Dancing to the past: London Museum will be a “democratic” place for all, says director | Museums

New London The museum will be “the hub of the city”, its director said, hosting afternoon tea events, monthly clubs and monthly DJ sets where visitors can mingle with the artefacts while dancing.

Sharon Ament said that when it reopens later this year the museum will be a “democratic” place that connects with all Londoners rather than just a repository for its artefacts, which range from the city’s past to contemporary art.

“I want travelers to pass the museum on their way to and from work. I want people to add to their evening at the museum, in a different way than going out,” said Ament. “Maybe they’ll stay for an hour, maybe they’ll stay until we close, maybe they’ll do a club night. We have to match our opening hours with how people work in their daily lives.

“We are supported by London taxpayers, so our responsibility is to all Londoners.”

The institution, formerly known as the Museum of London, has been it is closed from 2022 when it moved from its former location in the Barbican complex. His new home, carefully translated ten years later historical market halls in Smithfield, in the City of London, will open on 28 November, it announced on Thursday.

“It’s not just a storage container, it’s a place for people to connect with each other,” said Paul Williams, head of leading architects Stanton Williams, adding that the museum will be “a forum for public life”.

The market halls will be connected to the old London street, which is now illuminated, with spaces on both sides of the reception. The former Victorian General Market will host a full program of cultural events, with the first, called London Tastes, focusing on the capital’s diverse food scene.

Events will be accompanied by 7m archives, which include Cheapside Hoard of 17th-century gems, and a dress made by Charles I when he was beheaded in 1649 with a chunk of the Whitechapel fatbergtaken from the canals of the capital in 2017.

Also found during the museum’s temporary closure is a police dispatch box decorated with piranhas by Banksy in 2024 and Bloomberg Collection of 14,000 Roman paintings, which were found during the construction of the headquarters of the news organization in 2014 and donated to the museum last year.

The project has been funded to the tune of £437m by the London council and the mayor of London, with a number of other sponsors including the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

“Moving to the mall made us think differently about how we could be a museum,” Ament said. “What we’ve all learned is that markets make really interesting museums, because of all the things a market has that I don’t think is always a museum. A market is a social space so we’re a social space.”

He said this approach is one that many other museum directors have been “pursuing”, but are often hindered by their culture or old buildings. However, he said, “gone are the days when museums are driven by the (interests) of students whose great interest in Etruscan pottery means there is a great story to be told and a wide audience out there.

“I see museum staff really opening their doors in new and exciting ways. We can all do more.”