in either LGBTQ+ or South Asian spaces. This co-curated display of …

The sights and sounds, perhaps even the smells, of the streets are captured in this scroll, reproduced in large format on the wall of the museum. Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) would barely recognise Beijing today, one of the world’s largest megacities, with over 21 million residents …

Made in Dhaka, Bangladesh, this rickshaw is one of two commissioned by Manchester Museum – although it’s not clear sure where the other one is. Three British Asian artists …

Today he welcomes visitors in the museum entrance hall, but his own arrival wasn’t that straightforward. In 1872, Belle Vue Zoo in Manchester bought Maharajah from a …

The fine details of art history sometimes needs unpicking for us mere mortals, but here’s a refreshing example of a display where the story is pretty clear – how Bernat Klein used an abstract oil painting …

Oh, what you've done to my heart! It might not be a classic Valentine card image, but this example from the mid-1900s of a steamroller ploughing its way over a heart is, I believe, quite brilliant …

Probably the best known object in the British Museum collection related to the campaign for Women’s Suffrage is this defaced penny coin, with the now famous strapline demanding VOTES FOR WOMEN stamped across King Edward VII’s face …

Agricultural museum collections are full of objects with splendid names. You’ll have heard of a wim-wom already, of course. (Just in case you want a refresher, it’s a hand cart with a large …

Before his career in politics, the so-called ‘Beast of Bolsover’ worked as a miner. He’s perhaps more famously, and certainly warmly, remembered as the Labour MP for Bolsover from 1970 until 2019, and this is how …

This wooden plaque features the Sword of Light emblem (An Claidheamh Soluis) and commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Easter 1916 Rising. In 1966, emblems like these were placed on the front of buses …

Happy birthday Imelda, shown here staring into the camera with determination certainly, yet also a quiet sense of warmth and humanity. When this picture was taken, nearly 20 years ago …

Toy Museums often consist of comparatively small things – games, little trinkets and handheld playthings. But the toys here are big toys, including this scale model of a rollercoaster …

Stephen is surrounded by the tools of his murder and the remains of his tattered robe – perhaps this is a scene that some people recognise on this Boxing Day morning, after the celebratory highs of the day before …

Posters such as this one from the early 80s for the reggae artist Eek-a-Mouse, were designed with simple black graphics and font on a yellow background. Flyers were often designed by band members …

Of the 39 officers who signed this silver box in March 1914 (at Verdala Barracks, Malta hence the name) 13 lost their lives during the First World War, seven of them by October of that year …

Made specifically for, but never used in, the execution of the five ring leaders of the Cato Street conspiracy, this axe is a curious reminder of a time when the state readily killed its own citizens …

Influenced by the world of Van Gogh, Mario Giacoya (born 1951 in Sarandí Grande, Florida) creates artworks that are alive with fluidity and colour. Their approach to landscape painting stands out, a rural landscape …

This is the collected volume of Shakespeare’s plays, bought for Birmingham’s public collection in 1881, is the only copy of this historic book purchased as part of a programme of education and inclusion …

Very few pieces of civic street furniture in Britain survived the Second World War. Many metal poles and railings were taken away to be recycled into weapons for fighting the war. But many people didn’t realise that iron …

“One summer afternoon. I had just washed my stuffed dog and placed it on a drying rack when I heard a mortar shell fall close by. As soon as I realized that the fighting had begun, I rushed back inside” writes Dmytro …

A few months after the end of the Second World War, HMS London sailed from Colombo back to the UK. Members of the ship’s company who were not due for release or repatriation were replaced by people due for return to Britain, including this …

What does home mean to you? It’s a purposefully broad question that this interactive, fact-finding exhibition asks visitors to respond to in a range of ways. Making Home: a Place to Be invites asks broad questions about …

Commissioned for the opening of OCMA’s new building this week, Of many waters… is a 24-foot-wide-by-16-foot-tall multimedia outdoor sculpture …

