Latest news with #BritishMuseum
Time Out
18 hours ago
- Time Out
It's official: England's most-visited attraction is in London
It's no secret that London is every tourist's favourite English destination. We've got fantastic food, incredible culture and hundreds of buildings that house centuries and centuries of fascinating history. So, it's not surprising that England's most visited attraction in 2024, as revealed by VisitEngland, can be found here in the capital. The British Museum saw 6.5 million visitors in 2024, making it the most popular free attraction in all of England and the most visited attraction in the country overall. That figure is up 11 percent compared 2023. If you're not one of those millions and millions of people who have already seen the British Museum for themselves, check out our guide to it here. If you've not got long, Time Out' s contributing writer Alex Sims advises that 'a great way to see all the big hitters and get a feel for the place is by picking up one of the great museum maps that give you timed routes around the labyrinthine institution. The hour-long route is a great whistle-stop tour around the museum's best-known objects.' Looking forward, the museum has big plans to build on its immense popularity last year. Its Western Galleries are getting a huge makeover and it will apparently start undergoing the 'biggest transformation of any museum in the world'. Nine out of England's top ten most visited free attractions for 2024 belong to London. The Natural History Museum came in second place with a total of 5.9m visitors (you can find everything you need to know about that here) and the Tate Modern earned third place with 4.6 mill, which was down three percent compared to the year before (we've got an in depth guide to that, too). As for the English attractions that charge an entry fee, London landmarks still came out on top. The Tower of London was the most visited paid-for attraction in 2024 with 2.9m people checking it out and Kew Gardens was the runner-up with 2.3m (an impressive 15 percent increase on its 2023 headcount). Overall, VisitEngland discovered that attractions across England enjoyed a 1.4 percent increase in footfall from 2023 to 2024. But visitor levels are still a whopping 27 percent less than what they were in 2019. The top 10 most visited attractions in England in 2024 British Museum National History Museum Tate Modern Brighton Pier V&A National Gallery Somerset House Science Museum, London Royal Museums Greenwich National Portrait Gallery
CNET
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
Relooted Is a Heist Game About Returning African Artifacts to Their Home Countries
One of last year's biggest games, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, revived a hero from a bygone era -- known for retrieving precious artifacts and delivering them to Western museums. At Summer Game Fest, I got to try a game that flips this script. Relooted is all about a team of African specialists liberating artifacts from museums to bring them back to their home countries. Relooted is a 2D puzzle-platformer which tasks players to pull off increasingly complex heists. There's a basic loop of planning -- entering a museum after hours to prepare an escape route and then picking up the artifact -- which triggers a mad dash to the exit (in my demo, a van waiting to spirit my character away). "The vision was making a really fun heist game that is also an invitation to learn about African culture, history, ethnicities and countries, as well as learn about these real-life artifacts that exist in Western museums," said Ben Myres, creative director on Relooted and co-founder of Nyamakop, a game studio in Johannesburg, South Africa. Returning art and artifacts back to their countries of origin has been a huge conversation in Africa for a long time, Myres noted. He first came up with the idea for Relooted during a family trip to London in late 2017, when his mother spent a day at the British Museum and was shocked to find the Nereid Monument -- a fourth-century BCE structure taken from modern-day Turkey in the 1800s. Furious, she told Myres to make a game out of returning something like the Nereid Monument -- and though extracting entire buildings proved difficult to adapt, Nyamakop dialed the scope down to repatriating artifacts and art pieces. Relooted isn't exactly anti-Tomb Raider or anti-Indiana Jones, Myres clarified, since those heroes often take artifacts from long-lost cultures. In contrast, Relooted includes artifacts taken from living civilizations -- including ones with royal lineages that still exist today. Nyamakop uses real African artifacts, many of which are present in Western museums, in the game as a cool way for players to play out the fantasy of returning them. "There are artifacts in this game that you can go see in the Met Museum in New York," Myres said -- including the Dahome silver buffalo. Nyamakop One artifact in the game highlights the injustice Myres and Nyamakop want players to help set right. The Pokomo people of Kenya once used a massive, sacred drum -- the Ngadji -- to gather the community and celebrate the enthronement of a new king. Believed to have been destroyed in 1910, the drum was actually taken years earlier by the British and now sits locked in a storeroom at the British Museum (presumably this item), according to Open Restitution Africa. The first Kenyan person to see it in a hundred years was the Pokomo prince in 2016, but there's no indication it will be returned to its people. Relooted's rescues focus on artifacts that likewise are locked away in museums and private collections, which aren't even presented publicly for their people to visit. Nyamakop is a diverse studio, and the Relooted team is entirely African -- with a dozen members from countries including Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana and others. Myres, who hails from South Africa, acknowledged the complexity of being a white man working on a game about rescuing African artifacts -- which itself reflects the rich historical complications that Relooted is designed to help players understand. At Summer Game Fest, Nyamakop creative director Ben Myres demoed Relooted to attendees. David Lumb/CNET "In terms of being a white guy working on this, it wasn't Black people who stole artifacts at the end of the day. If you make it a Black person problem, you sort of wash your hands of essentially