2023 is a year of highly anticipated museum openings and reopenings
1. The New Cold War Museum in Denmark
Starting February 13, visitors to Denmark can experience the Cold War from a new perspective at Regan Vest - a former nuclear bunker that was one of the country's best-kept secrets for decades.
Deep in the Rold Skov forest, 200 feet below the earth's surface, Regan Vest was built in the 1960s to protect the Danish government and its queen in the event of a nuclear emergency. It was never used for the purposes for which it was built, and today's reconstruction of the entire 60,000-square-foot space gives us a glimpse into life during those decades that shaped life in Europe.
Visitors can take a guided tour of this self-contained, underground retreat, where many of the original furnishings from the time of its construction can be seen. The site also includes a new above-ground museum consisting of four black-box-like structures.
Exhibits highlight the lives of Danish citizens during the Cold War, the political fronts leading up to the war, and even the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima on the other side of the world.
2. Grand Egyptian Museum
Perhaps this will be the year that the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) opens, which is on the list of most anticipated cultural events from 2020. While the exact date of the opening is still uncertain, GEM has officially announced that it will be sometime in 2023.
Objects from all over Egypt have been transferred to the 870,000-square-foot museum, which will be the largest archeological museum in the world, forming a large collection of ancient treasures. For the first time, the entire collection of King Tutankhamen's treasures will be on display, along with objects from Egyptian pharaonic culture to the more modern ancient Greek and Roman periods of Egyptian history.
Twenty-three years ago, the Egyptian government launched a worldwide competition to design a new museum complex, and a site just two kilometers from Egypt's greatest monuments was chosen as the museum's headquarters.
Heneghan Peng Architects won the competition, and the ambitious project got underway, but had to be interrupted several times due to economic and political problems that determined the fate of the country. The museum was in danger several times due to financial problems and the consequences of the tourism recession, which emptied the country's coffers.
3. Nevada Museum of Punk and Rock Music
Loyal fans of rock and punk music will get their own Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas, which will showcase the influence of punk rock on art, fashion and pop culture. The museum, which opens its doors on March 10, spans 12,000 square feet and was created by the "Punk Collective" a group of musicians and industry experts that includes Vinnie Fiorello, former drummer for U.S. ska punk band Less Than Jake, and Fletcher Dragge, guitarist for Pennywise.
Their goal is to preserve the punk rock movement for future generations and to bring the culture of the "illegitimate stepchild of rock 'n' roll" to new generations, following the motto "Nevermind the Bollocks, Here's THE PUNK ROCK MUSEUM ", which paraphrases the title of the Sex Pistols' historic record.
The Punk Rock Museum houses the world's most extensive and comprehensive display of artifacts, pamphlets, photographs, clothing, instruments, handwritten lyrics, artwork and pretty much everything donated by the people and bands involved in the creation of a musical movement and culture of an entire era.
Of course, a store where you can buy T-shirts, sweatshirts and other punk products is not to be missed, and the museum will have its own tattoo studio.
4. International African American Museum in South Carolina
The International African American Museum (IAAM) will open in the first half of 2023. It is a 1,000-square-foot facility on Gadsden's Wharf, which was the first destination for about 100,000 enslaved Africans during the heyday of the international slave trade.
Visitors to the museum will learn about the history of slavery in America and how South Carolina became a reference point for the international slave trade. They will also find exhibits about the spread of African American culture and the ways African Americans have shaped American politics and the struggle for racial justice.
The museum's permanent collection includes nine different rooms and nearly 300 works of art and historical artifacts that document the untold stories of African Americans, including the Gullah Geechee Room, which highlights the cultural practices of people from West Africa who were brought to the American Southeast.
5. Amelia Earhart Museum in Kansas
At the Amelia Earhart Memorial Airport in Atkinson, Kansas, the birthplace of Amelia Earhart, a museum honoring her enduring legacy will open this spring with a series of exhibits that capture her adventurous spirit.
Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Central Pacific near Howland Island in 1937 while attempting to circumnavigate the globe. Her life, career and disappearance continue to capture the public's interest today. The American aviation pioneer, author and women's rights activist was the first woman to cross the Atlantic alone and the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland.
In the hangars that house the museum, visitors can admire Art Deco designs reminiscent of the 1920s and '30s that shaped the history of aviation. Through 14 interactive and immersive exhibits, they learn about Earhart's life, from her childhood in Kansas to her work as an engineer and nurse to her involvement in aviation. With virtual reality goggles, they can experience a transatlantic flight and face the same weather challenges Earhart did in the Lockheed Vega 5B.