Sometimes the exterior of the gallery gets taken over as a canvas. Spraying art – yes, let’s call it art – directly onto the art gallery walls provokes thoughts not only about what’s within, but how it’s funded. Don’t get me wrong …

“With an apple, I will astonish Paris” Cezanne once claimed. Leaving his native Aix-en-Provence for Paris in his 20s, this is precisely what he did, a story explored in a new exhibition at Tate Modern. Cezanne’s still lifes …

Images of the fictional village of Llareggub (read it backwards) are usually only ever summoned up in the mind, when hearing a performance or recording of Dylan Thomas's play for voices, 'Under Milk Wood' …

One of those words we haven’t heard for generations then, all of a sudden, it’s back in common usage – a catafalque is a frame for holding a coffin during a funeral or lying-in-state. This one was made in 1865 to support the …

From Squid Game to K-pop and Gangnam Style, the dynamic visual style of modern Korea is immediately recognisable. The ‘Korean Wave’ of colour, upbeat designs and, here, the traditional Korean saekdong garment …

‘Do what you want’ the screen says. People are invited to speak, sing, perform, recite or entertain fellow visitors in this exhibition – a space handed over to anyone from Rochdale to have their own artworks displayed and voices heard …

Smaller than a playing card and more expensive than a mansion, this tiny manuscript offers an insight into the mind of the budding 13-year-old novelist …

The International Council of Museums is meeting in Prague this week and the Czechia post office, Ceska Posta, has created a stamp to mark the occasion …

In the 1960s, applicants to work in a Belgian textile factory had to copy the image on the white board onto a larger board, using thread, correctly and as quickly as possible. People were also tested …

Cats are secretive beasts – you never can quite tell what they’re thinking. And this Ancient Egyptian cat is no exception, hiding a secret for generations, before scientists and the British Museum figured out …

The oldest visual representation of a lion in Georgia (2500–3000 BC) this little golden figurine, highly decorated and just a few centimetres, served as inspiration for the logo of the National Bank of Georgia …

Archaeologists don’t just dig up prehistoric objects. Between 2007 and 2009, the owner of this now corroded USB memory stick – excavated from a muddy secondary school playing field …

By the time tourists visiting Liverpool leave, it is impossible for them to be in any doubt of the city’s link to The Beatles. They are all plastered on all the guided walks, each tourist information sign, every …

At first glance, it might look like a piece of medieval needlework, but this is a modern piece of woven and embroidered tapestry, commissioned in 2017 by Tourism Ireland to celebrate …

Useful for peeking around corners, spreading light in a room and distorting perspective, curved mirrors like these have gone out of fashion since this one was made in the early 1800s. In 2014, the frame …

It’s a delight to hear that the refurbished Nationalmuseet is open to visitors. And also to know that they start their new chapter than with an exhibition specially designed for children and families in a magical land of …

Sometimes museum labels tell us much more when they write less. In just three words, the curator has left the visitor with more questions than answers – and I’m all for that, from time to time. Visitors don’t need spoon-feeding …

With the flesh off the bone, it’s hard to tell what animal this might be at first glance, so the display label is useful for the visitor. Then they might notice what’s lying around it – burger wrappers? …

Strange how we have been fed some specific visual styles from certain artists. At first sight, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was by Van Gogh, not Mondrian. No squares of primary colour …

This is the only known oil painting of Mary Seacole – once an almost unknown nurse from the Crimean War, but now thankfully a key part of the education curriculum in the UK …

I’m sure museum collections all over the world will be documenting the memory of experience of the Coronavirus pandemic. We’ve used so many of these little plastic trays over the last few years – and after countless tests …

This list of telephone numbers in the village of Braemar, which hangs on the wall in the castle, is a glimpse into who you could call in the 1950s. The butcher’s number is just ‘206’ – and Menzies butchers in Braemar still ends in 206 today …

This monumental piece of stone is a reminder of a more dangerous time, when British Empire saw the world as conquerable and controllable. At 40 tonnes, it’s one of the largest stone spheres in the world …

