Night (in) at the museum
Visit the world’s great – and surprising – museums without leaving your living room, says SARAH MARSHALL
DURING times of difficulty, arts and culture can help us make sense of a confused reality, offering refreshing perspectives and sharing lessons from the past.
There’s something reassuringly therapeutic about exploring a gallery, even if you’re clueless about the works on display.
For a few hours, it’s possible to get lost in another world.
While physical visits are temporarily off-limits, there’s still a chance to peruse permanent collections and temporary exhibitions from the safety of your home.
From top institutions to emerging collectives, curatorial teams have flexed their creative muscles to allow access online.
You can click open virtual vaults to uncover dusty artefacts, or brush up on modern history through interactive displays. Best of all, there’s no entrance fee and you can wander freely without any crowds.
British Museum, London
Best for: Unearthing great facts
HAD you snuck into this grand dame museum at the beginning of lockdown, you’d probably still be making your way around displays.
The sprawling mass of exotic finds and controversial treasures demands hours of attention.
Impossible to absorb in one visit, there’s always something new to find.
As part of the online The Museum Of The World project, you can navigate key pieces via a nifty interactive grid, divided by geographical continent and historic period and connected by surprising, hidden links. Spiral back to 2000 BC to find how the Babylonians in Iran analysed sheep liver in the same way a fortune teller reads tea leaves, and discover the African origins of Kozo, the double-headed dog.
How: Visit britishmuseum. withgoogle.com
Museum Of Broken Relationships, Los Angeles and Zagreb
Best for: Life lessons
HERE’S proof that not all museums and galleries revolve around lofty, academic discourse and jaw-droppingly expensive exhibits.
This ever-evolving, crowd-sourced collection features everyday items donated by members of the public.
People are invited to offload trinkets, talismans and any symbolic items relating to failed relationships as a cathartic means to dust off the past and move on.
Although it has permanent galleries in LA and Zagreb, from the outset, the museum was built with a virtual space in mind. Users can time-lock painful memories in a vault or share their own bust-up stories and images online.
Many items from the collection are also virtually viewable, from entwined claddagh rings deposited by a distraught, jilted girlfriend, to a stolen scrap of belly button fluff from an ex. Um...
How: Visit brokenships.com/explor
Natural History Museum, London
Best for: Nerding out on nature
RIGHT now, it feels like humanity is at the centre of the universe – but in reality, we’re dwarfed by the magnificence of our natural world.
Nowhere is that story better told than the Natural History Museum, where inhabitants of land, sea, air – and even space – have starring roles.
Spanning 25.2 metres, the skeleton of Hope, the blue whale, wows visitors when they enter the grand Hintze Hall. While it’s impossible to appreciate the marine mammal’s scale from a computer screen, an interactive online display shares fascinating facts about the creature.
Venturing further into the museum, there’s a chance to zoom in on cabinets of beetles and flick through images on display in the popular Wildlife Photographer Of The Year exhibition. Other areas can be explored through audio guides narrated by Sir David Attenborough, whose authoritative, familiar tones provide soothing relief to these troubled days.
How: Visit nhm.ac.uk/visit/ virtual-museum.html