Our biggest annual Family Day, celebrating our re-opening in 2018 - pop in for family based activities in the Whale Hall, galleries and our Discovery Room, which displays over 200 British birds.
Look out for more details - but save the date!
Far less than 1% of all collections are on display in the world’s natural history museums, and they consistently top the polls for the most popular tourist attractions. Yet we don’t often stop to think about what they tell us about our world, how crucial they might yet be to saving life on earth, or their role in honestly reframing social histories. What is the science is being done behind the scenes? What is chosen for display and why? Who collected it? What has been left out? Can they tell us new stories for the 21st century?
Since 2009 the Friends of the Scott Polar Research Institute (FoSPRI) have run an artist in residence scheme; sending intrepid artists to the Arctic (with 'One Ocean Expeditions' – sadly no longer trading) or Antarctic (initially onboard the Royal Navy's HMS Scott, then HMS Protector). The Polar Museum is lucky enough to receive part of the results of this unique scheme – a single artwork – gifted for its collections each year (other works go to both FoSPRI and the Royal Navy as appropriate).
We’re open on the third Saturday of the month, 10.00 – 16.00.
Free entry.
Join us for our Saturday opening and explore the history of science through our collection of microscopes, telescopes, and globes. Take part in family trails and visit our Learning Gallery, where you can engage with interactive handling boxes to discover topics such as Light & Sound, the Human Body, and Earth & Space.
For access information, please click here.
How can people from different generations be connected by artworks?
Young children and older adults have spent time together in community workshops exploring themes in the 'Picturing Excess' exhibition.
Come along to our drop in celebration to find out what we've been learning, and take part in creative activities yourself.
There will be music, sensory exploration, and art making.
Everybody - from babies to older adults - is welcome.
This exhibition presents eight contemporary artists whose works offer vantage points on a world in perpetual crisis. Rather than representing specific political events, or taking singular positions, each artist in this exhibition explores broader conditions of domination and conflict, as well as horizons for survival.
Join us for the Cambridge Festival family weekend opening!
Join us for the Cambridge Festival Family Weekend and explore the history of science through our collection of microscopes, telescopes, and globes. Take part in family trails and visit our Learning Gallery, where you can engage with interactive handling boxes to discover topics such as Light & Sound, the Human Body, and Earth & Space.
Events happenings:
Join us for a special Saturday workshop on 15 March led by artist James Tunnard, where we'll dive into the magic of colour and light.
As you may have heard, we’re creating a new art installation for the Learning Gallery ceiling and the activities in this workshop will inspire and contribute to this exciting piece!
Get creative with these hands-on activities:
Discover animal senses, feel textures handling real museum specimens, and uncover amazing stories of the evolution of animal colours. We will be joined by researchers working on the bright colours of passion vine butterflies, the changing populations of UK moths and more.
Drop-in. No need to book.
This event is part of the Cambridge Festival.
Date:
Saturday, 29 March, 2025 - 10:30 to 16:30
Today, natural history museums are starting to research the full histories of how their collections were built, and this can bring to light some surprising and troubling stories. Thylacines, or Tasmanian tigers, are icons of extinction, and some of the world’s best-preserved specimens are in Cambridge’s University Museum of Zoology. New research there has uncovered an uncomfortable truth about how the history of the extinction of the thylacine had strong parallels with the violent events that took place in Tasmania in the nineteenth century.
