WILL TRAVEL FOR CULTURE
The world is welcoming a new crop of museums. Kate Dingwall shares four of the best
If you’re keen to geek out on science Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation
Where New York City Anticipated opening February Museums in New York are a ubiquitous experience, but if you’ve already checked them all off your list, there’s a new arrival to add: Later this month, the American Museum of Natural History will open another wing, the Gilder Center, complete with a photogenic facade that evokes a monumental rock formation, a soaring canyon-like atrium and 230,000 square feet of exhibition space.
The entire centre is dedicated to science, with more than 4 million species on display, plus an insectarium (home to one of the largest leafcutter ant colonies in the world), and a vivarium for guests to walk among free-flying butterflies.
The attention-getting architecture alone is worth the visit. Designs by Studio Gang nod to that science lean, with flowing shapes, sculptural walls, and undulating natural bridges connecting the centre to the rest of the museum.
If you’re into multidisciplinary art and culture Factory International
Where Manchester, England
Anticipated opening June Tipping a cap to Manchester music history (Factory Records is the label that launched Joy Division/New Order and Happy Mondays), this new art/cultural centre is set to be the beating heart of Manchester. With 144,000 square feet of multidisciplinary exhibition and performance space, it will welcome everything from art and theatre to opera, raves and concerts.
First up is Yayoi Kusama. From June to August, the revered Japanese contemporary artist will stage her largest installation to date, including dozens of inflatable sculptures, from polka dots and psychedelic pumpkins to 30-foot-tall dolls. In October, “Free Your Mind,” a dance-y adaptation of “The Matrix” films directed by Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “Trainspotting”), will mount in the space. For any exhibition, Factory International will offer affordable tickets starting at £10.
If you’re fascinated by ancient history Grand Egyptian Museum
Where Giza, Egypt
Anticipated opening 2023
Two decades after breaking ground, the Grand Egyptian Museum is finally expected to open its doors this year (though the exact date has yet to be officially announced). The world’s largest museum dedicated to a single civilization, it will welcome visitors to almost a million square feet of exhibition space.
Complementing the Pyramids of Giza (they’re a mile or so away), the museum is home to a collection of more than 100,000 antiquities and Tutankhamun treasures, including pieces returned from storage in Alexandria, and artifacts brought back to Egypt more than a century after they were taken from their original resting place.
In addition to the six main galleries, the landmark will include a hanging obelisk square (a first-of-its-kind design in the world), plus a children’s museum, a cinema and outdoor spaces inspired by the Nile river valley.
If you want to learn untold stories
International African American Museum
Where Charleston, S.C.
Anticipated opening First half of 2023 Gadsden’s Wharf in Charleston has been described as the “ground zero” of American slavery: between 1783 and 1808, more than 45 per cent of enslaved Africans entered America via this port after surviving the Middle Passage (the forced voyage across the Atlantic Ocean). This year, the site will open as a multidisciplinary museum memorializing this journey and cataloguing the impact of slavery.
The permanent collection of art and artifacts includes an original copy of “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, pottery by David Drake, and a tennis racket once belonging to Althea Gibson (the first African American tennis player to compete at national championships). Museum goers will also find space for quiet contemplation and a centre of family history (where visitors can trace their genealogy), plus exhibitions documenting movements for justice and equality, and galleries dedicated to the Gullah Geechee people.