The Scottish school holidays have started. The latest National Museums Scotland listings include ideas for the whole family this summer:
Family events
Summer of Stories
National Museum of Scotland,
Chambers Street, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF
9 Jul – 23 Jul 2022
See below for dates and times
Free, drop-in
Gather round and settle in for our Summer of Stories with daily sessions to spark your little one’s imagination.
From trails to storytelling, origami to film screenings, there’s all sorts going on this summer at the National Museum of Scotland as part of the Year of Scotland’s Stories!
Supporting Year of Stories 2022 and supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
Find out more about the programme at nms.ac.uk/summerofstories
‘Brave’ film screening
National Museum of Scotland,
Chambers Street, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF
9 Jul – 23 Jul 2022
Auditorium, Level 1
Adult: £3.50, Members, Children and Concessions: £3
Enjoy this 2012 Disney Pixar classic on the big screen and then go and explore our Scotland galleries with a specially themed trail.
Since ancient times, stories of epic battles and mystical legends have been passed through the generations across the rugged and mysterious Highlands of Scotland. “Brave” chronicles the story of Scottish princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald), a skilful and courageous archer with a decidedly impetuous nature.
This film has a PG certification. All children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.
Supporting Year of Stories 2022 and supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
Book now nms.ac.uk/Brave
Bird Bingo
National Museum of Rural Life,
Philipshill Road, East Kilbride, G76 9HR
Until 31 Aug 2022
10:00-17:00
A trail around the museum
Free with museum admission and Annual Pass
Come and play Bird Bingo at the National Museum of Rural Life!
Can you find all the birds hiding around the museum? Using the clues on our family trail sheet, see if you can spot different birds in our museum galleries and learn fun facts about them on your journey.
This family event is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery
Find out more nms.ac.uk/birdbingo
Nature Track Packs
National Museum of Rural Life,
Philipshill Road, East Kilbride, G76 9HR
27 Jun – 19 Aug 2022
10:00 – 17:00
Borrow from the ticket desk
Free with museum admission and Annual Pass
Explore more at the National Museum of Rural Life this summer with our new Nature Track Packs.
Each pack contains fun ideas and activities to encourage children to engage all their senses to explore the countryside on a walk up to the farm.
Nature Track Packs are available to borrow on a first-come, first-served basis over the summer – just ask on arrival at our ticket desk, then return the pack to the desk once your Track Pack adventure is complete.
This family activity is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery .
Visit nms.ac.uk/trackpacks
Summer Satchels
National Museum of Flight,
East Fortune Airfield, East Lothian, EH39 5LF
2 Jul – 4 Sep 2022
10:00 – 17:00
Free with museum admission
Just ask at the desk in the Concorde Hangar
See the National Museum of Flight in a different way this summer with our new family activity satchels.
Each satchel contains all the equipment and simple instructions for five playful activities to help children explore the museum from a different perspective. The activities are designed to use outside on our spacious site.
This family activity is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery .
Visit nms.ac.uk/summersatchels
Exhibitions & Displays
National Museum of Scotland
Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF
Open 10:00–17:00 daily
NOW OPEN Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life
Until 13 Nov 2022
Exhibition Gallery 1, Level 3
Ticketed
“Gripping” 
The Guardian
“First-rate exhibition” The Telegraph
“Summer’s must-see exhibition” The Times
Explore the history of anatomical study, from artistic explorations by Leonardo da Vinci to the Burke and Hare murders.
This exhibition looks at the social and medical history surrounding the practice of dissection. It will trace the relationship between anatomy, its teaching and cultural context and the bodies that were dissected. Looking at Edinburgh’s role as an international centre for medical study, the exhibition will offer insight into the links between science and crime in the early 19th century.
Supported by Baillie Gifford Investment Managers.
Book now nms.ac.uk/Anatomy
The Silver Casket
Until 1 Aug 2022
Hawthornden Court
Free entry
See an iconic piece of Scotland’s national heritage, the silver casket believed to have been owned by Mary, Queen of Scots. Made in Paris, probably between 1493 and 1510, the casket is a superb and extremely rare work of early French silver. It is likely that its long-standing association with Mary and her downfall has kept it preserved for over 450 years.
