In the South West a regional promotion is being planned, backed by dedicated MGM print, a media campaign including radio advertising. The activities of all registered museums in the region will be publicised.
In the South East the Hub is planning events with new partners in the region. The Pitt Rivers Museum and Oxford University Museum of Natural History plan to repeat the successful event from last year, 'A Night at the Museum'. A Welcome Weekend of family fun is planned at Chatham Historic Dockyard.
In London the Hub is working a series of Archaeological Finds Days in three museums in Outer London, organised in conjunction with the Archaeological Archive at Museum of London (LAARC). The London Smaller Museums and Galleries Group, with the Greater London Authority and ALM London, is planning to relaunch the Discover London Trails with more audio content. Further out, Kew Gardens is hooking its Woodland Wonders Weekend to MGM celebrating woodland crafts, traditions and folklore.
Museum Directors will be greeting visitors during the Welcome Weekend including John Tucker, Science Museum, Charles Saumarez Smith, National Gallery, Jack Lohman, Museum of London and David Dewing, Geffrye Museum.
Museums in the East of England Hub are well ahead with a range of events in Kings Lynn, Cromer, Luton, Stockwoord Park and at the Castle Museum Colchester, where Peter Berridge, Director, will welcome visitors over the Welcome Weekend and introduce his ‘choice’ objects. The Fitzwilliam Museum is marking the reopening of the Museum’s Egyptian galleries at the end of May with events on the theme of ‘Making Connections: Past, Present and Future’. The month also sees the re-opening of Sainsbury’s Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia with a new Pacific Encounters exhibition.
In the East Midlands there will be a media launch at Nottingham Castle on April 27 and the launch of ‘museumaker’, a partnership programme involving 19 museums to develop new relationships, new work and new audiences for contemporary craft and museum collections across the region.
Nottingham Museums plan to link up with independent museums to put on a regional launch at Brewhouse Yard Museum where the clock will be turned back to May 1945. Mansfield Museum proposes to build on last year’s successful ‘People’s show’ with a celebration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Leicester City Museums are taking a new approach to MGM this year by working with a primary school to create their own museum.
In the West Midlands a new festival, ‘Footsteps of Giants’, is taking shape designed to celebrate the ‘giant’ ideas, individuals and inventions that have shaped the West Midlands, drawing inspiration from the past, present and future from Saturday 27 May - Sunday 4 June 2006. Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, Wolverhampton Arts and Museums, Stoke-on-Trent Museums and The Herbert (Coventry) and others throughout the region will celebrate the scientific, artistic, technological, cultural and sporting achievements of the region.
Footsteps of Giants will be a family-friendly festival that aims to reach out to non-traditional audiences, to encourage people to visit their local museums and art galleries and to learn about and enjoy our common heritage and culture.
The Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery will also be hosting a Museum Collections Open Day on 29 May opening their new stores to the public for the first time.
In Wales CyMAL have announced an MGM grants scheme for museums and galleries in Wales. Plans are also under way for a launch early in May with the Minister for Culture. The Welsh/English bilingual template print and logos are now on the MGM website, www.mgm.org.uk
In the North West Hub venues are using MGM2006 to encourage people to connect with their local museum with a variety of activities throughout the month. Directors and senior staff have signed up for the Welcome Weekend, including Tullie House in Carlisle and Hub members will work with partners across the region on profile raising and promotion of MGM2006. Several museums are signing up to the Night of the Museums including Hat Works in Stockport.
The North East is re-launching a revamped ‘Regional Museums Guide’. The Guide is an essential listing of all the registered museums and galleries in the area. The guide has been updated to include special offers from museums and a passport scheme during May to encourage people to visit as many as possible.
The Hub has also teamed up with the regional development agency One North East to tie the guide in with their national and international tourism branding: Passionate People, Passionate Places.
In Yorkshire Audiences Yorkshire are working closely with the Hub to create a regional campaign. Now in the planning stage, the campaign will be focusing on Making Connections with children aged between 7-11 by creating inspirational promotional material for this age group and their families.
The Eureka! Museum for Children in Halifax is hosting a Welcome Weekend, exploring the traditions of folk culture together through dance, music and storytelling, including traditional maypole dancing.
In Scotland Show Scotland 06 will be held over the Bank Holiday weekend 28 April to 1 May 2006 at the same time as the MGM Welcome Weekend. The Scottish Museums Council and a steering group of national, local authority and independent museums are putting together an exciting new weekend of events with a targeted marketing and communications campaign driven from Scotland.
In Northern Ireland NIMC is encouraging museums and galleries to be involved in the Month and to apply for funding to stage events.
