Bradford's National Science and Media Museum has unveiled its plans for a phased reopening and revealed renders of some of its new spaces. The museum has been closed since June 2023. First to open in January 2025 will be reconfigured foyer (shown above) with a new visitor welcome desk, seating and redesigned shop. A new lift - which was part of the cause of the extended delay in reopening - which will provide access to all floors.
The museum has stated an ambition to attract 500,000 visitors in 2025 and to bring 500 objects from the permanent collection, many of which have not been seen before, to be on display.
As part of the Bradford 2025 city of culture programme the artist collective Marshmallow Laster Feast is creating a new immersive installation for the museum's temporary exhibition galleries, laumnching in April 2025. Inspired by Born in Bradford, a major research programme that has been tracking the lives of more than 40,000 people across the district since 2007, the installation will take visitors on a multimedia ride through time and space, exploring who we are and what makes us human.
The new Sound and Vision galleries (shown right and below) will launch in summer 2025 and will celebrate all aspects of the museum's permanent collection including photography, film, audio, animation and gaming.
On reopening visitors will see the return of the interactive Wonderlab gallery, along with the IMAX – the biggest screen in West Yorkshire. its 2025 programme will also see the return of the museum’s annual Yorkshire Games Festival, the Widescreen Weekend film festival, and the Bradford Science Festival.
Commenting on the plans for reopening, Director Jo Quinton-Tulloch said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming visitors back into the museum in January just as Bradford takes on the role of City of Culture. With an enhanced public programme, newly revamped spaces and improved accessibility including a new passenger lift, we’re ready to welcome many more visitors in 2025 and beyond. It’s going to be a momentous year for the district, and we’ve planned a fantastic lineup of exhibitions, festivals, and events including a new immersive exhibition in partnership with Bradford 2025; a supercharged Bradford Science Festival and the opening of our new Sound and Vision galleries in the summer.”
See: https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/
and https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0jsnfdh
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