As a child, our house would occasionally receive a letter from what we called ‘Uncle Ernie’. It was, of course, news that someone in the family had won a prize in the UK Premium Bonds …

Many cocktails have an origin myth. The ‘original’ Irish coffee has its in a museum in Foynes, on the west coast of Ireland. One night in 1943, when a flight bound for New York turned back due to bad weather …

These couldn’t belong to anyone else. Tourists might not be expecting to encounter these objects, or even this museum, on the island of Zanzibar. It’s where Farrokh Bulsara, better known …

“Mere colour, unspoiled by meaning … can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways.” Oscar Wilde
These tiles, displayed by the window in the ceramics gallery, glowing in the sun, are a reminder not only …

Since it was established that the object had been looted from Benin City by the British military in 1897, it is being proactively returned to Nigeria. One of the so-called ‘Benin Bronzes’, taken by force …

The first dog to visit the North Pole. Italian explorer and adventurer Umberto Nobile flew over the pole in 1926, accompanied by this fox terrier. He’d found the dog as a puppy, wandering the streets of Rome …

Who’s this table set for? Twenty inspirational women from around the world who have excelled in the arts and music are commemorated here. The museum’s resident miniaturist – who doesn’t have one? – has created this tiny artwork, with a place setting for each …

White (1918–79) used the symbol of the shell repeatedly in his work. To me it looks like an ear, beckoning us not only to look, but to listen. It’s currently on display in the Black American Portraits, an exhibition LACMA hopes will …

This is one of the last coins made in Britain before the Romans arrived, in this case by a king of the Iceni (who was also husband of the warrior queen known to us as Boudica). It’s clear that this silver coin, issued between 35 BC and 45 BC, was made …

We’re not sure if this painting is still intact. The museum was reportedly damaged this week during the Russian attack on northern Ukraine. Maria Primachenko (1909–97) came to fame in the 1930s as a folk artist …

The colours in this oil painting seem so faint, fading, even vanishing, beckoning the viewer towards them. Birgir’s approach to creating artwork is delicate, whispering, heightening the senses and drawing us in …

What do you see when you look at this painting? There are no right or wrong answers to that question, of course. For me, it’s probably the swirling colours and shapes of the Absolutely Fabulous opening titles …

Archaeologists reckon that people buried dogs in the Iron Age with some form of ritual significance – that they might help to appease the spirits and underworld. This fits well with the idea that the dog was a guardian in the real world …

There is no single story of feminism and the media. And so choosing one object from this online exhibition, a mosaic of images, proved a challenge. Forms, Voices, Networks: Feminism and the Media explores the intersections between the growth of mass media and women’s rights movements …

The artist presents herself to us as a scholar and an elegant figure of note – approachable and intelligent. And while the monocle draws our attention to her eye, it also reminds us that this was a woman who observed the world, rather than simply inhabiting it …

The decoration on this vase is all about illusion. Taking something three-dimensional, like a flowering plant, and compressing that not only into a two-dimensional drawing, but also then imprinting it on a curved surface …

The hand of the novelist, captured in plaster. Victor Hugo died in 1885 and a mould taken around time of death was then able to inform casts and models for some time afterwards, like this one. It seems a little creepy to us today …

The front cover of this magazine shows April with her dog, Flora, a vision of upper-middle class Britain in the early 1980s. April died last week, leaving a legacy of trailblazing gender and trans rights …

It might look like a fine setting for a grand dinner, but this is actually for playing a game. The aim is to slide large brass discs along the narrow bench – the winner is the one to get closest to the end without falling off. Like shuffleboard …

During the miners’ strike of 1984–85, an alliance was formed between mining families and queer activists. Tins like this were used by gay men and women to collect money on behalf of mining communities, eventually collecting £20,000 …

102 portraits look across this room, all participants from one of Suzanne Lacy’s participatory workshops that lead to the creation of her work. In 2018, Lacy and her collaborators travelled along the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic …

The hand-drawn scene here isn’t from the perspective of war we often see – it’s from a Red Cross volunteer nurse, Edith Maud Drummond Hay who served for the whole of war, first in Scotland and later at several hospitals closer to the frontline in France …

