Our Museums

The Museums Office of the Velocity Interoperability Network is preparing five national museums and the National Study Centre. Each is established at one of the principal sites of the Velocity Interoperability Network, in buildings transferred to the Office with the collections they will hold. The register below records every building in the Office's care, the subject of its collections and the date on which it will open.

The register of museums. The register is maintained by the Office and amended whenever an opening date or an arrangement changes. Every change is announced in the Newsroom on the day the register is amended.

Planned openings. The order of opening follows the condition of the buildings and the state of cataloguing in each division of the collections. The Study Centre opens first because the museums depend on it for storage, conservation and the preparation of displays.

1. 18 January 2027

   National Study Centre, Westbrook

   The reserve collections, the conservation studios and the study rooms open first, so that objects not on display may be consulted from the beginning of 2027. The Centre is not a museum and has no public galleries; access is by appointment.

2. 3 May 2027

   Museum of the Network, Central Exchange

   The first of the national museums to open to the public, with six galleries on the founding of the Network, the institutions established with it and the work they do. The opening exhibition is The Founding of the Network.

3. 6 September 2027

   Museum of Industry, Northgate Relay

   Nine galleries of machinery, engineering, instruments and working life, in the former works buildings at Northgate Relay. The museum opens on the first anniversary of the establishment of the Office.

4. 15 November 2027

   Gallery of the Network, Meridian Court

   Five galleries for paintings, prints, drawings and photographs, with a print room for works that may not be shown in continuous light. The opening exhibition is Drawn from the Collections.

5. 4 April 2028

   Maritime Museum, Southbank Terminal

   Seven galleries on shipping, survey and the work of the harbours, including the charts and instruments of the maritime and survey division.

6. 12 September 2028

   Museum of Natural History, Eastfield Campus

   Eleven galleries of specimens, geological samples and herbarium material, together with the study collections used by the Office's natural sciences staff.

Gallery provision. The figures below record the provision planned for each museum at opening. They will be revised as fitting out is completed and as cataloguing determines what may be shown.

Admission to every museum will be free to all visitors, whether or not they are citizens of the Network. The planned opening hours, the access arrangements at each site and the conduct expected in the galleries are set out on the Visiting page. The exhibitions to be shown before and after opening are listed on the Exhibitions page, and the collections each museum will hold on the Collections page.

Enquiries about the register, including errors in an entry, may be sent to contact@museums.gov.vin. For answers to common questions about opening, see the frequently asked questions.