The award of a *First Round pass for a grant of £4.85 million towards a £11.85 million project will enable National Museums to create eight new galleries to showcase its internationally important Science and Technology and European Art and Design collections.
Following a detailed reappraisal of the Science and Technology and European Art and Design collections, eight innovative new exhibition galleries will be created. Around 75% of the objects in the galleries will be going on display for the first time for a generation or more. The displays will include major internationally important items and will champion excellence and innovation, offering an inspirational resource for the scientists, engineers, artists and designers of tomorrow.
The magnificent tea service created for the Emperor Napoleon in connection with his marriage in 1810, a decorative charger by the Art and Crafts ceramicist William de Morgan, the world’s first pneumatic bicycle tyre invented by John Boyd Dunlop in 1888 and the Nobel Prize gold medal awarded to Sir James Black for the discovery of beta blockers and anti-ulcer drugs are just a selection from the outstanding collections which will be displayed in the new galleries.
The public response to the recent transformation of the National Museum of Scotland has been amazing with well in excess of 2 million visitors flocking through the doors since it re-opened last summer. Building on this success, the new galleries will increase the permanent gallery provision devoted to these collections, displaying the very best they have to offer. The new galleries will feature dramatic design, multimedia and interactivity.
National Museums Scotland will now work with individuals, trusts, foundations and the corporate sector to secure the remaining funds to complete the next phase of this ambitious and important project. – www.nms.ac.uk