• 'Birmingham: Its People, Its History' reopens on Friday 2 May 2025

• Exhibition tells the story of Birmingham and its people since the 12th century

• This milestone significantly increases the space open to the public since Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery first reopened in October 2024.

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery is delighted to announce that its newly refurbished history galleries will be reopening to the public on Friday 2 May 2025.

This milestone significantly increases the publicly accessible gallery space since the museum’s phased reopening began in October 2024.​

'Birmingham: Its People, Its History', a permanent exhibition covering an area of over 850 square metres, tells the story of Birmingham from its beginnings as a small medieval settlement to becoming a globally significant, modern city.

The galleries bring Birmingham’s history to life, telling the story of the city through unique objects and fascinating people.  

Visitors can explore the history of the city by travelling back in time to Birmingham’s medieval beginnings, through the world of the 18th century town, the grandeur and squalor of Victorian Birmingham, to the city’s suburban expansion and the roles played by the people of Birmingham in two world wars.

The Birmingham history galleries were originally developed thanks to generous funding from National Lottery players through The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Toby Watley, Director of Collections & Estate at Birmingham Museums Trust, said:

“We are thrilled to be reopening our newly refurbished Birmingham history galleries, a significant step in enabling us to double the gallery spaces accessible to the public since the museum reopened in October.

“This expansion allows us to share more of Birmingham's rich history with our visitors and we welcome feedback on how we can further improve these galleries so they better reflect the city’s multi-faceted stories.

“We look forward to continuing our phased reopening to make even more of our spaces and collections accessible to the public in the coming weeks and months.”

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery is open to the public from Wednesday to Sunday between 10.00am and 5.00pm. Admission is free to the main galleries and no prior booking is required.