6. Museum of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Seoul
The country's first museum dedicated to artificial intelligence and robotics will open in Seoul's Chang Dong district in July 2023. Four floors will be dedicated to robotics and computer-related exhibits, with drones and other systems on display.
The innovative museum, which is scheduled to open in July, covers an area of about 7,400 square meters, and the idea was to create a space that looks futuristic. In fact, robots were used in the construction of the museum, so it's already proving what technology can do before it even opens.
The idea behind the museum is to support public education in robotics technologies, an area in which the South Korean economy has invested heavily.
The museum will not only promote the public's knowledge and interest in the technology, but also give the next generation of developers and technology enthusiasts access to some of the most cutting-edge developments. The "Robot Wonder Museum," which is affiliated with the Seoul Metropolitan Museum, was designed by Melike Altinisik Architects of Constantinople.
7. National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh
The National Gallery of Scotland, opened in 1859, is not a new museum. It is designed in the neoclassical style, which was popular in Britain in the 19th century. In January 2019, work began to expand the exhibition space. Despite the planning restrictions that apply to this part of the Scottish capital, visitors to the new museum will have a completely different feel and experience.
The new part of the museum, which will open in the summer, faces the famous Princes Street Gardens and creates a new access to the rooms. The first phase of the National Gallery of Scotland project was completed in 2019. It included a new entrance to the gardens on East Princes Street, a new café, a renovated restaurant, and new landscaping and walkways to improve access to the gardens and galleries.
Delays to the project were due to underground extension work beneath an iconic 19th-century building with modern 1970s additions, located above one of Edinburgh's busiest railroad tunnels.
8. The Manchester Museum
In addition to the opening of the Co-op Live Arena and Factory International, Manchester will celebrate its museum in 2023, opening to the public on Feb. 18 after a £15 million renovation that will showcase the museum's historic collections and new exhibitions.
The Manchester Museum, part of the University of Manchester, opened in 1890 and is considered one of the largest university museums in the United Kingdom. The original neo-Gothic building, designed by famed architect Alfred Waterhouse, houses some 4.5 million objects designed to give the public a glimpse into archaeology, anthropology and natural history.
Among the new rooms is the South Asia Room, created in collaboration with the British Museum. It is the first permanent room in the United Kingdom dedicated to the experiences of South Asian diaspora communities. There will also be the new Lee Kai Hung Chinese Culture Hall, the Belonging Hall, a brand new dinosaur exhibition and the Golden Mummies of Egypt.
Although the old facade was preserved and could not be replaced, the Purcell architectural firm involved in the renovation project decided that a two-story addition in a much more modern style would help refresh the building.
9. Factory International in Manchester
A new contemporary art museum and cultural center inspired by the 1990s Madchester music scene is set to open in Manchester in June 2023.
Called Factory International, the museum is described as a "global destination for art, culture and music". It is named after Factory Records, an independent record label that was crucial to both the Madchester movement and the careers of many bands associated with the scene, including New Order, Happy Mondays and Joy Division. The company was founded in the late 1970s by Tony Wilson and also operated the infamous Haçienda nightclub.
Designed by Rem Koolhaas' OMA, the museum is located on the site of the former Granada Studios in central Manchester. It will consist of three main spaces: the first floor, a warehouse with a capacity of 5,000 people and a hall with 1,600 seats. It will host art exhibitions, concerts, theater and opera performances, and will also be the permanent venue for the biannual Manchester International Festival.
10. Bengaluru Museum of Art and Photography
We rarely mention museums in India. The Bengaluru Museum of Art and Photography, scheduled to open in February, is expected to become one of the most important museums in the state of Karnataka. The southern city of Bengaluru has been chosen as the ideal location for a new visual arts museum that will cover all types of visual media from the last thousand years or so.
The diverse styles of South Asian art will be on display at the Museum of Art and Photography, which has a significant collection of works by Indian artists. In total, some 60,000 works of art have already been added to the collection, and the museum hopes visitors will be able to participate in a "comprehensive journey" through Indian visual culture.
In addition to the many paintings and reproductions in the museum's collection, there are also some 21st century artworks that can already be viewed digitally, such as "Painted Stitches, Woven Stories - II", a digital exhibition that focuses on Indian textile designs over the years.
