In brief | Latest moves, projects and developments in the sector

Tower built for King Henry I to be opened to the public

The King’s Tower at Corfe Castle is to be opened to the public, 380 years after its destruction. This comes after the National Trust granted the castle rare permission to erect a viewing platform.

The new viewing platform will enable visitors to see the Purbeck countryside from a new vantage point, and observe the ‘appearance door’ from which King Henry I could appear to his subjects. This follows a £2m conservation project to protect the tower’s masonry from the effects of climate change.

An iconic symbol of the island of Purbeck in Dorset, Corfe Castle was built in 1107 by Henry’s father William the Conqueror. After falling out of use during the Elizabethan period, the King’s Tower was destroyed by Parliamentarians during the English Civil War.

James Gould, Operations Manager at Corfe Castle said: “Henry I wanted Corfe Castle to be one of his most splendid royal palaces. Visitors will have a unique chance to experience the castle from this special vantage point.”

National Portrait Gallery announces long-term immersive partnership

The National Portrait Gallery in London has entered into a new long-term partnership with Frameless Creative, a creator of immersive experiences. The National Portrait Gallery Unframed partnership will produce a new touring immersive art experience, the first ever inspired by a UK art institution.

The experience will premier at MediaCity in Salford, Greater Manchester, in May 2025 before going on national and international tour. The Stories - Brought to Life experience will explore the lives of people featured in the collection from the Tudor period to the present day.

According to the gallery, the experience "combine the highest quality digital projection, Hollywood-style visual effects and the latest audio technology with music and creative narratives to tell stories behind some of the gallery's best-loved portraits". It will be created with help from Frameless's content production partner, Cinesite.

"This exciting new partnership with Frameless, inspired by our collection, will enable us to take these stories outside of the gallery walls and bring them to life in new, innovative ways," said Rosie Wilson, director of programmes, partnerships and collections at the gallery.

V&A Wedgwood acquires reimagining of abolitionist medallion

The V&A Wedgwood collection has acquired a ceramic badge that reimagines Josiah Wedgwood’s famous ‘Am I Not A Man And A Brother’ abolitionist anti-slavery medallion.

The badge, based on a design by City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College student Amy Sproston, features the slogan "I Am a Man And a Brother" alongside a raised fist. It is one of 60 new contemporary Wedgwood acquisitions by the V&A Wedgwood, acquired in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Wedgwood Collection’s acquisition by the V&A in 2014 after a major public appeal by Art Fund.

The new acquisitions will go on permanent display in autumn 2025, as part of a varied new public events programme to celebrate the anniversary. As well as the badge, the V&A Wedgwood have also acquired bone china plates from Sheila Bridges’ Harlem Toile de Jouy series celebrating New York African American culture, and a reclaimed jasperware urn from Glaswegian designer Charles Jeffrey.

British Library acquires archive of Forsyte Saga author

The British Library has acquired the archive of author and playwright John Galsworthy, best known for his Forsyte Saga series of novels about the lives of an Edwardian upper-middle-class family.

The archives include autographed manuscripts of Galsworthy’s novels and plays, correspondence with notable figures such as Winston Churchill, J.M. Barrie, Thomas Hardy, and Eleanor Roosevelt, wartime diaries, and letters from Galsworthy’s close friend Joseph Conrad.

The acquisition has been made possible through an award of £150,000 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. The fund has also supported the British Library in acquiring 131 letters written by prominent Victorian writer Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Arts minister Chris Bryant said: ‘The acquisition of these documents by the British Library will give fascinating insights into the works and lives of two of the most talented, socially engaged writers that nineteenth century Britain produced. There can be no better place to showcase their writing.”

Hampshire silk weaver wins inaugural Heritage Crafts award

A weaver based in Hampshire’s Whitchurch Silk Mill has won the first ever Fashion Textile Maker of the Year award, sponsored by Heritage Crafts, a national charity that safeguards endangered traditional crafts in the UK.

Award winner Shannon Bye is a weaver and Heritage Manager at the nineteenth century mill close to Andover, which opened in 1990 as a working museum dedicated to ensuring the survival of traditional winding and weaving. Her award, which includes a £2,000 prize, recognises a heritage craftsperson who has made a contribution “far beyond the ordinary, based on a proven dedication to a particular fashion textiles skill”.

Bye said in a LinkedIn post: “To have my work acknowledged by such a wonderful organization [sic] is incredibly humbling and exhilarating. This award is not just a personal achievement, it's a celebration of the rich heritage of silk ribbon weaving.”

Holocaust Centre North launches new poetry collection

The University of Huddersfield-based educational charity Holocaust Centre North has announced its first ever poetry collection, to mark Holocaust Memorial Day in January 2025 and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Poetry After Auschwitz: Walking in West Cornwall with the Ghost of Great-Aunt Hilde, written by former Wiener Holocaust Library director Ben Barkow, is a reflection on the author’s family history and on the fragmented nature of Holocaust survivors’ memories, inspired in part by his retirement to the rugged landscape of Cornwall.

Holocaust Centre North director Alessandro Bucci, who has recently been shortlisted for a Metro Pride Award in part for his work on creative engagement initiatives for the Centre, said: “Artistic responses to our collections help us push beyond the limits of language, creating a space for reflection and questioning. I was delighted when Ben Barkow, a world-renowned Holocaust expert, approached us with his first poetry collection.”

London Original Print Fair relaunches Acquisitions Award

The London Original Print Fair 2025 will reintroduce the Hallett Independent Acquisitions Award, for the first time since 2019.

The award is open to any UK museum or gallery with a public art collection, and includes an £8,000 grant to spend on a print or prints at the Fair, as well as covering the cost of a hotel room for the opening night of the Fair, 19 March, for four shortlisted curators. Eligible institutions should demonstrate the role prints play in their collection, their reasons for expanding their print holdings, and any specific print acquisitions they are looking for.

The London Original Print Fair has been held annually since 1985 (and migrated from the Royal Academy of Arts to Somerset House in 2022), and exhibits prints for sale from the 15th century to the present day. Artists on display have ranged from Dürer and Rembrandt to Cornelia Parker and Paula Rego.

Museum of Hartlepool announces renovations

The Museum of Hartlepool at Jackson Dock has released early design concept work for a package of renovations.

Entitled “Tides of Change”, the renovation project aim to upgrade the exhibition space with interactive features, and improve views of and access to the Wingfield Castle floating exhibit (a 1930s paddle steamer famously featured in the 1980 film The Elephant Man). Subject to the outcome of a £6.8m funding bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the redeveloped museum is expected to open in spring 2029.

Councillor Pamela Hargreaves told TeessideLive: "I think it will really redefine that whole area and put the Museum of Hartlepool, which is a bit of a little known attraction, in people's minds. I think that can only be good for the town and the people who live here."

Duncan Dornan appointed chair of Museums Galleries Scotland

Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS) has announced the appointment of Duncan Dornan as the new chair of its board.

Dornan joins following his recent retirement as head of museums and collections at Glasgow Life, where he helped to plan and deliver of many of the city’s major museum projects and initiatives, including the £68.25m refurbishment of the Burrell Collection.

Dornan previously worked as general manager at the National Museum of Rural Life and held positions in the education sector at Aberdeen College and Norfolk College. He is also the lead of Voice of Culture and Leisure Managers in Scotland (Vocal).

Dornan will take up the new role on 6 January. He said: “I am delighted to be joining MGS as chair of the board. Having worked with the organisation for many years, I am conscious of the impact MGS has on the museum sector, promoting professional standards, innovation, and sustainability. Given the challenges the sector currently faces, there may never have been a greater need for this support.”