If one of your plans for the new year included visiting more museums and soaking up more culture in general, you should by now be keeping a list with museums you’d like to visit over the course of the next month. Modern art, history, pop culture or trains: there’s a museum for everything and therefore everyone. And there are new locations opening all the time, adding even more options to the list. In 2024, many new museums are scheduled to open so in order to make things a little easier on you, we made a list of 7 new museums to explore in the next year.
1. Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza, Egypt
The idea of the Grand Egyptian Museum was born in the 1990’s and construction has been underway for almost two decades, but 2024 will finally see the opening of Egypt’s newest museum located just a stone’s throw from the Giza pyramid complex. Spanning 81,000 square metres, it will be the world’s biggest archaeological museum and with more than 100,000 artefacts, it will be difficult for visitors to get bored. Part of the museum is already open to the public as a test but, after multiple delays, the official opening is scheduled for later this year.
2. Nintendo Museum, Kyoto, Japan
Many of us grew up with some kind of Nintendo device but only few know the company’s history. Therefore, in March 2024, a Nintendo Museum will open in Nintendo’s old Uji Ogura Plant in Kyoto. The history starts all the way back in 1889, when the company started selling playing cards, and goes all the way to 2024.
3. National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC, USA
Some museum fanatics will already be acquainted with this Washington museum but after two years of renovating and 65 million dollars’ worth of investments, the National Museum of Women in the Arts is reopening its doors in 2024. As the name suggests, the cultural institution focuses on the works of female artists, contrary to many other museums around the world. The oldest paintings date back to the 1600’s but there are also works from women such as Frida Kahlo and Lee Krasner.
4. Hampi Jennifer Hughes, courtesy of NMWAArt Labs, Hampi, India
The Lambani embroidery of the Indian town of Hampi, featuring vivid colours, various stitches and mirrors, is known around the world. The new museum, opening in February, will not only showcase these traditions but will function as a bridge between them and more modern approaches. The building itself is made from local materials and therefore blends in with its surroundings.
5. Female Artists of the Mougins Museum, Mougins, France
This year will see the opening of not one but two museums focusing on female artists. After closing his antiquities museum Mougins Museum of Classical Art, owner Christian Levett decided to turn it into Europe’s first museum where female art would take centre stage. All art pieces come from Levett’s personal collection and exhibits will include works from Elaine de Kooning, Sahara Longe and Carrie Mae Weems.
6. Dolly Parton Experience, Tennesseem, USA
After having opened several tourist attractions in 2023, such as the Big Bear Mountain and the HeartSong Lodge & Resort, Dollywood will be adding even more highlights for Dolly Parton fans. At the Dolly Parton Experience, opening in May 2024, fans will be able to learn everything about the singer, from her childhood all the way to her becoming a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member.
7. Kunstsilo Nordic Art Museum, Kristiansand, Norway
In May, Norway is getting an entirely new arts hub. The 1935 grain silo overlooking the harbour in Kristiansand was turned into a cultural centre and modern arts museum, which will showcase Nordic modern art over a surface of 35,000 square metres. The permanent collection consists of works from the Tangen Collection, the Southern Norway Art Collection and the Christianssands Billedgalleri.
