The world’s best new museums stretch from Bali to Norway
Focused on everything from Balinese astrology to Shakespearean performance, these museums are as diverse as they are innovative.
A landmark museum can inspire a journey, enrich a travel experience, and leave you with a deeper understanding of a culture. Museum technology has expanded, bringing new levels of interactivity and seamless immersion, and there’s also an increased emphasis in balancing emerging voices with money-spinning old masters. The result is a raft of imaginative new spaces and restorations that stimulate the senses.
Innovation situation in New York City, US
Don’t let the rather bland name fool you. The Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation in New York, a new part of the American Museum of Natural History, is actually one of the most dynamic spaces to open in Manhattan in years. It connects to its parent museum across four floors and has an insectarium, butterfly vivarium and floor-to-ceiling collection displays. But the kicker is that in many instances you’re not just gawping at items behind glass, but rather interacting with living creatures. And when you’re not, exhibitions like Invisible Worlds immerse visitors into microscopic landscapes with projections swirling around you. amnh.org
Bali high in Bali, Indonesia
Time isn’t typically given to hyperbole, but the magazine recently trumpeted Bali’s new Saka Museum as one of the “World’s Greatest Places for 2024”. Set on the grounds of the Ayana Estate resort in Jimbaran, the museum can be visited by reservation, but the effort is worth it for a bona fide insight into Balinese culture that’s a world away from the heaving tourist strips of Kuta and the like. It focuses on the Balinese Saka Calendar, with a particular emphasis on Nyepi, an island-wide day of silence when even the airport shuts down. There are also vivid, gargantuan temple sculptures and an exploration of Balinese astrology with its 35 star signs. sakamuseum.org
Modernist age in Kristiansand, Norway
There are certain cultural institutions whose building itself is worth the trip, and Norway’s Kunstsilo Nordic art museum is one of them. Located in a former grain silo on the island of Odderøya in Kristiansand, this new arrival houses the Tangen Collection – the world’s largest assemblage of Nordic Modernism. Not that familiar with the genre? That’s part of the thrill of visiting – you are not merely taking in the greatest hits of an artist you already know. Add cutting-edge digital art interactions, free tours in English, the rooftop Panorama bar and the Brasserie restaurant – try the barley risotto with asparagus and ramson, a local garlic variant – and you have the makings of a stirring day out. kunstsilo.no
Comeback classic in Whanganui, New Zealand
After being shut as an earthquake risk in 2014, the Sarjeant Gallery in Whanganui, in the North Island of New Zealand, was always going to make a comeback. And what a comeback, with the original 1919 building housing an entirely contemporary new space. It will open on November 9 with the Nō Konei: From Here exhibition, spanning four centuries and featuring more than 200 artworks from a collection of 8000. One certified showstopper will be Frederick Goodall’s newly restored painting The Flight into Egypt (1884). Many of the pieces in the contemporary collection were created by alumni of the gallery’s Tylee Cottage artist-in-residence program. Look out, Mona, you may have some competition. sarjeant.org.nz
Gehry gold in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Few names quicken the art lover’s pulse like Guggenheim and its Middle Eastern outpost, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, due to open in 2025 in the Saadiyat Cultural District, will revolve around works from West and South Asia and North Africa. The emphasis will be on items created from 1960 onwards and estimates suggest roughly 600 artworks will be on view at any given time within the confines of a building designed by Pritzker prize-winning architect Frank Gehry. It will be the largest of the Guggenheim museums, with 30,000 square metres of space across nine cone-shaped galleries. The venture joins an outpost of the Louvre, which opened in 2017, and the more recent Zayed National Museum nearby. guggenheim.org
Cherchez les femmes in Provence, France
This isn’t so much a new museum but a significant repositioning. In June, what was once the Mougins Museum of Classical Art, near Cannes in Provence, was reborn as Female Artists of the Mougins Museum or FAMM for short. It’s a step towards redressing the often male-centric art world by shining a light on more than 80 women creators spanning 19th-century Impressionism, Surrealism and abstraction through to 21st century provocateurs. Iconoclasts such as Frida Kahlo, Elaine de Kooning, Tracey Emin and Marina Abramović are represented, but the true joy is discovering artists you may not know – yet. famm.com
Much ado about something in Shoreditch, United Kingdom
Before moving to the Globe Theatre in 1599, William Shakespeare’s troupe, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, were in residence at The Curtain Playhouse. On the ruins of the latter theatre in Shoreditch will rise The Museum of Shakespeare, a co-creation between upscale imagineers Bompas & Parr and the Museum of London Archeology. Its central feature, aptly named The Stage, will tap into AI to place visitors in the midst of animated performances. It is believed that Henry V debuted on its square stage and Shakespeare himself performed here in Every Man in His Humour. And if you have some sterling to spare you can snap up one of 412 apartments to be built above the museum. museumofshakespeare.org.uk
Airs and graces in Kyoto, Japan
Devoted to exploring the world of maiko and geiko, the Gion Kagai Art Museum sits in the heart of Kyoto’s Gion Kobu district, one of the last places in Japan where this culture is still a part of daily life. If your first thought was ‘Isn’t that geisha?’, you could do with a visit to clear up the misnomer. According to the museum, “In the Kagai districts of Kyoto, women who perform traditional dance and music in ozashiki banquet rooms and on stage and entertain guests are referred to as geiko (and not geisha). Women training to become geiko are called maiko.” Here you’ll find hand-painted kimono and Nishijin brocade obi sashes that double as purses. Meanwhile, the kanzashi hair ornaments are exquisite and the dance performances are mesmerising statements in grace. gion-museum.com
Upsizing in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Typically known as MASP, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo has a sprawling catalogue of 11,000 pieces from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Problem was, only a fraction of it could be shown at any time due to space restrictions. All that is due to change next year with the addition of the Pietro Maria Bardi Building, a new 14-storey tower named for MASP’s first artistic director, along with two expanded basement spaces. This effectively increases the exhibition capacity by 66 per cent and the building will echo the original 1968 structure by Pietro’s wife, Lina Bo Bardi, the late Modernist architect who won a Special Golden Lion in memoriam at the 2021 Venice Biennale for her work. masp.org.br
Second nature in Los Angeles, US
The United States does scale so exceptionally well and the recently refurbed Natural History Museum in Los Angeles adds a touch of Hollywood pizzazz – not to mention humour – to its exhibits. Its Halloween show, which runs from October 3-31, for example, is called Boney Island. It is particularly strong in all things dinosaurs, making it more family-friendly than a stuffy art gallery. There is also a 1.4-hectare nature gardens section where you can encounter many of the plants, butterflies, lizards and squirrels referred to in the indoor exhibits. If you’re travelling with kids or grandkids, it’s a refreshing break from all things Disney. nhm.org
This story is from the October issue of Travel + Luxury Magazine.
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