Exhibition archive

Find out about past exhibitions held at the British Museum.

2009

 The power of dogu: ceramic figures from ancient Japan
10 September – 22 November 2009

 

 Imagining the forest: a painting on silk from eastern India
13 August – 4 October 2009 

 

 Medals of Dishonour
25 June – 27 September 2009 

 

 Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur
28 May – 11 October 2009  

 

 Gamelan: Music of Java
21 May – 12 July 2009 

 

 Dazzling the enemy: shields from the Pacific
14 May – 16 August 2009  

 

 India Landscape
1 May – 11 October 2009  

 

 The splendour of Isfahan: coins from Iran
5 March – 5 July 2009  

 

 The Intimate Portrait: drawings, miniatures and pastels from Ramsay to Lawrence
5 March – 31 May 2009  

 

 Shah 'Abbas: The Remaking of Iran
19 February – 14 June 2009  

 

 Takhti: a modern Iranian hero
19 February – 19 April 2009  

 

 Treasures from Shanghai: ancient Chinese bronzes and jades
30 January – 27 March 2009  


2008

 Between Tibet and Assam: cultural diversity in the eastern Himalayas
23 October 2008 13 April 2009

 

 Babylon: Myth and Reality
13 November 2008 15 March 2009

 

 Sámi Magic Drum
27 November 2008 18 January 2009

 

 Statuephilia
4 October 2008 25 January 2009

 

 British sculptors' drawings: Moore to Gormley
25 September 2008 25 January 2009

 

 Designing change: coins of Elizabeth II
18 September 2008 1 March 2009

 

 Hadrian: Empire and Conflict
24 July 26 October 2008

 

 Conservation in focus
11 September 26 October 2008

 

 Reflecting modern Japan: photobooks from the post-war period
5 June  10 August 2008

 

 China Landscape
3 May 27 October 2008

 

 Icons of Revolution: Mao badges then and now
10 April  14 September 2008

 

 American Scene: Prints from Hopper to Pollock
10 April  7 September 2008

 

 Church and Emperor: an Ethiopian crucifixion
6 March  5 May 2008

 

 Fascination with Nature: Birds, flowers and insects in Chinese art
10 January 5 August 2008


2007

 Divine Cat: speaking with the gods in ancient Egypt
8 November 2007 27 January 2008

 

 Korean Moon Jar
20 September 21 October 2007

 

 The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army
13 September 2007 6 April 2008

 

 Crafting Beauty in Modern Japan
19 July 21 October 2007

 

 Ikebana: Living Flowers of Japan
5 July 19 August 2007

 

 Inhuman Traffic: The Business of the Slave Trade
24 May 2007 6 April 2008

 

 The Caribbean before Columbus: Taíno Icons in the British Museum
3 May 17 June 2007

 

 La Bouche du Roi: An artwork by Romuald Hazoumé
22 March 13 May 2007

 

 A New World: England's first view of America
15 March 17 June 2007

 

 Fabric of a Nation: textiles and identity in modern Ghana
22 February 10 April 2007

 

 Gods, Guardians and Immortals: Chinese religion paintings
8 February 22 July 2007

 

 Italian Prints 1875 1975
1 February 3 June 2007

 

 Good impressions: image and authority in medieval seals
11 January 20 May 2007


2006

 The past from above: through the lens of Georg Gerster
16 November 2006 11 February 2007

 

 Power and Taboo: Sacred objects from the eastern Pacific
28 September 2006 3 January 2007

 

 Myths of Bengal
14 September 2006 7 January 2007

 

 Art of peace: Paintings by the poet Tagore
14 September 12 November 2006

 

 Durga: creating an image of a goddess
12 August 27 September 2006

 

 Word into art: Artists of the modern Middle East
18 May 3 September 2006

 

 The Warren Cup
11 May 2 July 2006

 

 Michelangelo drawings: closer to the master
23 March 25 June 2006

 

 Rembrandt: Three Crosses
28 February 23 April 2006

 

 Michelangelo: money and medals
12 January 25 June 2006


2005

 Samurai to Manga: Japan across the centuries
15 December 2005 3 February 2006

 

 Samuel Palmer: vision and landscape
21 October 2005 22 January 2006

 

 1980–2005 National Treasures:
Icons to mark 25 years of the National Heritage Memorial Fund
14 October 28 November 2005

 

 Forgotten Empire: the world of Ancient Persia
9 September 2005 8 January 2006

 

 Iran before Islam: Propaganda and Religion AD 224-652
30 June 2005 8 January 2006

 

 Kabuki Heroes on the Osaka Stage 1780 – 1830
30 June 11 September 2005

 

 Africa Garden
8 May 4 September 2005

 

 Ferdinand Columbus: Renaissance Collector
9 February 5 June 2005

 

 Wealth of Africa: 4,000 years of money and trade
20 January 26 June 2005


2004

 Sudan: ancient treasures
9 September 2004 9 January 2005

 

 Status symbols: identity and belief on modern badges
22 July 2004 16 January 2005

 

 Public image: Portraits on coins and medals
22 January 18 July 2004


2003

 Buried Treasure: Finding Our Past
21 November 2003 14 March 2004

 

 Tibetan Legacy: Paintings from the Hahn Kwang-ho Collection
11 September 23 November 2003

 

 Medicine Man: The forgotten museum of Henry Wellcome
26 June 16 November 2003

 

 The Museum of the Mind: Art and memory in world cultures
15 April 7 September 2003

 

 Kazari: Decoration and display in Japan 15th-19th centuries
5 February 13 April 2003

 

 Celebrating the British Museum: John Maine's anniversary medal
15 January 15 June 2003


1972

 Treasures of Tutankhamun
30 March  30 December 1972