Find out more nms.ac.uk/Silver-Casket
Book of Hours
Until 3 Aug 2022
Kingdom of the Scots gallery (Level 1)
Free entry
Explore the pages of an illustrated prayer book featuring a handwritten poem by a young Mary, Queen of Scots in this display.
Written in Latin on vellum, the Book of Hours contains 40 exquisite illuminations by a 16th-century Master artist. Used for private worship, it belonged to Mary’s great aunt Louise de Bourbon, Abbess of Fontevraud, who is believed to have gifted this precious volume to the young queen.
The Book of Hours is on loan to National Museums Scotland from The Pininski Foundation, Liechtenstein.
Visit nms.ac.uk/exhibitions-events
E.Coli by Luke Jerram
3 Aug – 31 Aug 2022
Grand Gallery
Free entry
Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival programme, this 90ft long inflatable sculpture by Bristol-based Luke Jerram will be suspended from the ceiling of the National Museum of Scotland’s Grand Gallery. The E.coli is 5 million times bigger than the real bacteria. When standing next to it, does the bacteria alter our personal sense of scale? Does it look scary, beautiful, comical or alien? Will people be attracted or repelled by it?
Find out more nms.ac.uk/Ecoli
Japanese Contemporary Design
Until 5 Mar 2023
Exhibition Gallery 3, Level 1
Free entry
From striking statement jewellery to prints and porcelain vases, this new free display considers how Japanese contemporary makers have combined innovative and traditional art, craft and design elements over the past five decades.
The star object is Hitomi Hosono’s A Large Pine Tree Pool, a sculptural porcelain bowl with complex hand-carving made and acquired in 2019. Further highlights include Junko Mori’s intricate New Pinecone Silver Organism, and colourful body adornments by jeweller Suō Emiko’s adapted from metalworking and engraving techniques traditionally used in the making of Japanese sword fittings.
Visit nms.ac.uk/JapaneseContemporaryDesign
The Typewriter Revolution
Until 11 Sep 2022
Exhibition Gallery 2, Level 3
Free entry
The typewriter’s social and technological influence is revealed in this exhibition and looks at its role in society, arts, and popular culture. It traces the effect and evolution of typewriters across more than 100 years, from weighty early machines to modern style icons.
The impact of the typewriter has been much wider than simply speeding up the way we write. It helped revolutionise the world of work and change the lives of working women in particular. Typewriters helped them launch their own businesses at a time when female employers were rare and became a vital weapon in the fight for the vote.
Visit nms.ac.uk/Typewriters
Inspiring Walter Scott
Until 8 Jan 2023
Exhibition Gallery 4, Level 1
Free entry
Following the 250th anniversary of Sir Walter Scott’s birth, experience his novels through objects that inspired him. In this small exhibition we show how Scott drew upon real historical objects for inspiration, placing objects alongside Scott’s words, and the stories in which they feature. While you view these fascinating objects, you can listen to an actor reading extracts from these tales.
In association with Walter Scott 250: Celebrating 250 Years of Scotland’s Greatest Storyteller and supporting Year of Stories 2022.
Visit nms.ac.uk/WalterScottExhibition
Bernat Klein: Design in Colour
5 Nov 2022 – 23 Apr 2023
Exhibition Gallery 2, Level 3
Free entry
Marking the centenary of his birth, Bernat Klein: Design in Colour will celebrate the work of the influential émigré textile designer.
Visitors will be able to explore Klein’s creative process and varied career, from providing couture fabrics for fashion designers to his influence on modernist architecture and interior design in the UK and Scandinavia
Visit nms.ac.uk/BernatKlein
Events
National Museum of Scotland
Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF
Open 10:00–17:00 daily
Spotlight On: Anatomy
13 Jul 2022
14:00 – 15:00
Auditorium, Level 1
Free, with optional donation
Join exhibition curators Tacye Phillipson and Sophie Goggins as they discuss our major exhibition Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life. Dig deeper into the themes explored in our summer exhibition in this free curator talk to kick off our Anatomy events programme. Revisit your favourite stories from the exhibition or find out more before your visit.
