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In case you missed it, Time Out has unveiled its roundup of the greatest museums in the UK right now. Our editors and writers picked 20 standout venues that pique your curiosity and feed your mind through their weird and wonderful exhibits, from a crab museum in Margate to a museum of medicine in Leeds.
We’ve spent the last few months deep diving into what makes each museum on the list so brilliant and now it’s the turn of number 14: Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow. This museum is a monster of a place. It’s filled with a formidable art collection (look out for Dalí, Van Gogh, Turner, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and more) and an enormous spread of historical artefacts from the city and far beyond. Our writer called it a ‘vast palace of curiosities’.
There are more than 8,000 artefacts displayed across the 22 galleries. From the ‘Life’ gallery exploring natural and human history to the ‘Expression’ gallery full of fine art, you’ll come across fascinating items like a 1944 Spitfire, a sarcophagus of ancient Egyptian nobleman Pa-ba-sa, dozens unnerving head sculptures hanging from the ceiling and a glorious display of Scottish trade union banners. If you visit at lunchtime, you’ll be treated to the wonderful daily organ recital in its Centre Hall.
The museum also hosts fantastic temporary exhibitions in its RBS Exhibition Gallery and the community exhibition space. Now until October, for example, it’s hosting Barbie: The Exhibition which features more than 250 objects showcasing the history and legacy of the world’s best known doll.
As if it couldn’t get any better, this year the museum introduced a new audio guide from the one and only Billy Connolly. The comedian regularly visited Kelvingrove as a boy with his dad and those personal ties are reflected in the guide, which contains snippets of his early life and career. His fave exhibits include Scottish artist Alasdair Gray’s 1964 oil painting ‘Cowcaddens’, the medieval suits of armour, Sir Roger the stuffed elephant and Salvador Dalí’s ‘Christ of Saint John of the Cross’.
Did we mention that you can see all of that completely free of charge?
Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Argyle Street, Glasgow, G3 8AG.
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