Kingston Museum celebrates its 120th birthday!
Kingston Museum is today marking a magnificent 120 years since it was opened to the public.
The museum, with its original collection, was unveiled by the Earl of Rosebery on Monday 31 October 1904 - but it was originally feared the museum would not open.
Despite being in the plans with the public library, the library’s cost meant no funding was left for the museum’s development. However, renowned industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie provided additional financial support to ensure the project was completed.
Now, the museum continues to be a thriving cultural hub and a jewel in our borough’s heritage, with three permanent exhibitions: Ancient Origins, Town of Kings and Eadward Muybridge.
The exhibition on Muybridge - a pioneering photographer who was born and died in Kingston - has a Hollywood fan in Academy Award-winning actor Gary Oldman, who became the champion for the Muybridge collection earlier this month.
Open to everyone, the space also boasts a great selection of temporary exhibitions, the free and popular digital guide on the four community-led trails (available in Hong Kong, Korean, Tamil, and Ukrainian), a Museum audio trail, videos, maps and more! A new exhibition, K-Woman: Celebrating Korean Female Artists, opens on Friday 22 November.
We also have our Quirky Kingston tours, run by local resident and Kingston Tour Guides chair Julian McCarthy, which are packed with interesting tidbits for the curious-minded.
For more information and opening times visit kingstonheritage.org.uk.