A moment when you are allowed to run in the museum. Visitors are invited to use this interactive booth to explore the area around the museum using a digital interpretation installation. The screen progresses around the route of …

This object is displayed upside down. It was made to hold flowers or plants in a cemetery, with the screwed spike pushed firmly into the ground for stability …

Of all the interpretive devices, museums can choose from, a timeline is a great way of getting either a historical narrative or a background story across to visitors. And they work particularly well when they combine imagery and objects, as here in Sankeys: Extraordinary and Everyday …

Major Sherry Womack broke ground by serving with all-male green beret units. In 2005, she was the first female physician’s assistant to accompany Army Special Operations Forces into Afghanistan. She used new and untested equipment such as this phraselator …

Meet Celia the seal, an unlikely participant in climate change research. As COP 26 heads to Glasgow this week, Celia is reminding visitors to Dive In! Protecting Our Ocean that seals and other marine mammals are facing …

It can sometimes seem as if there’s a museum for everything. The Pencil Museum gets cited often, but less so the Pen Museum, which is a shame, as Birmingham was a major pen-making industry in the Victorian era …

The little grey nodules all over the surface of this cup led to its strange name, even though grapes wouldn’t have been grown in the Bronze Age in England, where this object was found …

This object is cheap to produce, easy to use, durable and incredibly reliable. As an example of design, it’s about as successful as it’s possible to be. And given there are countless thousands of them still in use …

A post from guest curator, Laura Mc Coy, who explains how this plastic decoy is used as a conservation tool … “There are only an estimated eight pairs of Puffin on the Isle of Man …

Arischer Zahnarzt translates from German as ‘Aryan dentist’. Although IWM doesn’t know too much about the exact story of this sign, made most likely at some point in the 1930s or 40s in the city of Karslruhe, the meaning of the object is pretty clear …

Look carefully into the multiple layers of this chequerboard drawing (red watercolour) and there are shapes and lines waiting to escape the paper. Maybe even a flying horse. Close looking is encouraged …

The name 'buhai' means bull, and it’s the bellowing of this animal that the instrument is thought to resemble, even though the membrane of the drum is made from rabbit skin and the hair flowing over the top is from a horse’s tail …

The outsides of football stadiums are generally pretty dull affairs – but at Manchester City’s ground, they’ve used old photographs from the club’s history not only decorate the …

This was a pretty radical camera, for the time. Within months of this camera going on sale in 1959, camera makers in Germany and Japan were imitating the ‘chequerboard’ design …

At first sight, this seems like a drawing of the sea. But look closer and you’ll see it’s actually three pages of marks made by a typewriter, of all things. Close up, the &s, -s and %s are mixed with letters and numbers …

These men aren’t gods; they’re doctors. The architecture of this museum not only provides a backdrop to the subject of medicine, it also shows the typical features …

How elaborate ceiling and plaster decoration like this doesn’t fall down baffles me. Over the fireplace here is the arms of Elizabeth I with the Latin inscription …

At first sight, this is surely a piece of contemporary sculpture, carved from white stone. But it’s completely natural, formed millions of years ago in northern France, when superhot water filtered through ancient dunes of pure sand …

Google-search a image of the Süleymaniye Mosque and you generally get a picture taken from the Golden Horn side, with the huge dome dominating and the four huge minarets to the right. Or head on, with the dome between the minarets. Galloway has chosen to go round the ‘back’ …

In an age before computerised synthesizers, everyday objects and strange, home-made devices were used to generate electronic sounds. Delia Derbyshire’s Coolican lampshade was one of her favourite things to make artificial sound with …

Handsome or ugly – what do you reckon? As a cult god worshipped by Ptolemaic and Roman Egyptians Serapis was revered. But for the conservation staff at the Museum, he’s a star of Ugly Object of the Month, a clever blog that checks in on museum collection items …

