This week sees the UK’s museums able to start to reopen their doors following the easing of the Covid-19 lockdown. Museums across the country are implementing new Government-recommended measures to ensure the safety of visitors, staff and volunteers, with advance booking for timed admission being adopted by many museums to manage social distancing.
To help you plan, here are some key dates for the coming weeks:
Housing one of the greatest collections in the world, London’s National Gallery will welcome visitors back from 8 July. This year’s blockbuster exhibition, Titian: Love, Desire Death, has been extended until 17 January – having only been open for three days when the Gallery had to shut in March. Advance booking only.
The RA will reopen to Friends from 9 July and to the public from 16 July. The five star Picasso and Paper exhibition, which spans the artist’s 80-year career and brings together over 300 works, runs until 2 August. Pre-booking essential.
Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village
Nestled in the Surrey Hills designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village will start to reopen in phases from 6 July with the reopening of Watts Contemporary Gallery and the Watts Shop. The Contemporary Gallery has extended the run of its current show, Norman Ackroyd RA: Etching the Archipelago, which presents aquatint etchings by Britain’s foremost contemporary etcher. No pre-booking required for Watts Contemporary Gallery.
Showing work in Tate’s extensive collection by artists who have lived or worked in the celebrated Cornish seaside town, Tate St Ives reopens on 27 July. The Gallery will introduce a one-way route for all visitors, which will enable everyone to see both the Modern Art and St Ives displays and the Naum Gabo: Constructions for Real Life exhibition. Pre-booking only.
Award-winning Compton Verney, located 9 miles from Stratford-upon-Avon, houses fascinating collections ranging from 16th century Germanic art to 20th century textiles by Enid Marx. The House and Galleries reopen from 7 July, with pre-bookable timed tickets essential. The acclaimed exhibition, Cranach: Artist and Innovator, has been extended until 2021.
Steve Smith, Managing Director of Smith Greenfield, said: “We are delighted to work with museums and galleries across the UK, and this reopening is welcome news. Thank you to museum teams nationwide who are busy making preparations for our safe return.”
Photo: Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village by Andy Newbold