Bristol Museum and Art Gallery
Bristol Museum and Art Gallery
Queen's Road
Bristol
City of Bristol
BS8 1RL
England
Website
General enquiries
Telephone
0117 922 3571
Fax
0117 922 2047
Bristol’s premier museum and art gallery houses important collections of minerals and fossils, natural history, eastern art, world wildlife, Egyptology, archaeology and fine and applied art.
Venue Type:
Museum, Gallery
Additional info
For a reminder of your visit, the Museum shop contains award-winning merchandise, including reproduction prints from the Art Gallery's collections, greetings cards, a wide range of books for all ages and interests, unusual gifts and Bristol-branded gifts to name just a few. To view the stock and for more information, visit the Museum Shop web page.
The Geology, Applied Art and Eastern Art collections at Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery are Designated Collections of national importance.
Among the Designated applied art collections with a strong Bristol connection are important collections of delftware and glass. Also designated are Bristol's geology collections and fine and applied arts from the Far East, including the celebrated Schiller Collection.
Part of Bristol Museums’ Designated Collections related to Bristol’s role as a manufacturing city and major seaport is on display here. Other parts of these collections can be seen at Georgian House, Red Lodge, and Blaise Castle House Museum. Please contact Bristol Museums for more information if you wish to see a specific item.
At Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery there is a choice of galleries situated upstairs full of artworks: Old Masters, French School, British Collection, Modern Art and the Bristol School.
Alongside in the adjoining galleries, the decorative arts collections can be found: Eastern Art, Ceramics, Silverware and Glassware. On the lower floors - a fine collection of glittering minerals, ancient fossils and a large archaeology gallery showing the South West's geographic formation. Close by is the World Wildlife Gallery containing many examples of endangered or extinct animals, including the much-loved Alfred the Gorilla.
The popular Egyptology gallery contains real mummies besides other items and situated next door is the hugely impressive wall decoration made over 3,000 years ago - the Assyrian Reliefs. A natural history gallery contains examples of aquatic habitats in the south west of England and an interactive map of local wildlife sites and a freshwater aquarium containing fish typical of the region. Throughout the Museum and Art Gallery material from other countries can be seen, including pottery and clothing.
Collection details
Science and Technology, Religion, Photography, Natural Sciences, Fine Art, Decorative and Applied Art, Costume and Textiles, Coins and Medals, Aviation, Archaeology
Key artists and exhibits
- Old Masters, French School, British Collection, Modern Art and the Bristol School
- Eastern Art, Ceramics, Silverware and Glassware
- Archaelogy / fossils
- Egyptology / mummies
- Assyrian Reliefs
- Pottery and clothing
- Natural history
- Endangered or extinct animals, including the much-loved Alfred the Gorilla
- Designated Collection
Jeremy Deller - English Magic
- 12 April — 21 September 2014 *on now
Jeremy Deller represented the UK with ‘English Magic’ at the 2013 Venice Biennale, the world’s most prestigious contemporary art event. Don’t miss this critically acclaimed exhibition in Bristol as it tours the UK for the first time in the Biennale’s history.
‘English Magic’ reflects the Turner Prize winning artist’s interest in the diverse nature of British culture: its people, icons, folklore, history and politics.
Encounter a magical assembly of large-scale murals, drawings, photographs, film, and historical materials. Expect references to workers’ strikes, the Iraq war, tax evasion, Range Rovers and Ziggy Stardust.The exhibition will also include new installations and commissions made in direct response to the museum’s own collections; including paintings of the Bristol Riots of 1831 by William James Muller and a display of taxidermy, handpicked by Deller.
Feel the weight of history in your hands as you hold Palaeolithic flint hand axes based on Deller's mural pieces with a giant rubber stamp!
Younger visitors can explore the magic in our own collections by picking up a free family trail.
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
Suggested Donation £2
Website
Go Behind-The-Scenes
- 30 July 2014 11am-3pm
Dino Delights: Discover the secret world of the museum's geology collections, home to the bones of the Bristol dinosaur and friends! Tours every 30 mins.
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
Suggested Donation: £2
Book at reception on the day.
Website
http://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/bristol-museum-and-art-gallery/whats-on/dino-delights/
An Introduction To…Bristol China
- 7 August 2014 1:15-1:45pm
Discover our internationally renowned ceramics collection and the intriguing history of the pottery and porcelain made in Bristol. With curator Karin Walton.
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
Suggested Donatoin: £2
Website
Summer Walk: Knowle West - Sold out
- 13 August 2014 6-8pm
Knowle West's archaeological heritage ranges from prehistoric settlement to multi-period 20th-century housing including the remains of medieval buildings at Inns Court. Once home to an isolation hospital and the grand Odeon cinema, the landscape bears the traces and scars of these vanished buildings and amenities and has magnificent views of the city and green open spaces.
- Sold out
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
The walks are open to all but places must be booked in advance on 0117-9223571 or e-mail at general.museum@bristol.gov.uk.
Website
http://www.bristol.gov.uk/item/event.html?eventid=29666
Summer Walk: Greenbank Cemetery And The First World War - Sold out
- 10 September 2014 6:15-8:15pm
The walk will explore Greenbank Cemetery, with particular reference to the graves, monuments and memorials associated with the First World War, including graves of Australian and Canadian soldiers, some of whom were born in Bristol. We will explore changing notions of war memory and memorialisation in the twentieth century, as well as Bristol's part in the Great War.
- Sold out
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
The walks are open to all but places must be booked in advance on 0117-9223571 or e-mail at general.museum@bristol.gov.uk.
Website
http://www.bristol.gov.uk/item/event.html?eventid=29667
Melodians Steel Orchestra
- 20 September 2014 2-3:30pm
The English/Trinidadian steel band who provided the soundtrack to the English Magic film will be performing live to mark the closing of Jeremy Deller’s English Magic.
Suitable for
- Any age
Admission
suggested donation £2.
Website
http://www.bristol.gov.uk/page/leisure-and-culture/jeremy-deller-english-magic-exhibition
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