VISITORS to Leicester Museum and Art Gallery have only two more weeks to enjoy one of the venue’s galleries before it closes to the public to create a new exhibition space.
The museum’s World Arts Gallery will close from December 1, to enable work to begin on transforming it into a new art gallery area.
Work will take place from the end of 2021, with the first planned temporary exhibition due to open in the new gallery in summer 2022.
Ultimately the space is due to become the permanent home for the museum’s Contemporary Art Collection – one of the most often-requested displays by visitors.
Exhibits at the World Arts Gallery include hundreds of artefacts reflecting different styles of art, design and crafts from cultures around the globe, a number of which are likely to feature in future projects elsewhere in the museum.
The rest of the museum’s exhibits will remain open as normal throughout the work, including the hugely-popular Ancient Egypt, dinosaur, Picasso Ceramics and internally-renowned German Expressionist galleries.
Leicester deputy city mayor for culture, leisure and sport, Cllr Piara Singh Clair, said: “The World Arts Gallery has been in place for 20 years and we want to give the exhibition space a revamp, by creating a new gallery reflecting what visitors have told us they want to see.
“This gives us the chance to transform that space into a new exhibition area, initially for temporary displays and longer term as a new location for the museum’s very popular Contemporary Art Collection.
“There are some wonderful items on display in the World Arts Gallery, and we want to continue to exhibit the best of those in due course elsewhere within the museum.”
Leicester Museum and Art Gallery is the oldest in the city, and hosts a vast array of temporary exhibitions, featuring works from the collections, touring exhibitions from national museums and a programme of contemporary art and craft displays.
Full details of events at all of Leicester’s museums are available here.
Leicester Museums and Galleries is a National Portfolio Organisation, supported by Arts Council England.
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