Tag: listings

Exhibitions & Displays   

  
National Museum of Scotland    
Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF   
Open 10:00–17:00 daily  

E.Coli by Luke Jerram      
National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF    
Until 31 Aug 2022      
Grand Gallery      
Free entry 

 Part of the Edinburgh Art Festival programme, this 90ft long inflatable sculpture by Bristol-based Luke Jerram (above) 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      

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     
 
Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life  
Until 30 Oct 2022   
Exhibition Gallery 1, Level 3  
Ticketed, £0-£10   

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   

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     

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 
  

Japanese Contemporary Design  

 
National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF    
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       

  
Events  

National Museum of Scotland   
Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF  
Open 10:00–17:00 daily  

Gilded Balloon at the National Museum of Scotland     
National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF    
Until 28 Aug 2022     
Ticketed 

 Gilded Balloon are back: bringing Festival fun to the National Museum of Scotland throughout August!  Bringing 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.    

Audio-Described Access Evening: Anatomy  
Special Exhibition Gallery 1   
30 Aug 2022  
17:30-19:00   
£7.50 (free accompanying carer ticket available if needed)  

Explore our fascinating Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life exhibition supported by an audio-described tour of key objects for those who are blind or visually impaired.  

Join us after-hours for an audio-described tour of Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life led by artist Juliana Capes. Explore the history of anatomical study, from artistic explorations by Leonardo da Vinci to the Burke and Hare murders. The tour will last around 45 minutes with time to explore the exhibition independently afterwards. This event is particularly aimed at those who are blind or visually impaired.  

Book now nms.ac.uk/audio-described   

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.  Presentations will include the latest research on the Galloway Hoard, hoarding in the Viking Age and Scotland’s prehistoric hoards.  

Find out more nms.ac.uk/hoarding-histories     

Relaxed Access Evening: Anatomy   
13 Sept 2022  
Special Exhibition Gallery 1  
17:30 – 19:00   
£7.50 (free accompanying carer ticket available if needed)  

Join us for a relaxed after-hours visit to Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life for anyone who would prefer a calmer visit to the exhibition. During this opening of Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life, sounds will be lowered and light levels adjusted wherever possible to provide a more relaxed experience.

A quiet break-out space will also be available. A visual welcome guide will be provided in advance to help you prepare for your visit.

This session is primarily for, but not limited to, autistic young people and adults, adults living with dementia, adults with learning difficulties or mental health challenges or any other visitors with sensory needs or who may prefer a more relaxed experience, plus their families, friends and carers.   

Book now nms.ac.uk/relaxed-access-evening   

NEW Burke, Hare and The University of Edinburgh’s Anatomy School  
15 Sep -1 Oct 2022  
10:30 – 16:30  
Seminar Room, Learning Centre, Level 4  
£ 49 (concessions available)  

This one-day course with The University of Edinburgh is designed to complement the National Museum of Scotland’s major new exhibition Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life.   

Examine the study of anatomy within the context of 19th century Edinburgh, including the University’s role as an international centre for medical teaching. Uncover the circumstances that gave rise to the Burke and Hare murders in 1828, and consider the actions of William Burke, William and Margaret Hare, and anatomist Dr Robert Knox.  

Book now nms.ac.uk/burke-hare 

NEW Victorian Edinburgh  
29 Sep – 8 Dec 2022  
11:00 – 13:00  
Seminar Room, Learning Centre Level 4  
£180 for 10 sessions (concessions available) 

National Museums Scotland are delighted to host a new term of University of Edinburgh Short Courses – a great way to explore our collections and their wider history with experts. 

Victorian Edinburgh considers the complex challenges and changes wrought in the period 1837–1901 within Scotland’s capital city. It examines examples of the economic, social and political context in which ‘Edinburghers’ lived, and assesses their responses to the most important Scottish, British and international events. 

Book now nms.ac.uk/victorian-edinburgh 

National Museum of Rural Life   
Philipshill Road, East Kilbride, G76 9HR  
Open 10:00–17:00 daily  

Bird Bingo  
Until 30 Sep 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     
Until 30 Sep 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.    

Visit nms.ac.uk/trackpacks    

NEW Tractor Tots  
30 Sep – 11 Nov 2022   
10:15 – 10:55   
Ticketed

Running in blocks of three Friday morning sessions, Tractor Tots offers a fun, focused experience for our younger visitors, introducing them to the museum and farm, and bringing it to life through interactive creative play.

Each session will take place in a different location at the museum and working farm, and will feature handling objects from our learning boxes, singing, storytelling, rhymes, actions and sensory play to learn all about life in the countryside.  

Book now nms.ac.uk/tractor-tots  

National Museum of Flight    
East Fortune Airfield, East Lothian, EH39 5LF  
Open daily 10:00 – 16:00  

Summer Satchels    
Until 23 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.    

Visit nms.ac.uk/summersatchels    

NEW Operation Sabotage  
29 & 30 Oct 2022  
Age 14+ event    
Ticketed

The year is 1942 and you are stationed at the RAF base at East Fortune. There has been an act of sabotage and one of the aircraft is unknowingly carrying live ordnance with instructions to bomb the town. Solve a series of fiendish puzzles to call off the flight and save North Berwick!

Operation Sabotage is an escape room experience for 4-8 people that lasts up to an hour. Working as a team, you must race against the clock in two Second World War-themed rooms to decipher the identity of the saboteur before it’s too late.   

Book now nms.ac.uk/operation-sabotage    

Online  

Silent Teachers: The Story of Modern Body Donation    
13 Sep 2022    
19:30 – 20:30    
Free, with optional donation

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    

Members’ Spotlight: From Table to Melting Pot – Roman Silver from Traprain Law  
4 Oct 2022  
18:30 -19:30  
Free, booking required 

In 1919, archaeologists excavating Traprain Law in East Lothian discovered a stunning hoard of buried treasure made up of over 300 fragments of Roman silver which had been cut into bullion, and were destined for melting down and recycling into new objects.

Join us and Dr Fraser Hunter, Principal Curator of Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology, as we explore more about this remarkable find and discover how recent research into the treasure has caused us to rethink how the Roman world engaged with groups beyond its frontiers, and the effects this had in the centuries that followed. 

Book now nms.ac.uk/exhibitions-events 

NEW Ancient African Queens: New Perspectives on Black History  
27 Oct 2022  
19:30 – 20:30  
Free, with optional donation   

In the 19th and 20th centuries European and American Egyptologists appropriated ancient Egypt into an idea of ‘Western civilisation’ and set it apart from other African cultures. This historical colonial bias against Africa has ramifications on how we interpret ancient Egyptian and Sudanese collections today.

Join our panel as they discuss how reassessing 19th and 20th century colonial attitudes can bring new perspectives to fascinating aspects of ancient Egyptian culture and its place in African history. 

Book now nms.ac.uk/exhibition-events  

  
Follow us on Twitter…twitter.com/NtlMuseumsScot  

Follow us on Facebook…facebook.com/NationalMuseumsScotland  

Follow us on Instagram…instagram.com/nationalmuseumsscotland/  

For booking, opening times and location details, contact National Museums Scotland on 0300 123 6789