If you’re visiting the Museum over the holidays, there’s plenty to keep you busy! Explore our special exhibitions on Celtic art and identity and religion in Egypt over 1,200 years, as well as metalpoint masterpieces in the final week of Drawing in silver and gold. Plus enjoy free displays, a range of gallery talks and family activities every weekend in the Samsung Digital Discovery Centre. Can’t think of the perfect Christmas present? Try Membership – a gift that lasts the whole year. We’ve also just announced our major exhibition for 2016, the BP exhibition Sunken cities: Egypt’s lost worlds – find out more below. Don’t forget that the Museum is closed 24, 25 & 26 December and 1 January!
New for 2016
19 May – 27 November 2016
Submerged under the sea for over a thousand years, two lost cities of ancient Egypt were recently rediscovered. Their story is told for the first time in this blockbuster exhibition.
The amazing rediscovery of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus is transforming our understanding of the connections between ancient Egypt and Greece. Over the last 20 years, world-renowned archaeologist Franck Goddio and his team have excavated spectacular underwater finds. They will be seen with fascinating objects from Egyptian museums for the first time in the UK.
The exhibition is likely to be extremely popular, so make sure you book your tickets now in advance!
Supported by BP
Organised with the Hilti Foundation and the Institut Européen d’Archéologie Sous-Marine
 |
Until 31 Jan 2016
‘a stupendous display of Celtic art’
★★★★★ The Guardian ‘extraordinary objects that will make you reflect on your own Celtic connections’ ★★★★ Daily Telegraph ‘perfect... see this show’ Sunday Times
Come on a journey tracing what it means to be Celtic... The story unfolds over 2,500 years, from the first recorded mention of ‘Celts’ to an exploration of contemporary Celtic culture. Discover how this identity has been revived and reinvented over the centuries, across Britain, Europe and beyond.
Organised with National Museums Scotland
Supported by
In memory of Melvin R Seiden
Sheila M Streek Stephen and Julie Fitzgerald Fund for the Future donors |
 |
 |
Until 7 Feb 2016
‘a magical dig into the past’
★★★★★ The Guardian ‘heart-stopping’ The Telegraph ‘deeply compelling’ ★★★★ Evening Standard
Discover Egypt’s incredible journey over 12 centuries, as Jews, Christians and Muslims transformed this ancient land.
Uniquely preserved in Egypt’s arid climate, the objects in the exhibition show how the shift to monotheism – the belief in one God – affected every part of life. Egypt’s experience reflects the wider move from the ancient to medieval world, a transition that has shaped the world today.
You can enjoy lectures, films, talks and workshops in the related events programme.
Generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation
|
|
 |
Fri 11 Dec, 18.00–20.30
A free multisensory evening of performances, creative workshops and activities celebrating the enduring soul of Egypt, past and present. Includes music and poetry performances, a fashion catwalk of recreated Egyptian clothes, as well as a special demonstration of the Egyptian stick martial art known as tahtib.
Plus enjoy a talk by internationally renowned chef and food writer Anissa Helou at 18.30 (£5, Members/concessions £3). She will discuss the significance of bread in Egyptian cuisine and its importance in shaping today’s vibrant street food scene.
|
|
 |
It’s the perfect choice for Christmas, with free unlimited entry to three exhibitions, a packed programme of Members-only events and access to the Members’ Room. They’ll also receive the British Museum Magazine three times a year.
Gift Membership is easy to order online and you can choose whether to receive the Membership yourself or have it sent direct to the recipient. Order Gift Membership online before 16 December for delivery to UK addresses in time for Christmas.
Gift packs (pictured) are available exclusively from the Membership Desk in the Great Court.
|
|
 |
Until 6 Dec 2015
Discover a selection of clothing from the Pacific made of barkcloth.
The Asahi Shimbun Displays
10 Dec 2015 – 21 Feb 2016
Come face to face with an enormous mummified crocodile from ancient Egypt.
Supported by The Asahi Shimbun
Until 15 May 2016
25 pairs of shoes, sandals, clogs and boots from the Islamic world.
Supported by Steven Larcombe and Sonya Leydecker
3 Dec 2015 – 22 May 2016
Discover buried treasure in this display on hoarding in prehistoric and Roman Britain.
Supported by Stephen and Julie Fitzgerald
Research funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council
|
|
 |
Fri 4 Dec, 13.30
Project architect Tom Fotheringham discusses the thinking behind the contemporary design of the new Waddesdon Bequest Gallery.
Free, booking essential
Sat 5 Dec, 10.30–16.00
This study day explores what myth is, the context for myth and how Greek and Roman myths connect.
£23, no concessions
Thu 10 Dec & Fri 11 Dec, 10.00–17.00
This two-day colloquium brings together over 20 international scholars to discuss religion in Egypt up to the 20th century.
£30, Members/concessions £20
Fri 18 Dec, 18.15
Jerome Lewis, UCL, presents his fascinating research into the resilience of a Central African hunter-gatherer ‘civilisation’.
Free, booking essential
|
|
 |
Every year, from Aberdeen to Anglesey, Belfast to Blackburn, Perth to Penzance, millions of people see British Museum exhibitions and objects on show as part of touring exhibitions, spotlight loans or through work with partnership galleries.
We’re exploring how the Museum works in partnership with UK museums and galleries in a new programme of public discussion –Museum of the citizen. In a series of events, we want to understand the value of museums to local communities and imagine what future partnerships might look like.
This month Reflections on Celts sees mirrors from the British Museum and National Museums Scotland at the National Civil War Museum, Newark, until 4 Jan 2016. You can also see a sculpture of Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god at Oxford Museum until 12 Jan 2016, and an exhibition of contemporary African textiles at Ipswich Art School until 24 Jan 2016.
|
|
 |
This month we launched a unique partnership with Google Cultural Institute creating new ways to discover the collection.
Over 5,000 objects can now be fully explored in Google Cultural Institute, including virtual exhibits and new gigapixel imagery.
Plus a new interactive Google Chrome experience enables you to jump back in time, listen to curators share their insights, and connect objects across time and space!
You can now also virtually walk through the Museum. The British Museum is the largest indoor space ever to be captured on Street View, putting the collection at your fingertips.
|
|
 |
Our Christmas Gift Shop is now open, featuring unique, luxurious gifts that take inspiration from cultures all over the world.
Give a piece of Byzantine-inspired jewellery, add a classical replica to your home, or wrap up with one of our scarves. Explore curated gift ideas, as well as cards, ornaments and decorations.
|
|
Also this month
|
 |
Royal Museums Greenwich
Until 28 Mar 2016
Immerse yourself in one of the most vibrant and turbulent periods in our history, brought to life in the candid and witty diaries of London’s own Samuel Pepys.
National Theatre
Until 19 Dec 2015
‘Unforgettable. Immaculately directed.’
★★★★ Independent
A short play about death by one of Britain’s leading playwrights, Caryl Churchill. All tickets £15.
Museum of London
Until 10 Apr 2016
Never-before-seen objects from the Metropolitan Police’s Crime Museum are on display. Real-life case files take you on a journey through some of the UK’s most notorious crimes from the Krays to the Millennium Dome diamond heist.
|