At high tide the waves of the English Channel lap the base of the cliffs at Lyme, the little white talons of the sea grabbing at grey mud, revealing little gems like this. It’s not a dinosaur – despite this being the Jurassic Coast, you can abandon any hopes of finding a T-Rex …

This is the oldest topiary in the world. Wandering into this garden of sculpted delights, I feel like a character from a children’s tale, shrunk down to a fraction of my normal size. In fact, there’s something of the magical illustrated storybook about this place …

In the early 1800s, Arthur Wellesley, then Viscount Wellington, asked his shoemaker to make boots in this style because they were easier to wear with trousers. After his victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 …

The social history of the hamlets and villages around the Cornish resort of Perranporth is preserved in this volunteer-run museum, complete with recreated kitchen. And no kitchen is complete without food models …

Despite being a rarity now, most chapels in Wales in the late 1800s and early-mid-1900s had a set of ‘chapel china’ that was used for every day catering but also for special occasions, celebrations and festivities …

Submarine museums tend to focus on the insides – the cramped conditions, life on board, the mystery of long hours in the deep seas and the loneliness of the submariner. Not so at this museum, where the outside of the X51 submarine …

Stephen Poyntz Denning (1795–1864) started life as a beggar and was apprenticed for seven years colouring prints. By 1821 he had become Keeper of Dulwich Picture Gallery, a job he for over 40 years. What a fulfilled life …

No matter how hard you crane your neck through the departure lounge window, it can be tough to get a decent view of your plane. So go for a walk on its wings in an aviation museum, instead …

Does hanging a load of portraits together on an art gallery wall invite visitors to engage more with the paintings, or to look less? There’s an argument that says by placing so many collection items together …

I’ll bet you never knew those things you put your face in for a photo opportunity had a name. Well now you do. Sproftacchel. Some might sniff at them as naff interpretation, but anything that gets people

Do you experience a painting differently if you can also literally smell the work as you look at it? Now you can try it out for yourself, at home, as part of a digital-meets-olfactory art gallery experience …

Buried in a peat bog for the best part of a thousand years, this in tact slab of butter is perhaps as surprising as the very idea that a museum of butter even exists. But it does, and perhaps there’s no better place for it than Cork …

Not only is this cabbage carved from jadeite and not only is it a treasure of the museum, now it’s also the star of a tv show. Palace of Serendipity is a new 10-part series in Taiwan, each episode inspired by a museum object …

“A scaly gauntlet now with joints of steel, Must glove this hand” Henry IV Part 2
During the Tudor period, full armour was used less and less …

Although it looks like two materials, this pot was crafted from a single lump of gold-silver-copper alloy. The artist then worked the surface to create the look of silver and gold. Where the two meet is the important part. It symbolises the balance that’s a key part of Chimú thinking …

In the early 1900s, the WSPU encouraged their members to hold informal meetings in their parlours and sitting rooms to raise funds for the organisation. This bowl …

In 1852, marine biologist and naturalist Philip Henry Gosse made his first serious attempt to create a marine aquarium. It was instantly popular, both as a scientific means of looking at the sea, but also as an incongruous and fashionable …

There’s an assumption by some that heritage interpretation needs to stay in museum or gallery display spaces, close to the heritage that’s being interpreted. But don’t forget other areas visitors go to, like the coffee shop …

Welsh daffodils to mark a happy St David’s Day. Or is it? There’s something of the melancholy about these daffodils. Rather than being painted in their perky prime, this arrangement is on the wane …

This is just one work from one the newest art galleries in Europe, due to open in the Spring (pandemic permitting). Over the last 40 years, Helga de Alvear has collected one of Spain’s most significant …

The film The Dig is trending on Netflix right now. The movie tells the story of the excavation of the Sutton Hoo ship burial in Suffolk during the last few days of peace in 1939. While it focusses on the discovery of the ship …

Have you ever kept a keepsake from an old relationship? Maybe a photo, maybe a jumper you just couldn’t face giving back. Or perhaps 4,213 cigarette butts that your partner has smoked? That’s what the main character in the novel The Museum of Innocence did when he hoarded the remains …

