Galleries and museums opening around the world in 2022
1. The National Museum (Nasjonalgalleriet), Oslo
The largest art museum in the Nordic countries, and home to Edvard Munch's “The Scream,” the new National Museum opens in June 2022. Inside is 10,000 sq m of exhibition space which will allow the museum to display 5,000 artworks at once – more than twice the amount as its previous space – of which spans 17th-century Dutch landscape paintings to imperial Chinese porcelain. The rooftop terrace will have sweeping views of city hall square and the fjords.
2. The Fotografiska Museum, Berlin
Be ready to be shocked by photos. Iconic Swedish photography museum Fotografiska which started in Stockholm's edgy Sodermalm district will have a new outpost in Berlin (and two more in Miami and Shanghai). Berlin is known for its evocative and future-looking art scene so it makes sense that the building Fotografiska occupies in the Mitte district saw several incarnations throughout the last century, including a theatre, events space, a bar and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, artist studios.
3. Burrell Collection, Glasgow
Nestled in the storybook grassland of Pollok Country Park, the Burrell Collection reopens in March after a refurbishment. For the first time, all three floors will be open to visitors, allowing for more objects to be on display. Amongst the museum's impressive collection are a 2nd century Warwick vase and a late 15th century stained glass work of Princess Cecily, the daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville.
4. Kunsthalle Praha, Prague
A non-profit organization, Kuntshalle Praha's new art space opens on February 22 in the former Zenger Transformer Station and will consist of three galleries, a design shop and a terrace café with a view of Prague Castle. Before its life as a transformer station generating electricity, the building served as a barrack in the 19th century and from 2012-2015, it was an underground club. Art has always been woven into the its history. In the 1930s, kinetic artist Zdeněk Pěšánek designed a series of light-kinetic sculptures made with industrial materials and neon tubes for the station's front entrance.
5. Serge Gainsbourg Museum, Paris
The singer's townhouse in the seventh arrondissement might have been closed to the public for 30 years since his death in 1991, but this hasn't stopped fans from plastering tributes in the form of posters and graffiti on the outside walls. In the spring, the house will finally open to the public as a museum that promises to be just as colourful as the graffiti-splashed walls and as provocative as Gainsbourg's lyrics were. The museum will comprise a bookstore, café, piano bar and a room with Gainsbourg's personal collection of sculptures and other artworks.
6. Museum of Modern Electronic Music, Frankfurt
The nightlife scene runs deep in a city like Frankfurt – in fact, it's one of the birthplaces of European electronic music so it makes sense to have a museum dedicated to this genre. Opening in April, MOMEM will consist of seven sections, some rooms with interactive exhibits and each exploring a different facet, from the historic and social settings that gave rise to this ever-evolving genre to electronic music's influence on fashion and design. The exhibitions will not only delve into the history of electronic music but also ponder its future. And of course, it would not be complete without club nights.
7. East End Women's Museum, London
Currently a pop-up museum that tours East London, the East End Women's Museum moves into a permanent space in Barking later this year. East London indeed has a colourful history, from crime-ridden neighbourhood to hipster haunt and women undoubtedly played an important role in its transformation. Past pop-up exhibitions included one on women's suffrage and women's memories of Watney Market, and the new space will continue to tell their stories.
8. Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza
Built to house more than 100,000 artifacts, the Grand Egyptian Museum promises to be a mini-city. In fact, when it opens this summer, it will be the largest archaeological museum complex in the world. The museum will be divided into four eras spanning more than 3,000 years, with nearly one hectare of exhibition space dedicated solely to King Tut and featuring 5,400 objects from his tomb including ornaments and his golden funeral mask. In addition to these displays, there will be eight restaurants, several gift shops and a sculpture garden.
9. Istanbul Museum of Modern Art
Given that art is a way to bridge different worlds, it's fitting that the new Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, which opens in the spring, occupies a place of great historical importance – on the European bank of the Bosphorus looking to the Asian side. Originally founded in 2004 as Turkey's first modern art museum, the collection includes painting, photography and new media. All of this will be transferred to the new museum which stretches across 15,000 sq m and five floors running parallel to the river with an ever-present view of ships sailing through the strait.
Whatever the medium – painting or pottery, photography or kinetic installation – artworks capture the zeitgeist of their times and often critique it too. The museums in which they live serve not only to preserve them but to make them increasingly accessible to the public. From a museum of electronic music to one focused on women's history, these are the exciting new openings in 2022.