what Europe and the US and your ancestors did in terms of the repatriation of these artifacts," Myres said. "So these artifacts are cool and important and interesting, and I also think it's our shared responsibility to repatriate them to where they belong." Myres presented the game solo at Summer Games Fest, after another Relooted team member was denied a visa over immigration concerns, as Aftermath reported. Nyamakop I'm putting a team together: Art heists in Relooted The game's creators set out to create a team of specialists that each have a role in Relooted's heists. Every member is from a different country, region and ethnicity based on heist archetypes, Myres said, and players will acquire new members based on specific needs for the next job. But making a heist game was a challenge to design. "There's not a lot of great gameplay reference for non-violent heist games in the vein of films like Ocean's 11," Myres said. "The really great heist films aren't always that violent. There's these plans that go off without a hitch, and so trying to figure out how to do that gameplay was really, really tricky." Few games resembled what Nyamakop aimed to create, though the team drew inspiration from sources as far afield as the parkour movement in Mirror's Edge and the TV show Leverage -- one of the few heist stories that isn't just about stealing money. They found inspiration in Teardown, a 2022 physics-based destruction game where players have unlimited time to plan, but once the action begins, a countdown starts -- a gameplay loop they saw as a perfect fit for their own project. "Specifically we wanted to make it feel like you're in a heist montage for a movie of your own plan," Myres said. Put simply, every level is made up of five to 15 simple puzzles that you have to pre-plan solutions for to escape. You're essentially removing resistance, Myres said. The game places as much importance on planning a route as it does executing it in a parkour-heavy rush to escape. "Every level is like a broken Rube Goldberg machine that you have to solve so you can flow through it," Myres said. Nyamakop Some of those solutions involve gadgets from the near-future, and I asked if that would qualify the game as being Afrofuturist, a science fiction subgenre encompassing works from Sun Ra to Octavia Butler to Marvel's Black Panther. But as Myres pointed out, Afrofuturism is a collage of African cultural references in a made-up place or invented country (like Wakanda). Instead, Relooted is African Futurism, which deals in real people, places and cultures set in the future. The between-missions hideout lies in a Johannesburg 80 years in the future, and other countries in Africa are realistically represented. In a twist on the Western habit of using monolithic stand-ins for Asia and Africa, in Relooted you can visit parodies of Europe and America, called the Old World and the Shiny Place, respectively. "Often when Africa is represented, you see it either in the past as very tribal, or as three mud huts and someone that needs to be saved," Myres said. "Africans don't get to see themselves set in the future. They don't get to dream and imagine a utopia. So this is one of the few examples of real places in Africa imagined in the future."
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
How to make your money go further on a day trip to London
There's nowhere quite like London. Here you'll find the West End's celebrated shows starring all manner of famous faces, an array of world-renowned museums that are home to priceless collections of everything from modern art to Egyptian mummies, and some of the UK's most highly regarded restaurants. All of this, and so much more, is accessible on a day out here – but at what cost to your wallet? You might be surprised by how many of the city's attractions are actually entirely free to visit. Head to the Guildhall Art Gallery in the heart of the City of London and you can venture underground to view the remains of an extensive Roman amphitheatre free of charge. Afterwards, head back up – and up – to 120 Fenchurch Street, just around the corner, where you can get a bird's-eye view of London's financial centre from The Garden at 120, also free to visit. You're 15 storeys up, surrounded by skyscrapers and everything from the Gherkin to the Tower of London is on full display. While there's no entry charge to most London's museums, well-known ones such as the British Museum may well come with sizeable crowds attached. But just a few minutes from Museum Street, you'll find the Sir John Soane's Museum, which is also free to visit but is less busy. It's a perfect destination for one of South Western Railway's Sunday Out tickets, a deep dive into ancient history and culture on the edge of the bucolic Lincoln Inn Fields. The museum houses treasures collected by the eponymous English architect that range from an Egyptian pharaoh's sarcophagus to a statue of the Greek god Apollo. Alternatively, for just £11.50 you could visit the fascinating Museum of Brands in Notting Hill for a nostalgic journey through 200 years of life in Britain (think early BBC broadcasts, the history of crisp packet design and classic toys aplenty). Or for £12 buy entry to the Cartoon Museum to view its collection of British editorial cartoons, caricatures and comic strips, from the 18th century to the present day. Prefer to be outside? There are glorious parks in London, including Richmond Park, one of eight Royal Parks in the city. It's a tranquil slice of nature home to wildlife such as kestrels and deer. Located within the park, and also free to visit, is Isabella Plantation. It's a breathtaking 40 acres of garden with an array of unusual and exotic plants. Over in Holland Park you can take woodland walks and explore the Japanese Kyoto Garden, with its tiered waterfall and cherry trees that bloom into glorious colour every spring – you might even spot some colourful koi in its pond. Best of all, the journey to London needn't break the bank, either. Travel with South Western Railway, whose frequent trains operate into London Waterloo from numerous stations around the South West. Buy Evening Out tickets up to 12 weeks in advance of your night out, and it's valid after 2pm from Monday to Saturday. Add a Network Railcard to that and you can save a third. It's easy to apply online and railcards are digital, meaning you'll not only reduce paper ticket usage but also have it with