Inviting visitors to stare into the terrifying jaws of a giant fossil shark is certainly a powerful way to start the visitor experience at The Deep. You’re entering the deep, dark waters of the oceans. But you’re also delving into the past …

The partition of Poland in the early 1800s meant Polish Jews became citizens of three different countries – Austria, Prussia and Russia. In the museum, visitors are invited to sit at a table and imagine choosing which country …

Peering into the windows of this house is to glimpse nine little slices of daily life. From the items in the ground floor shop windows to the people going to about their business, so much is captured here in just one moment …

In February 2020, Home Secretary Priti Patel outlined the UK’s new points-based immigration system, categorising those who earned less than £25,000 as ‘low-skilled’ or ‘unskilled’. Yet, as soon as Covid hit …

Only a couple of decades ago, the UK commemorated 25 years of successful membership of the European Union with a celebratory coin (1998). All the symbols of pride are there – the 12 stars of the EU flag …

I am reminded, this week, of this sign at end of the visitor experience in the museum/visitor experience in the EU Parliament building. Farewell, faithful friend. This new world might be strange, but we won’t be strangers …

While the museum is closed, visitors to the museum’s website can rummage around in this 360° version of a magistrates courtroom online. It’s a clever way of encouraging people to step into a historic space when we still can’t go to museums …

Before the current global pandemic, vaccines were estimated to save between 2 and 3 million lives a year. And they’re set to touch all of our lives, soon. The story of vaccination doesn’t start in a modern lab, but in this hut …

Museums and heritage sites like to offer their audio guide in plenty in languages, enabling as many people as possible to have a chance of listening to the interpretation. How many is your site’s audio tour available in? …

I took this picture for use in my new book Interpreting Heritage: A Guide to Planning and Practice to illustrate the range of printed leaflets heritage sites hand out. I can’t be the only person who hoards these …

The label for this little car left me smiling: “The examiner shows you the brakes, give you a half-hour drive-about and that’s it. Your driving test – if you can call it that – is over. Lessons? What lessons? …

Striking royal blue brocade and bright gold thread. Bright as day and over 90 years old. Whatever kind of event ‘Bolton Civic Week’ was, it was worthy of creating something as beautiful as this …

When I came across these two faces online, I wondered if they’re called ‘grotesque’ because they’ve got menacing faces. Or perhaps if it’s reference to the architectural term ‘grotesque’ for a mythical or fantastical …

Those seeking to engage the youth vote in American elections don’t just need to encourage people to think about politics – they need to remove every excuse for not going to the polling station, including the rain …

Charles Darwin (1809 –82) was an enthusiastic beetle collector and, with his friend and cousin William Darwin Fox, rarely attended lectures at Cambridge, preferring to go ‘beetling’ instead …

You might remember the scene in Derry Girls where students are asked to write things that protestants and catholics have in common, and also their differences. The resulting satire of sectarianism …

Despite being 1600 years old, this seven-metre high pillar has never rusted. It was made during the reign of Chandragupta II (reigned about 375–415) – we know this because the lack of rusting has resulted in the inscription remaining clear and readable …

This map of Sir William Hustler’s estates, painted on a huge sheet of sailcloth, is a piece of dynastic propaganda. At 13 feet square, it’s far too big to have been used as a tool for land management. This is for show …

Battle of Waterloo, 1815
Marquess of Anglesey: "By God, sir, I've lost my leg!"
Duke of Wellington: "By God, sir, so you have!"