Find out more nms.ac.uk/spotlightanatomy
Gilded Balloon at the National Museum of Scotland
3 Aug – 28 Aug 2022
Ticketed
Gilded Balloon are back: bringing Festival fun to the National Museum of Scotland throughout August!
Brining a colourful line-up: from science for kids to satire for grown-ups, from chat shows to live podcasts. There’s an influencer, a ventriloquist, assorted Fringe favourites and of course a couple of Britain’s Got Talent winners.
Performers include Scottish treasures Fred MacAulay, Lynn Ferguson and Jack Docherty, alongside Paul Zerdin and assorted puppet pals, Lost Voice Guy, the one and only Chesney Hawkes and even Boris Johnson?! Plus, our own favourite – Comedy Night at the Museum where top comedians improvise a humorous look at our amazing collection.
Find out more on the Gilded Balloon website.
Museum Socials
19 Aug 2022
Third Friday of the month, 10:30–12:00
Free
Our Museum Socials events are created for anyone affected by Dementia and their relatives, friends and supporters.
Museum Socials create a friendly environment where everyone is welcome and all contributions are valued. They are suitable for first-time visitors and for those who might not regularly come to the museum, as well as people who have always loved visiting.
Supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
Visit nms.ac.uk/museumsocials
Death and the City: Edinburgh, Anatomy and the Case of Burke and Hare
30 Aug 2022
Doors open 18:30, 19:00 – 21:30
£20 Adult, £18 Over 60, £16 concession and Members, £12.50 student
Age 14+
Experience an exclusive evening in The University of Edinburgh’s historic Anatomy Lecture Theatre and the National Museum of Scotland’s latest exhibition, as you discover the city’s unique role in the story of anatomy.
Take a journey through time to discover Edinburgh’s relationship with the search for understanding of the human body.
Soak up the atmosphere of The University of Edinburgh’s Anatomy Lecture Theatre before enjoying a welcome drink in the Discoveries gallery at the National Museum of Scotland, just five minutes’ walk away.
Complete your evening with a visit to the Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life exhibition.
Book now nms.ac.uk/exhibitions-events
Hoarding Histories: Beyond the Galloway Hoard
10 Sep 2022
14:00 -16:30
Aged 14+ event
Ticketed
Join our expert panel as they discuss the process of hoarding across time and cultures.
From assembling and burying, to curating and displaying, our panel will give diverse perspectives on this fascinating practice.
The keynote address will be delivered by Professor Richard Bradley, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at the University of Reading.
Find out more nms.ac.uk/hoarding-histories
Silent Teachers: The Story of Modern Body Donation
13 Sep 2022
19:30 – 20:30
Free, with optional donation
Online event
Inspired by our current exhibition, Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life, our expert panel will discuss the modern approach to anatomical study and body donation in this online event.
In the 18th century, Edinburgh was Britain’s leading centre for medical teaching. As anatomists sought to understand the human body, the demand for bodies to dissect and study vastly outstripped legitimate supply. As a result, grave robbing became common practice.Since then legislation has ensured bodies used today are acquired, with proper consent, through donation.
From their perspectives as exhibition curator, professor, medical student and living donor, our expert panel will discuss the modern approach to body donation and contrast the ethics, practices and beliefs of today with those from two centuries ago.
Book now nms.ac.uk/exhibitions-events
National Museum of Flight
East Fortune Airfield, East Lothian, EH39 5LF
Open daily 10:00 – 16:00
Behind the Scenes Tours
25 May – 26 Oct 2022
11:00–12:00 & 14:00–15:00
Object Store
Free with museum admission
Booking required
Find out about our collection of aero-engines and propellers on a curator-led tour of our Object Store. Join Aviation Curator Ian Brown for one of our regular guided tours of the museum’s Object Store. Explore some of the collections not normally on public view and discover the fascinating stories behind them.
Find out more nms.ac.uk/behind-the-scenes-tours
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For booking, opening times and location details, contact National Museums Scotland on 0300 123 6789