Opinion | Reframing the narrative 🖼️ Nelson Cummins on how Glasgow Museums has reinterpreted a family portrait featuring an enslaved child.

We're looking for a part-time, permanent Policy Officer to join us at the MA 👤 You'll have the opportunity to deliver admin support for our campaigns and policy work, support committees and stakeholders, help to draft policy papers and more. Find out more and apply by 12 April 👇

Just in time for #NationalCareersWeek, we're now open for enquiries about Career Conversations for 2026 🗣️ Career Conversations are one-hour online discussions with Tamsin C Russell#NationalCareersWeek our workforce development lead, where you can explore your career journey so far and share ideas for next steps. 1/2

Q&A | ‘A film premiere is never a place you’d expect to be when you sign up to work in a museum’ 📽️ Mia Ferullo tells us how the new Wuthering Heights film has given the Brontë Parsonage Museum a red carpet moment.

Moves | The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust gets first creative director More senior appointments at Foundling Museum and Amgueddfa Cymru

News | Council faces questions over decision to move Walsall Leather Museum Campaigners raise concerns as tempers flare at scrutiny meeting

If you’re thinking about dipping a toe into freelancing this #NationalCareersWeek, take a look at our Freelancers’ Hub 💻 Freelancers and consultants are an essential part of our sector’s ecosystem, and the hub has a range of resources for you and your career – wherever you are on your journey.

News | Review shows hidden benefits of claiming cultural tax relief Organisations that adopt tax relief earn 37% more income a year than non-claimants

Q&A | ‘We want to avoid the static, glass-case model and create a place that excites curiosity’ Crispin Kelly, the chief executive of Baylight Properties, tells us about a flagship new cultural development on Ipswich Town’s waterfront, Clay 1A.

News | Macron appoints new director of Louvre after crown jewel heist - former head says embattled institution 'lacks clear trajectory' and needs more support

Q&A | Bidding farewell to the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust As the site prepares to enter a new era, Ironbridge's collections team reflects on how the pioneering, community-led charity brought the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution to life

News | ‘One for the ages’: British Museum reveals when Bayeux Tapestry tickets will go on sale - the exhibition is expected to attract up to 7.5 million visitors when it opens in September

England’s civic museums call for new £120m-a-year investment - English Civic Museums Network sets out vision for ‘coherent, fair and sustainable support system’

News | London Museum workers begin industrial action - union warns pay dispute could affect timetable to open museum’s new Smithfield site.

News | Helen Hartstein appointed manager of Royal Albert Memorial Museum Hartstein will shape museum’s long-term direction and development of its programme

Review | Food for thought: School Dinners, Food Museum, Stowmarket, Suffolk 🍽️ A showcase of school dinners through the decades is engaging visitors of all ages, whether they experienced ordeal by pink custard or turkey twizzlers.

News | Glasgow People’s Palace redevelopment delayed indefinitely Museum and glasshouse will not reopen in 2027 as planned

You have until midnight tonight to make your proposal for MA Conference 2026: Museums Connecting Communities 🔗 For this year’s conference in Birmingham and online, we’re looking for proposals for bold, innovative sessions that bring us together to find solutions to the critical issues of the day.

Review | Criminal records: 150 years of the Crime Museum 🚓 This sensitively curated exhibition at London's Metropolitan Police Museum shines a light on the work of those who expose murderers and fraudsters

Q&A | ‘It was important not to wait for a finished narrative’ Lucy Edematie on Manchester Museum's Africa Hub, a new type of space that exposes the gaps and silences in the museum's own records

Last chance to submit a proposal for MA Conference 2026: Museums Connecting Communities 📥 As Europe’s largest museum conference, we explore how museums of all types and sizes are working with their communities and their collections to inspire audiences and change lives. 1/2

bless the museum sector for this sentence

News | Public asked to help shape displays at revamped Clock House Museum Ramsgate venue is currently undergoing a major redevelopment

News | Chair Discovery Centre to open in High Wycombe New storage facility will give public access to town’s nationally significant chair collection

Review | In full swing: The Harris, Preston This beautifully updated museum and art gallery has an inclusive design and culturally balanced collection

Call for participants | Wellbeing and ableism discussions 📢 As part of our research into workforce wellbeing in the sector, we’re looking for disabled museum professionals (or those who have experienced ableism) to take part in one of two online discovery discussions exploring their experiences 👇