you wherever you go. There are a range of railcards on offer that start from £30, and all offer a third off most rail journeys – there's Two Together that is perfect for friends or couples who frequently travel together, and there are discounts for specific age groups, including 16-25 and 26-30. The Friends and Family Railcard offers discounts for up to four adults and four children travelling together. Even better, you can use the SWR Rewards programme, which treats you to exclusive offers when you travel with South Western Railway. Love the theatre? There's discounts across a huge range of West End shows, from Clueless the Musical to Hamilton. If you're in the mood for a pre-show meal you're in luck – not only does SWR offer theatre and dinner bundles, it also offers discounts across a wide selection of eateries and cuisines, spanning everything from burgers to Italian to Middle Eastern. No matter what kind of day out you're in the mood for, you're sure to find a reward to cater to you, as SWR has offers on museums, galleries, comedy clubs and classes – perfect for friends, couples and solo travellers alike. With all these tempting offers, what better time to start planning your London adventure than today? To find the perfect treat for your day out, visit SWR Rewards
Irish Post
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Post
British Library will reinstate Oscar Wilde's revoked reading pass
THE British Library has confirmed it will reinstate an historic reader pass once belonging to Oscar Wilde which was revoked when he was found guilty of 'gross indecency' in 1895. 'After 130 years, the British Library plans to symbolically reinstate the Reader Pass that belonged to the renowned poet and writer Oscar Wilde,' the organisation confirmed this month. 'As revealed in a Trustees' entry in the British Museum's Standing Committee Papers, Wilde was officially excluded from the Library on June 15 in 1895, which at the time was still known as the British Museum's Reading Room,' they explain. Wilde's exclusion from the library is referenced in trustees papers from May 1889 to April 1896, in the British Museum Archive (Pic: Trustees of the British Museum) 'The decision to revoke Wilde's Reader Pass was made following the trial and conviction he faced as a result of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885, which criminalised acts of "gross indecency" between men.' Theya added: 'Oscar Wilde is regarded by many as one of the greatest playwrights of the Victorian age and is celebrated for his prolific literary output, including novels, poems and plays.' The library holds a collection of Wilde's works, including the handwritten love letter written by Oscar Wilde to Lord Alfred Douglas from Reading Gaol titled De Profundis. His reinstated pass will be officially handed over to Wilde's only grandson Merlin Holland at a special event due to be held at the library in October 2025. During the event Holland will launch his new book After Oscar, which is described as 'the definitive study of the rise and fall of Oscar Wilde'. The book will be released on October 16, 2025 to coincide with Wilde's 171st birthday. See More: British Library, Merlin Holland, Oscar Wilde, Reading Pass
New York Times
4 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Design for Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Features a Tiara-Inspired Bridge
A translucent glass bridge representing the tiara that Queen Elizabeth II wore on her wedding day and a pair of statues honoring the British monarch are central features in the design of a memorial to be built in a London park, according to artist renderings released on Tuesday. The memorial, which will aim to celebrate Elizabeth's achievements as Britain's longest-reigning monarch and her marriage to Prince Philip, will also include an audio installation of the queen's voice and inscriptions of quotations by her, according to the plans. The design for the memorial, which has a projected cost of about $31 million to $62 million, is the work of Foster + Partners, the architectural firm that designed the Millennium Bridge in London, modernized the British Museum's Great Court and created Apple stores around the world. The concept was chosen from five finalists in an open search that began in December. The final design is to be announced in April, according to the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee, which is steering the project and which chose the winning idea. The committee was established by the British government and the royal household in 2023, the year after the queen's death at age 96. The concept 'celebrates Queen Elizabeth's life through a time of great change, balancing tradition and modernity, public duty and private faith, the United Kingdom and a global Commonwealth,' the committee said in a statement. The memorial is planned for St. James's Park, which borders Buckingham Palace, the monarchy's official residence. The park has hosted numerous royal public events, including a floral display in the queen's honor after her death. The Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk also runs through the park and includes a bridge over the central lake. The bridge for the Queen Elizabeth memorial will span the same lake, and will unite two gardens — the community garden and the Commonwealth garden — a nod to the queen's domestic and international work, according to the plans released on Tuesday. The two statues in the memorial design include one of the queen on horseback, referencing her love of the animals, and one of the queen and Philip, who died in 2021 at age 99. Foster + Partners and the memorial committee will now select a sculptor to work on the statues, whose designs are likely to differ from the artist renderings released on Tuesday, a government spokesman said. St James's Park is also close to the headquarters of the Commonwealth, a collection of countries born out of the dissolution of the British Empire. Under the queen's stewardship, it grew from seven countries, mostly former colonies, to 56 member states, and helped maintain Britain's diplomatic presence around the world. 'She was part of our national identity and helped to define our values,' Robin Janvrin, who served as the queen's private secretary and now heads the memorial committee, said in a statement explaining the project's objectives. 'She gave us a sense of continuity through times of great change.'