This porcelain bowl was found among the ruins of the city after the atomic bomb explosion on 6 August 1945. As a result of the heat of the explosion, the glaze melted and sand and stones became embedded in it. The bomb killed …

Although the house is named after its rare Jacobean cage-newel staircase (there are only three surviving in the country), there is so much more to a visit here than just some stairs. In fact, there’s almost everything you’d want from a historic house visit …

When was the last time you saw a replica of a museum object being paraded through the streets to the sound of cheering crowds? The boat, used by the Castro brothers and their small revolutionary force to land on Cuba in 1956 …

This bust of the legendary drag queen, Divine, was created by a friend, the delightfully eccentric artist, Andrew Logan. It’s made in Logan’s trademark mosaic style – the hair glistening like …

A secret carving, left for us by a dead man. Before the network of tunnels running under the streets of Paris was a catacomb – currently home to thousands of bodies – it was a mine for the stone …

Written interpretation doesn’t always need to be upright. Here’s a charming example of a quotation from Charlotte Brontë, set in a stone in the garden at Plymouth Grove, home of fellow author Mrs Gaskell …

The only dog ever enlisted in the Royal Navy was Just Nuisance, a Great Dane that served in HMS Afrikander, a shore establishment in Simon’s Town (South Africa) between 1939 and 1944. His escapades and heroics …

Museum collections often feature what have become known as ‘curios’ – peculiar little things that are one of a kind and often come with intriguing, dare I say tall, stories. And this is a fine example of one such incongruous item …

An enterprising Dutch sea captain took a young Indian rhinoceros to the Netherlands in 1741 and then toured her extensively across Europe. ‘Miss Clara’, as she was known, was the first example to have been seen …

A rhomboid of pink light, projected into the corner of a room, gives the impression of a 3-D pyramid, glowing and hovering in the darkness. James Turrell is known for encouraging us to look and look again …

What do you see when you look at this statue? Personally, I don’t see a flattering image of the queen. Instead, I’m more inclined to agree with Mark E Smith. In The Fall song City Hobgoblins he says: “So Queen Victoria is a large black slug in Piccadilly, Manchester.”

This is a map of movement –a cartographic history of the migration of the Aztec from Aztlán to Tenochtitlan. It’s the only map of its kind thought to exist. The footprints on the map tell …

The image of dusty butterflies, pinned onto cards in neat rows, is one that museums have spent a generation trying to get away from. So here, the museum has chosen to present the native butterflies of Kenya …

The illustrations in Wainwright’s walking guides are more than just maps. They’re companions, tools for wayfinding, reminders of journeys and even artworks in their own right. Over a decade he wrote seven guidebooks to the …

Washington DC is a planned city. And I love me a bit of civic planning. Growing up in the UK, where cities are mostly accidents and mishaps thrust together into one mishmash of buildings and people, the idea of planning something from scratch …

This is Mount Fuji, but not as you might know it, seen here from above. It was printed as a keepsafe for pilgrims to the Sengen Shrine on Japan’s highest mountain …

Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude were famous for wrapping huge things, like the Reichstag or sections of coastline and turning them into pieces of art that we could all experience. But they started small in the 1960s …

Given the recent headlines about PPE, spare a thought for medics of the past. This physician attending plague patients …

Film props like these really can be described as iconic. Even if you’ve never seen Jason and the Argonauts, the chances are you’ll recognise these stop-motion characters …

Novelist Yang-May Ooi shares a special object that reminds her of generations of her family. “My grandmother was six when her grandmother made this doll for her …

One of the most popular objects in the museum is Rajah the Asian elephant. He’s been at the museum since 1936 and is much loved by locals and visitors alike. Is there a club for these examples of charismatic megafauna …

Nick Hopwood has a collection of beer glasses that he’s gathered from around the world. He doesn’t simply steal them from bars though. Each one has a story of how Nick acquired it – by bribe, by offer of marriage …

There’s no excuse for not knowing where it is – the place for your comment card after your visit to the museum, I mean. Museums rely on the feedback we give them so filling out those little cards …

The collection of badges on this hat may look like something a student might gather on their travels, but they were actually compiled by singer and actor Gracie Fields. During the Second World War, Fields signed up for the Entertainments National Service Association …

If you’re visiting Rome and have had your fill of stunning sculpture and beautiful buildings, pay a visit to this charming little museum of English romantic poets. The library is atmospheric and the …

Think big. Think bling. Today’s guest curator, Si Tansley chooses a huge golden throne and tells us not only about its significance but also how visitors react to it when they see it in the museum …

