museums

Tight On Wall Space, SFMOMA Will Text Its Art To You Instead

11:25am July 18, 2017

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art can only display a fraction of its collection at any given time. Now, you can text a word or emoji and the museum will send back a corresponding work of art.

From Pez To Ticks, 'Atlas Obscura' Discovers 'Wonderfully Specific' Museums

8:21pm May 30, 2017

by Samantha Raphelson

People often become obsessed with collecting certain types of objects and then, before you know it, they have the basis for what writer Molly McBride Jacobson calls a "wonderfully specific museum."

Queue Listen Now

Exhibits at Poland's newly opened Museum of the Second World War include photographs, letters and other memorabilia donated by private individuals.

Poland's New World War II Museum Just Opened, But Maybe Not For Long

9:38am April 04, 2017

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

The museum opened March 23 in Gdansk, where the war began. "This is the museum of a war, but not a military museum," says historian Pawel Machcewicz. The government wants something different.

Queue Listen Now

A group of students visits the Beirut mansion that architect Mona El Hallak is working to transform into a museum making sense of Lebanon's civil war.

In A Bullet-Riddled Mansion, A Beirut Architect Envisions A Museum Of Memory

12:39pm March 30, 2017

by Alice Fordham

Beirut is peaceful now, but political divisions still run deep — and people are still hesitant to look back on the civil war years of the 1970s and 1980s.

Queue Listen Now

French President Georges Pompidou, shown here in 1969, launched an international competition in 1971 to design and build the museum.

At 40, Paris' Pompidou Center Is Still 'An Unexpected Trip'

3:04pm February 22, 2017

by Eleanor Beardsley

The modern art museum, which opened on Jan. 31, 1977, holds a secure place in the heart of Paris — and in Parisians' hearts. But it wasn't always so. Horrified critics compared it to an oil refinery.

Monica Bill Barnes (left) and Anna Bass are offering literally breathtaking tours of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Raise Your (He)art Rate With A Workout At The Met

2:26pm February 08, 2017

by Sean Rameswaram

Seeing a great work of art might quicken your pulse, but the Metropolitan Museum of Art is hoping you'll break a sweat, too. A dance company is offering literally breathtaking tours of the museum.

Queue Listen Now

Cairo's Museum of Islamic Art reopened this month after being closed since a 2014 car bombing. Egypt's antiquities minister called the museum's revival a victory over terrorism.

Three Years After A Car Bomb Damaged It, Cairo's Islamic Art Museum Reopens

8:11am February 05, 2017

by Jane Arraf

"We cried so much when we first saw it, because ... what you see standing here was all in pieces on the floor," says an Islamic art specialist. Museum staff repaired all but 10 of 179 damaged objects.

Still life with Flowers, Gilt Goblets, Coins and Shells was created by Clara Peeters in 1612. Peeters hid small self portraits in the goblet on the right.

In A First, Spain's Prado Museum Puts The Spotlight On A Female Artist

8:56am November 30, 2016

by Lauren Frayer

Clara Peeters, a 17th century Flemish painter, hid tiny self-portraits in her still life paintings. She wasn't a household name, then or now, and just 40 or so of her paintings have survived.

Queue Listen Now

A photograph of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat hangs outside a door leading to the small bedroom where he spent his final years, a display at the new Arafat Museum in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

In The Spot Where He Spent His Final Years, A Museum Honors Yasser Arafat

6:28pm November 28, 2016

by Daniel Estrin

A new museum in Ramallah features the life and times of the late Palestine Liberation Organization leader, from his Nobel Peace Prize to his pistol, glasses and bedroom.

Queue Listen Now

The new Grand Egyptian Museum, seen here near the pyramids of Giza in June 2015, is due to open late next year. It will display thousands of artifacts, many of them never shown publicly before.

World News

Fit For A King: Grand Museum Will Showcase Tut And Egypt's Ancient Culture

5:46pm November 15, 2016

by Jane Arraf

The billion-dollar museum is set to open near Giza's pyramids next year. The highlight: King Tut. But amid a financial crisis and drop in tourism, who will come?