All you need to know about museum reopening

Essential work has been carried out to the roof, heating and lifts across the entire Council House complex, the museum said

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is set to reopen after a four-year renovation project.

New displays will be on show in nearly a dozen reimagined spaces, with an updated shop and tearoom.

The museum, next to Birmingham City Council House, closed in 2020 for building work but partially reopened in 2022 for the Commonwealth Games.

It reopens to the public on Thursday, starting with a Made in Birmingham display, featuring some well known items linked to the city.

The last bottle of HP sauce to be made in Birmingham came off the production line in March 2007

What will be new?

The Made in Birmingham display "explores some of the people, places and things which make the city what it is", the museum said.

It will include some familiar items, such as the giant logo from the now-demolished HP Sauce factory and a sign from the Eagle & Tun pub - where local band UB40 filmed the video for Red Red Wine.

There will also be vintage advertising signage from Bird’s Custard and a large model showing an abandoned vision of what Centenary Square might have been.

The Round Room gallery, which has displayed art for almost 150 years, reopens with with One Fresh Take, about how art can be a way to see the world differently.

Other display areas have been updated to showcase various artworks linked to the city and the people within it including Curtis Holder, Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year in 2020, who was commissioned to draw Birmingham Royal Ballet director Carlos Acosta.

The Bridge Gallery's Modern Muse selection is a series of photographic portraits by Arpita Shah celebrating the identities and experiences of young South Asian women from Birmingham and the West Midlands.

Two films can be watched in The Pixel Studio - The Tiny Spark and Excerpt.

The Tiny Spark is directed by directed by Pogus Caesar and looks at the 1985 Handsworth Riots and features the poetry of Benjamin Zephaniah.

Zephaniah's blue plaque, which was unveiled last week, can also be seen in the museum.

This pre-Raphaelite artwork will go back on show

What has been happening at the museum?

The museum first closed in 2020 before partially reopening in 2022 when the city hosted the Commonwealth Games.

It shut in November 2022 to allow electrical work to be carried out, along with renovations to its roof and the installation of new lifts.

During the closure some of the exhibits were put on display in alternative museums, whilst other items went into storage.

The museum said essential maintenance work had been carried out to the heating, electrics, lifts and roofing across the whole Council House complex.

It hoped it would now show "new and familiar artworks displayed with a focus better reflecting the city’s personality and future".

The Round Room gallery has displayed art for almost 150 years

What does it mean for the city?

The Birmingham Museum Trust said it was "focused on welcoming visitors back to Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery throughout 2024."

There will be a phased reopening of gallery spaces and it will also be working on creating a "financially sustainable plan that will allow the city’s museums and collections to play a full and inclusive role in the region’s civic future in the months and years ahead".

Sara Wajid and Zak Mensah, co-CEOs at the trust, said: “This reopening is a big first step in the development of a new museum for the people of Birmingham. The new displays are a celebration of our vibrant city and its rich history.

“It brings us great joy to be able to welcome visitors back into these spaces and we hope people will share in that joy and see themselves reflected in the displays.”

Birmingham City Council's recent financial struggle and planned cuts are well known and the money to pay for the work has come from the government’s Museums Estate and Development Fund (MEND), through Arts Council England.

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery will be open from Wednesdays to Sunday to between 10:00 and 17:00.

Benjamin Zephaniah's recently unveiled blue plaque is on display at the museum

The tearoom and museum shop will also be reopening