Museums at Night

UK cultural programme

DJ Yoda performing at the Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon as part of a 2014 Museums at Night event

Museums at Night was a twice-yearly festival of late openings, sleepovers and special events taking place in museums, galleries, libraries, archive and heritage sites in the United Kingdom. It was affiliated with the European Night of Museums programme,[1] and took place on weekends in late May (near to International Museum Day) and late October. It ceased operations in January 2020, through lack of funding.[2]

Museums at Night was core funded by Arts Council England and administered by Culture24.[3] For Museums at Night weekend 2009, cultural and heritage venues in the UK staged 157 events, attracting over 34,000 visitors.[4] There were combined cultural and heritage programmes offered by multiple organisations in many United Kingdom towns and cities, including Stockport,[5] Bath,[6] Dorchester,[7] Norwich,[8] Liverpool[9] and NewcastleGateshead.[10] The largest single programme within the festival was that organised in Newcastle Gateshead, covering over 50 venues under the title The Late Shows.[11]

## Participants

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The "Connect!" competition between museums and other cultural hosting institutions engaged artists to produce art for the festival weekend.[12]

One of the artists who participated in Museums at Night during May 2013 through The Late Shows was Julia Vogl, who created a chandelier with the help of members of the public, using 2500 recycled plastic bottles.[13] Davy and Kristin McGuire participated in Museums at Night in November 2015 with Starkers, bringing the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum's statue Pauline to life, animating her to give her opinions on the visitors to the gallery over the years.

## See also

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* Light Night
* Nuit Blanche
* Long Night of Museums

## References

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1. ^ "Nuit des Musées website". Retrieved 16 June 2010.
2. ^ rosieclarke. "It's goodnight to Museums at Night". Museums at Night. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
3. ^ "What is Museums at Night?". Museums at Night. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
4. ^ "Museums at Night 2009 Evaluation Report". Culture24. 24 July 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
5. ^ "Culturefeast: Museums at Night". Visit Stockport website. Archived from the original on May 31, 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
6. ^ "Museums at Night 2010". The Roman Baths, Bath website. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
7. ^ "Dorchester Museums at Night Success". DorchesterDorset.com blog. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
8. ^ "Museums at Night". Heritage City website. Norwich HEART. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
9. ^ Ian Jackson (16 April 2010). "Liverpool Light Night - Friday 14 May 2010". Art in Liverpool blog. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
10. ^ "The Late Shows". Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
11. ^ http://tyneandwear.sky.com/events/article/20818/the-late-shows-artists-limber-up-for-after-dark-events Archived 2013-03-28 at the Wayback Machine India Adams reporting in 2012 for Sky "the UK's largest Museums at Night event".
12. ^ http://museumsatnight.org.uk/connect/ Museums at Night Connect
13. ^ http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/art433736 Culture24 interview.

## External links

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* Official website
* The BBC History Magazine Guide to Museums at Night 2013