Museum closure

The British Museum has had temporarily to close its doors to the public as a result of the global coronavirus crisis. The health and safety of our visitors and our staff are and always will be our greatest priority.

But we miss you!

We miss our many guests and visitors from across the country and from around the world. Our work is dedicated to you, we cherish your presence, and the multitude of languages and dialects, of cultures and experiences you bring to the Museum every day, together with your passion, curiosity and knowledge. And the lively exchange, the open dialogue, the deep and rewarding pleasures of sharing that are at the heart of our institution.

During the coming weeks we will bring to our national and international audiences via our website, social media and other channels the many fascinating stories that the objects in the British Museum have to tell.

We want to entertain, enlighten, and surprise you with the great and small stories of two million years of human history right up to the present.

We want to tell you about the many links between cultures that have driven the development of our common humanity. 

We want to provide you with exciting questions to engage with, and lots of material to help you navigate this moment with your families and loved ones.

We want to encourage you to think about the future beyond Corona that we will have to shape together by showing you how our fellow human beings faced challenges in the past and how they have prevailed.

So as we go through this unprecedented crisis we invite you to discover the British Museum as a unique resource to explore the history of humankind, its past and its present, and to think about a better future.

Keep safe, be well, stay tuned!

Hartwig Fischer

We'll continue to update our digital channels during the period we're closed, to enable you to keep-in-touch.

Online

Here's a selection of useful links for you to enjoy:

• The collection: Collection online allows visitors to search over four million object records online or take a look at our collection highlights and stories.
• Galleries: find out more about the collection in each of our galleries, plus take a virtual tour of Prints and Drawings and Oceania.
• School resources: from ages 3-18 we cover all areas of the curriculum whether you're in the classroom or teaching at home.
• Blog: keep up-to-date with the latest Museum news.
• Newsletters: sign up to receive updates across the Museum. 

On social media

We'll continue to share the collection with you as fully as possible on social media. Follow us on:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• Facebook
• YouTube 

Across the web

• Explore the Museum's galleries virtually via Google Street View.
• Take a journey behind the scenes with the Museum's downloadable podcasts.
• Delve into Google Arts and Culture for online exhibitions, stories and a timeline, including a project looking at the Mayan World.

• Future exhibition plans will be reviewed once the Museum has reopened. Refunds will be offered if exhibitions are cancelled but we would ask visitors to kindly consider their purchase as a donation to the Museum.
• Please contact tickets@britishmuseum.org for further information on refunds.