News | Earliest ever YouTube video enters V&A collection A reconstructed watch page featuring the 2005 clip can be seen in the museum's design gallery

1 month to go | Show Time: Designing Great Exhibitions 🎨 Join us to examine how museums’ changing understanding of their role in broader society is affecting approaches to exhibition design – from sustainability and decolonisation to co-production and community engagement: https://ow.ly/ufjW50YhHFI

Health and Wellbeing in Museums Fund: reflections and lessons learned from round one 📝 We've collated our reflections to inform the programme's second grant cycle, considering our own experiences and observations, feedback received from applicants and grantees, and any data and evidence collected.

Feature | Great again? The rise of nostalgic nationalism 🕰️ We’re living through a time of extremism, division and collective forgetting. But Rachael Lennon believes museums have the power to seed hope and cohesion

News | Sector’s funding woes spark renewed debate about free entry A number of leaders say their views have changed but MA warns that charging could hit tourism and hospitality

News | National Gallery restructure shows sector’s ‘dire financial position’ Institution is cutting staff and reducing programming as it grapples to avoid £8.2m deficit

Opinion | The UK needs to foster a culture of philanthropy 🪙 The government must do more to encourage cultural giving in the post‑non‑dom era, says Wedlake Bell’s Clarissa Levi.

Want to join the MA for free? We recognise the challenges faced by individuals with protected characteristics in the workplace. That’s why our Members Support Fund is offering 200 fully-funded memberships (worth £52 each) as part of our work to make the sector more inclusive. 1/3

News | Row after British Museum removes term ‘Palestine’ from some displays Director says story has been misrepresented as petition calls for terminology to be reinstated

News | First look at the new Paisley Museum Photos and details released as construction finishes on major redevelopment

Please don't do this ❤️

Printed matter | 125 years of Museums Journal 📰 @simonastephens.bsky.social kicks off the magazine's anniversary year with a look back at its launch in July 1901.

News | Imperial War Museum acquires Dame Vera Lynn wartime archive Collection of second world war entertainer includes fan letters and personal diary

News | Charity regulator to investigate financial governance at Glasgow’s CCA Staff previously raised concerns that board was failing to act in interest of the charity

News | Cultural leaders to come together for Trans Day of Visibility 2026 Event to debut Museum of Transology’s new digital platform with over 1,000 community objects University of Leicester

“This apprenticeship has really solidified my passion for the heritage sector. It feels meaningful to contribute to people’s lives” 🤝 Vinusha Haran is a learning apprentice (communities) at London Transport Museum – read about her experience for #NationalApprenticeshipWeek 👇

Did you know that if you work with one of our small institutions, you can attend the entirety of MA Conference 2026 in person for just £238.50? Combine your membership with our early bird discount for a great rate on your place in Birmingham this year 📍 Check if your organisation is on the list 👇

Feature | Celebrating the winners of the Museums Change Lives Awards 🥳 From co-curation at the Horniman to the citizens’ jury shaping Birmingham Museums, the awards honour the transformative work that happens when museums and communities come together.

“I have done things I never would have thought I’d be able to do, pushing myself out of my comfort zone and then feeling really proud” 🚀 Lily-Rose Hill is a learning apprentice in the Creative Careers team at London Transport Museum – read about her experience for #NationalApprenticeshipWeek 👇

Opportunity | Become a Collections Fund panel member 👥 We're recruiting two new representatives to join the decision-making panel for the Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund, meeting twice a year to monitor progress and award grants. Apply by 11 March 👇 Esmée Fairbairn Foundation

News in brief | Latest projects, announcements and moves from the sector, including: • Spurn Lightship reopening • Underwater cultural heritage partnership • Herefordshire City of Culture bid • New chair for English Heritage

News | The Hepworth Wakefield appoints Olivia Colling and Laura Smith as co-directors Pair will 'complement each other's strengths'

News | British Museum raises £3.5m to acquire Tudor Heart pendant But debate grows in sector over high costs associated with treasure scheme

“The apprenticeship process has made me the person I am today” 💬 A lifelong lover of history, Joseph McGeady completed a 16-month apprenticeship with the British Library’s learning team – and his career has gone from strength to strength. Read today's case study for #NationalApprenticeshipWeek 👇