Museum of London marks 100 days to closure with free event and giveaways for visitors

Museum of London exterior shot © Museum of London

Wednesday 24 August 2022 – Museum of London will mark 100 days to closure of its London Wall site this Friday, 26 August, with a special event. The museum will be giving away 500 Lewis of London ice creams from 11:30am, while visitors will also enjoy a performance by Grand Union Orchestra at midday.

Starting this Friday, digital screens will display a countdown clock to mark the days left before the London Wall site closes to the public on Sunday 4 December 2022, in preparation for the museum’s move to a new home at West Smithfield.

The first 100 visitors through the museum’s doors on Friday will receive a goody bag featuring Museum of London memorabilia, including a Museum of London guidebook, a pack of playing cards displaying iconic images from their collections, a greeting card featuring a print by artist Willkay, a Pride tote bag, and a hologram pencil. Goody bags will also feature a special gift of either a tea towel, a Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens mug, a sketch notebook, an A3 print of London or a soft toy.

The event forms part of a six-month long programme of activities leading up to the museum’s closure at London Wall.

In September, the museum will take visitors behind the scenes during Open House on 10 & 11 September. Events will include:

• London’s Birth: a 30-minute journey through London’s ancient history from the foundation of London to its destruction in the Great Fire

• London’s Rebirth: a 30-minute journey through London’s modern history, from the rebuilding after the Great Fire to the celebration of the 2012 Olympic Games

• How the museum works – exclusive storage tour: a look through two of the museum’s collection stores with members of the conservation team, showing visitors the preparations for moving items to the new museum, including inventory, photography and packing processes

• How the museum works – exclusive conservation tour: a look through the museum’s Applied Art, Archaeology, Paper and Textile conservation labs, giving visitors insight into the work happening for the new museum at West Smithfield and how the museum takes care of its collections, from case layouts to test out the new display cases to conservation and barcoding

Throughout Open House Weekend, visitors will see a wide range of items from the collection that have never been on public display before including a watercolour and pastel drawing of a Suffragette demonstration and a shower bath from Camberwell Resettlement Unit in Peckham. Also on display are the enormous oil painting ‘Popularity: The Stars of the Edwardian Music Hall’; a large doll’s house from 1908; and a collection of black and white photographs by Henry Grant, which captured Londoners of all ages as they went about their everyday lives.

The six-month programme includes a Black History Month celebration in October, a jam-packed month of school visits in November framed around different themes corresponding to the museum’s collection, and two closing weekend celebration festivals on 26 & 27 November and 2, 3 & 4 December.

The museum’s October half-term programme will celebrate sports in London, inspired by the city’s greatest sporting moments and people, past and present. The range of free activities will run from Saturday 22 to Sunday 30 October and will include:

• A 2012 Olympic Games torch-making craft workshop

• A collaborative family art piece

• A new sports-themed trail through the museum for the entire family

• Object handling sessions featuring sports artefacts from prehistory to the present day

Throughout the autumn, the museum will host a series of curator talks, giving visitors a chance to visit the galleries after hours. Curators will guide visitors through their favourite stories and objects in the museum’s collection, themed around prehistoric London, Roman London, Medieval London, and London from 1980 to present day, which will explore the work of Black artists working in the city.

A series of mini documentaries, now available on YouTube, take viewers behind the scenes with curators and hosts to explore ten of the most compelling objects and stories in the museum’s collection. From the Great Fire of London to the Suffragettes movement and the 2012 Olympic Cauldron, the series celebrates some of the most important moments in history that have helped to shape the London of today.

The museum is also part of the City of London’s inaugural Destination City programme, hosting one of three carnival-inspired fairs. The event will transform the Square Mile into a spectacular immersive theatre event on Saturday 15 October for UK and international visitors, workers and residents to enjoy.

Sharon Ament, Director, Museum of London, said: “We invite everyone to join us in celebrating our 45-year history at London Wall as we count down the days until the Museum of London closes to the public. There’s so much happening over our final hundred days. I can’t wait to welcome thousands and thousands of visitors coming for one last time before our City HQ moves to West Smithfield in just a few years. Our jam-packed series of events will allow visitors to peek behind the scenes and learn about some of London’s most historic moments.”

The Museum of London Docklands will remain open to visitors with a major exhibition Executions opening on 14 October 2022.