Happy birthday Chris Hoy, born today in 1976. In 2006 he won the Team Sprint for Scotland in Melbourne with team mates Craig MacLean and Ross Edgar. Today his medal is on loan to the museum (he can spare it, surely …

I wonder if these ceramic objects are accessioned items in the museum’s collection? They fit well with the national collection of art and design. Jim belonged to the museum’s first director, Henry Cole …

August Walla was fascinated by the materiality of words and by their plastic, or three-dimensional quality as well as by symbols, as seen here in this mural. He collected foreign-language dictionaries …

The boot, glove compartment and dashboard are all parts of modern cars that come from terms used for horse-drawn carriages. Even the word car is a shortened version of ‘carriage’ …

Today in 1582 the pope announced a new style of calendar. Known as Gregorian, it’s the one we follow today, complete with leap years and leap centuries …

This week’s guest curator Dan Vo (LGBTQ museum tour expert) chose this statue as it helps him explain the diverse understanding of gender and sexuality of many ancient communities. He says “From around …

Who is this person, looking directly at you? Is he a vision of masculine muscle? Or a fragile soul, wrapped in their own insecurities? The photography is on display in exhibition opening next week in London …

One of the most frequently asked questions in old buildings is ‘where did they go for a wee?’ And we in the heritage sector love showcasing historic toilets …

Happy birthday Wolfgang, born today (27 January) in 1756. In this sculpture, known as ‘Young Mozart’, the child prodigy is fiddling with a fiddle – he is known to have travelled widely as a child, performing for courts …

Ordsall Hall has been through many lives over the years – country manor, working men's club, a school for clergy, and a radio station. As such, there isn’t much of a collection there that relates to former owners or occupiers. That was until …

Today in 2012 the Costa Concordia ran aground on the Italian island of Isola del Giglio. I remember the newspaper front cover from a few days later, where someone cheeky at …

Well done to the team at Brighton for inviting the visitor to step into this painting. Take a seat in the chair and tell us what YOU think of this image of an art critic at work …

Whether this is the smallest window in England or not is debatable. But until anyone tells me otherwise, I’ll believe it’s this one, as claimed by the proprietors of The George Hotel …

This interpretation starts out so well. The text reads: ‘Christmas 1294 at Conwy Castle. The weather outside is frightful, there are some unwelcome visitors at the door and there’s not much booze left …

Not an object, but a still from an episode of The Simpsons, which marks its 30th anniversary this week (yes, really). There are plenty of mentions of museums and galleries …

Who are these men, on their break? Are they friendly towards us, or are they hinting at us to get out of their space? …

This toy penguin is thought to have belonged to the photographer Herbert Ponting, nicknamed ‘Ponko’ …

What is this sculpture? The Gallery only knows part of the story and is inviting members of the public to help them find out more …

Lenin’s image was well known all over East Germany. This mass-produced statue from the 1960s, displayed in Leipzig, was spray-pained during one of the ‘Monday demonstrations’ in 1989 …

Some playful interpretation here, on the back of a cubicle door in a historic house museum …

Waterlogged and almost forgotten about, this board game sat on the river bed for 500 years in the wreck of the Mary Rose …

Yet another object collage. I just can’t get enough of them. This example shows a wall of tin-glazed ceramic jars, used by wealthy apothecaries in the 1600s and 1700s …

The decapitated head of a critic, who was unsympathetic to the artist’s work, looks out from a basket, as if recently decapitated …

Convicts, lunatics and drunkards - step forward to register your vote. Female mayors, doctors and teachers - stay away …

I was rather taken with this chair – a super way to present sound to visitors, intimately whispering in their ears, rather than blasting out all over the place …

This simple twist of metal represents the barbed wire we all know today, developed and patented in 1874 by Joseph Glidden, and housed today in a museum dedicated to the story of jumper-snagging fence materials …

When museums invite me to leave feedback,  I’m often not inspired to – perhaps because I don’t think it’ll have any impact, perhaps because I suspect nobody will read it, and maybe even because I don’t feel like …