You Ask You Get: The Ministry Must's for 2016

When this was posed to The Ministry on twitter early this morning we leaped at the chance to provide our followers with a summary of the top exhibitions of 2016.

With many museums opting to give a brief outline of their plans for the New Year others have decided to keep things close to their chest, perhaps seeing if any trends emerge because from a quick look at institutions programmes from this year there is no clear dialogue between the London Museums. While many top notch exhibitions such as Science Museum’s Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age, Tibet’s Secret Temple at Wellcome Collection and the National Maritime Museum’s Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution exhibition will be staying open until the Spring changeover season we’ll see a new wave of exciting shows to occupy what may well be a chilly start to the year.

Nonetheless we’ve scoured the museums plans and gathered a list of Ministry Musts for 2016.

So our top picks are:

The Vulgar, Barbican Art Gallery 13 October 2016 – 5 February 2017 

Promises to challenge the ‘utterly compelling territory of taste’ and question the notions of vulgarity.

Love it because there’s nothing like an exhibition to make you feel a bit uncomfortable

Punk 1976-78, British Library (May to September 2016)

Promises to showcase fanzines, flyers and more exploring ‘punks early days in the capital and reveal how its remarkable influence spread across music, fashion, print and graphic styles nationwide.’

Love it because the British Library have a punk collection? Enough said.

Drawing on Childhood, Foundling Museum 22 Jan 2016 — 01 May 2016

Promises to explore the illustrators who have ‘chosen key moments in stories from European folklore and fiction, and brought these child heroes to life’

Love it because of this installation Superman was a Foundling

Swept under the carpet? Servants in London households, 1600-2000, Geffryre Museum, 15 March - 4 September 2016

 Promises to ‘explore domestic service and the experiences of servants living and working in middle-class homes over the last four hundred years, giving a glimpse into a world often overlooked by historians.’

Love it because it’s curated by Ministry Member Laura Humphreys!!

Dinosaurs: Monster Families, Horniman Museum and Gardens 13 February 2016
until 30 October 2016

Promises to ‘shows how dinosaurs looked after their eggs, nests and babies’

Love it because it’s cute baby dinosaurs, great interactives and a fun day out for adults.

Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear, Victoria and Albert Museum, 16 April 2016 – 12 March 2017

Promises to ‘explore dress reformers and designers who argued for the beauty of the natural body, as well as entrepreneurs, inventors and innovators who have played a critical role in the development of increasingly more effective and comfortable underwear.’

Love it because it’s like historic underwear shopping. And an opportunity to remember how grateful we are for modern underwear.

This Is a Voice, Wellcome Collection, 14 April 2016 - 31 July 2016

Promises to ‘traces the material quality of the voice by looking inside vocal tracts, restless minds and speech devices to capture its complex psychological and physiological origins.’

Love it because the Wellcome are bound to smash another medical, ethno and art exhibition this summer.

Social Fabric: African Textiles Today, William Morris Gallery, 20 February to 29 May 2016

Promises to ‘explore how the printed and factory-woven textiles of eastern and southern Africa mirror the changing times, fashions and tastes of the region. ‘

Love it because it’s a British Museum touring exhibition but in a fantastic setting. The William Morris Gallery is a delight!

Over the year we'll be sure to visit these exhibitions and more so watch this space for snarky reviews, insiders guides and all the museum events London has to offer!