ENDS

Press Enquiries:

Brunswick Arts: [email protected]
Pavlos Amanatidis: +44 7570 822656

NOTES TO EDITORS

Listings information

Museum of London Open House activities

London's Birth - Galleries from founding to the Great Fire:
• 10 September at 10:45-11:15, 12:15-12:45, 13:45-14:15 and 15:15-15:45
• 11 September at 11:00-11:30, 12:30-13:00 and 14:00-14:30

London's Rebirth - Galleries of Modern London
• 10 September at 11:30-12:00, 13:00-13:30, 14:30-15:00 and 16:00-16:30
• 11 September at 11:45-12:15, 13:15-13:45 and 14:45-15:15

How the museum works: Exclusive Storage Tours – curatorial
• 10 September at 10:30-11:15, 12:00-12:45 and 14:00-14:45

How the Museum works - Exclusive conservation tour – conservation
• 10 September at 10:15-11:15, 11:30-12:30, 13:15-14:15, 14:30-15:30 and 15:45-16:45

Museum of London After Hours Curator Talks

After Hours: Roman London
Date: 21 September 2022
Time: 6:30 pm
Duration: 2 hours
Paid advanced booking: £12 (Concession and Museum of London Friends: £10)

Join Senior Curator of Archaeology, Francis Grew, for a talk about the Roman legionary soldiers who occupied Britain from AD43. Learn about the Roman army in Londinium – the largest city in Britannia and a vital international port – who they were, and what their role was in Roman London. This talk will be followed by an opportunity to enjoy the Roman gallery after-hours, with expert guide Francis on-hand to answer questions about life in the Roman city.

After Hours: London Before London
Date: 5 October
Time: 6:30 pm
Duration: 2 hours
Paid advanced booking: £12 (Concession and Museum of London Friends: £10)

Join Curator, Kate Sumnall for a talk on prehistoric London. The River Thames winds through the heart of the city today and has played an active role in shaping the place and people, from the earliest hunter-gatherers to Iron Age communities who built large settlements before the Romans arrived. Discover how the natural landscape fits into prehistoric belief systems and the parallels between prehistoric London and the issues we face today. This talk will be followed by an opportunity to enjoy the London before London gallery after-hours, with expert Kate on-hand to guide you.

After-hours gallery talk: London’s Black artists, from 1980 to present day
Date: 19 October 2022
Time: 6:30 pm
Duration: 2 hours
Paid advanced booking: £12 (Concession and Museum of London Friends: £10)

Join Senior Curator Francis Marshall to explore the work of Black artists working in London from the 1980s to the present day. This talk will consider prints, drawings and photographs from the museum’s collections which respond to events such as the 1981 Brixton Riots, alongside works which celebrate Black culture and its contribution to London life. This talk will be followed by an opportunity to enjoy the World City gallery after-hours, with expert guide Francis on-hand to answer questions about Black artists working in London in the late 20th Century.

After Hours: Medieval London
Date: 2 November 2022
Time: 6:30 pm
Duration: 2 hours
Paid advanced booking: £12 (Concession and Museum of London Friends: £10)

Join researcher, Eliot Benbow for a talk exploring our world-leading collection of everyday objects from the Middle Ages. Discover aspects of trade, domestic life, devotion, play, recreation and childhood in London on display in the museum. This talk will be followed by an opportunity to enjoy the medieval gallery after-hours, with expert guide Eliot on-hand to answer questions about life in the medieval city.

After Hours: Black history in Roman London
Date: 16 November 2022
Time: 6:30 pm
Duration: 2 hours
Paid advanced booking: £12 (Concession and Museum of London Friends: £10)

Join Senior Curator Dr Rebecca Redfern to investigate the evidence for Black people in the Roman Empire. This talk will explore how Black people’s presence in Roman London can be made visible, by looking at what stories are revealed by studying an object’s creation, origin and use. This talk will be followed by an opportunity to enjoy the Roman gallery after-hours, with expert guide Rebecca on-hand to answer questions.

About the Museum of London

The Museum of London tells the ever-changing story of this great world city and its people, from 450,000 BC to the present day. Our galleries, exhibitions, displays and activities seek to inspire a passion for London and provide a sense of the vibrancy that makes the city such a unique place.

The museum is open Monday - Sunday 10am – 5pm and is FREE to all. You can explore the Museum of London with collections online – home to 90,000 objects with more being added regularly.  www.museumoflondon.org.uk.