History of the Museums Office

The Museums Office of the Velocity Interoperability Network is a young institution. The milestones below record the bringing together of the national collections, the establishment of the Office and the programme by which its museums will open, and will be extended as each stage is reached.

1. Before September 2026

   The collections held by member organisations

   Before the Office existed, the collections now held by it were kept by fourteen member organisations in twenty-six separate collections. There was no common catalogue, no shared standard of conservation, and no museum open to the public anywhere in the Network.

2. 10 August to 5 September 2026

   The transition period

   In the four weeks before establishment, member organisations transferred their collections, their buildings and the staff who had kept them to the new Office. Every object received was numbered, photographed where required and moved to the store at which its division is held; 6,940 condition assessments were completed and 412 objects were treated in the conservation studios.

3. 6 September 2026

   The Office established

   The Museums Office of the Velocity Interoperability Network was formally established, with responsibility for the national collections, for five national museums and the National Study Centre in preparation, and for the learning programme of the Network.

4. 6 September 2026

   museums.gov.vin launched

   The Office launched its official website, carrying press releases and official statements, the register of the national collections, the sites and opening dates of the museums, the learning programme and guidance for visitors and researchers.

5. 6 September 2026

   Register, openings and programmes announced

   On the day of its establishment the Office published the first register of the collections, recording 41,286 catalogued records, confirmed the opening dates of its six buildings from January 2027 to September 2028, and announced seven learning programmes and three travelling exhibitions.

6. 9 November 2026

   The first travelling exhibition opens

   Instruments of the Network, the first of three travelling exhibitions drawn from the national collections, opens at Central Exchange and runs until 18 December 2026. Work in the Yards and Charting the Coast follow at Northgate Relay and Southbank Terminal in 2027.

7. Forthcoming

   The Study Centre and the first museums

   The National Study Centre opens on 18 January 2027 and the Museum of the Network on 3 May 2027, with the remaining museums opening to September 2028. The register is reissued each quarter, the Office's statistical releases begin in October 2026, and every announcement will be published in the Newsroom.

Announcements are published in the Newsroom. For the Office's present responsibilities, see About the Museums Office; for the buildings and their opening dates, see Our Museums; for figures on the Office's work, see Statistics.