Dancing to artefacts: London Museum will be ‘democratic’ space for all, says director

The new London Museum will be “a social space for the city”, its director has said, hosting afternoon tea events, monthly dinner clubs and late-night DJ sets where visitors can mingle among the artefacts while dancing. Sharon Ament said that when it reopens later this year the museum will be a “democratic” space that engages with all Londoners rather than merely a repository for its collections, which stretch from the city’s neolithic prehistory to modern acquisitions. “I want commuters to pass through the museum on their way to and from work. I want people to extend their evenings in a museum, in a way which is a different form of going out,” said Ament. “Maybe they’ll stay for an hour, maybe they’ll stay right until we close, maybe they’ll do a club night. We need to match our opening times to how people actually operate in their daily lives. “We are funded by the taxpayers of London, so our responsibility is to all Londoners.” An artist's impression of the Past Time galleries in the restored London Museum, which will officially open its doors to the public this November. Photograph: Secchi Smith/London Musuem/PA The institution, formerly known as the Museum of London, has been closed since 2022 when it vacated its eccentric former premises in the Barbican complex. Its new home, painstakingly converted over a decade from two historic former market halls in Smithfield, in the City of London, will open on 28 November, it announced on Thursday. …