Museums at Night, the UK’s annual after-hours festival of arts, culture and heritage, is back for a second bite of the pumpkin at Halloween. The October edition of the festival will take place over the Halloween weekend, Friday and Saturday 30th & 31st October 2015.
Here’s the London Art File’s pick of the events on at London museums for this special Halloween edition of Museums at Night. Check out the Museums at Night website for more.
Halloween: Voyage of the Damned
National Maritime Museum
Enter a museum shrouded in darkness, macabre figureheads looming out of the shadows. Creepy curators will steer you through the grimmest galleries by candlelight, and spook you with haunting tales of death, disease and destruction at sea.
- Hear bizarre tales from the museum’s archives and view rare material, including a letter discovered on a frozen body, and the log books of a doomed voyage.
- Listen to tales of deaths, shipwrecks, and heroism behind some of the WWI medals in the museum’s collection. With Melanie Vandenbrouck, Curator of Art, discover such stories as the tragic death of 16-year-old Jack Cornwell, and the doomed voyage of the Lusitania; and the Dead Men’s Pennies, reminders of death in service in WWI.
- Join Curator of Naval History James Davey, for an account of battle, death and superstitious sailors. Legend has it that after the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson’s body was placed for preservation in a barrel of Admiralty-blended rum. In a voyage of weird and wonderful incidents, the sailors drank most of the rum…‘Tap the Admiral’ yourself with a free Nelson’s Blood cocktail, courtesy of Pusser’s Rum.
- Experience heaven, hell, and limbo, in the never-before displayed works of Rosemary Rutherford, with Christine Riding, Head of Art and Curator of the Queen’s House. Rutherford’s haunting and evocative WWII works explore death and the artist’s experiences as a Red Cross nurse. Christine will be discussing these themes and others from her publication, Art and the War at Sea.
Date: Saturday 31st October
Location: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
Time: 19.00-21.45
Audience: Adults
Tickets: £8 Adult | £6 Member
For more info and booking
Click here to go the event page on the National Maritime Museum website
Friday Late: Make Mine a Double
London Transport Museum
As part of Museums at Night, the London Transport Museum galleries will stay open until 22.00 for you to enjoy. As well as a DJ, and bars serving indulgent cocktails, there will be talks from Susan Scott, archivist at The Savoy, with anecdotes from behind the scenes at one of London’s most iconic hotels, and Lucinda Gosling on the scandalous goings on in London’s high society in the early 20 Century. There will be curator tours of the Museum’s new exhibition, Night Shift – London after Dark and the Poster Parade Electrifying London as well as a screening of Night Streets – a 1950s film about what happens on London Underground once the trains stop running. Plus games, craft activities and an exclusive cocktail, the Gimlet Reloaded, available at the Museum for one night only. Guests can also take advantage of a special Night Bus cocktail offer of 2 for £10.00.
Date: Friday 30 October 2015
Time: 18.45 to 22.00 (last admission 21.15)
Tickets: Adult £8
Location: London Transport Museum, Covent Garden
Please note this event is strictly for those aged 18 years and over
For more info and booking:
Click here to go to the London Transport museum website
Hallowe’en Midnight Apothecary
Brunel Museum
Expect a sea of pumpkin lanterns, complimentary toasted marshmallows, apple bobbing, batty bar staff, strange blue fire (Cocktail Gradner Lottie Muir has special powers)….and the best Halloween potions in London. Expect the Halloween Squawky, The Bitter Pumpkin, some Mr Hyde Potion and some PearyScary Brandy Punch. Tickets include optional guided descents into Brunel’s huge and very spooky underground chamber.
Date: Saturday 31st October 2015
Time: 17:30 – 23:00
Tickets: £5
Location: Brunel Museum
Brunel Engine House Railway Avenue
London SE16 4LF
For more info and booking:
Click here to go to the Brunel Museum website
The London Art File 