14 of the world’s top museum openings for 2023

Fossils gallery in the Manchester Museum (Chris Bull/Manchester Museum)

One of the most hotly-anticipated UK reopenings of 2023 is the Manchester Museum. After an extravagant spruce up that cost £15 million, plenty is expected. One gallery will look at the city’s links to China, while its big opening exhibition will explore the ‘Golden Mummies of Egypt’, drawing heavily on the museum’s vast collection. Doors open from 18 February. museum.manchester.ac.uk

Inside the Danish Cold War Museum (Lars Horn/Nordjyske Museer)

REGAN Vest, also known as the Danish Cold War Museum, is opening for the first time to the public on 13 February 2023. Located deep within Denmark’s Rold Forest in Northern Jutland, this bunker was first built in the 1960s for the monarchy and government in case of a nuclear attack. Visitors can go underground and see the original interior, while above ground lies an exhibition space examining the era. Tours to be booked in advance. aart.dk

Opening in July in the Chang-Dong neighbourhood of Seoul, the Robot & AI Museum is the first of its kind in Asia. Even the construction of this futuristic, spherical building has had robot assistance. Designed by Turkish company Melike Altınışık Architects, the museum will be in a 7,400-square-metre space across four floors. Exhibitions on drones, artificial intelligence and, of course, robots can be expected.

Forest of Lamps exhibition at teamLab Borderless (Shutterstock)

Borderless by name, borderless by nature. This immersive art installation fills every corner of the room, so you’re literally stepping into a world of digital art with no boundaries. It closed in 2022 for relocation, with plans to reopen later this year as part of the Azabudai Hills development – a modern urban village in the heart of Tokyo. This one is certainly one for the Instagrammers of the world. teamlab.art

We’re not holding our breath. The Grand Egyptian Museum(GEM) has been teasing us with its opening for years now. But after two decades of work and more than a $1 billion invested, we understand the pressure is on for a near-to-perfect grand opening of what will be one of the largest museums in the world. Located just a short distance from the Pyramids of Giza, the institution is dedicated to preserving Egypt’s past, with more than 100,000 artefacts on display around the whopping 490,000-square-meter site. The most exciting part of its collection has to be the treasure of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, on display for the first time since the discovery of his tomb more than a century ago. grandegyptianmuseum.org

Visitors touring exhibition in Istanbul Modern (Shutterstock)

The Istanbul Museum of Modern Art was founded nearly twenty years ago. Its exhibitions celebrate Turkey’s creative and cultural identity, as well as providing free art education to hundreds of thousands of children. Its brand spanking new building along Karaköy waterfront is designed by prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, and will offer new exhibition halls, a cinema, library, event spaces and more. istanbulmodern.org

The opening of the International African American Museum is all about an important yet harrowing journey. Beginning in Africa in the eighteenth century, millions were captured and forced to cross the Atlantic to North America where their future was sealed. Around two-thirds of those who arrived in the US passed through the port in Charleston. Instead of ignoring its past, the city chooses to empower visitors with knowledge at its new museum dedicated to Afro-American culture, and the history of slavery in South Carolina. It was due to open in January, but has now been postponed to later in 2023. iaamuseum.org

Inside the National Portrait Gallery (Shutterstock)

The reopening of one of world’s most famous galleries will certainly excite visitors to the UK capital this summer. The gallery closed in 2020 for refurbishment and is expected to open its doors once again on the 22 July 2023. After receiving large grants from multiple foundations, its collections will undergo a complete re-presentation with significant improvements to the building, along with a new entrance, forecourt and Learning Centre. npg.org.uk

The Museum of Modern Art is an already established cultural centre in Warsaw, but its previous home in a Soviet building didn’t quite live up to the impressive reputation of the institution. Swiss architect Christian Kerez won a competition to completely redesign the museum overlooking the Vistula River, with extensions created by a New York-based architecture studio. The four-storied building will not only hold exhibitions but also host lectures, workshops and have a cinema and auditorium. The grand opening is scheduled for May 2023. artmuseum.pl

People touring exhibits inside the museum (National Museum for Women in the Arts)

Located in Washington DC, the world’s first museum to champion female artists has been closed since August 2021, while the 1908 Classical Revival structure and its interior undergoes a full, overdue renovation, costing $66 million. When the National Museum for Women in the Arts (NMWA) reopens this autumn, it will return in the same historic building, but with a shiny new interior featuring an enlarged gallery space, a new destination for researchers and education programmes, and more. nmwa.org

Opening on 18 February 2023, The Museum of Art and Photography (MAP) in Bengaluru will exhibit a growing collection of more than 60,000 artworks that transport visitors on a journey through Indian art and culture. Dating back to the tenth century up until the present day, most paintings, sculptures, and photographs on display are from South Asia. The museum was designed by India’s leading architects, and is set to be one of the most significant cultural openings in the state. map-india.org

The original Scottish National Gallery building (Shutterstock)

The Scottish National Gallery is still open to visitors, but 2023 sees the unveiling of an impressive new wing alongside the original neo-classical building. The estimated £22 million extension will house collections focused on work by iconic Scottish artists, including Phoebe Anna Traquair, William McTaggart, and Sir Henry Raeburn. After years of delays, its opening has been pencilled in for the summer of 2023. nationalgalleries.org

After a $12 million financial injection, Toronto’s educational Holocaust Museum is set to reopen in spring 2023. It was first founded in 1985 by Holocaust Survivors who wanted to share their stories with students. The revamp will not only continue their memory and legacy, but will offer an immersive experience to help new generations understand this difficult history. holocaustcentre.com

The original AKG Art Museum building (Shutterstock)

Scheduled to open on 23 May 2023, the Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly the Albright-Knox Gallery) in Western New York State will return with a significant expansion of its site – the biggest in its 160-year history. The Jeffrey E. Gundlach Building – named after the museum’s billionaire financier – adds on more than 2,700 square metres of space across three floors, and will display special exhibitions and the museum’s world-renown collections of modern and contemporary art. buffaloakg.org