Neil MacGregor presents a new series for BBC Radio Four celebrating the role and ambition of museums the length and breadth of the country, and in the process he'll be finding answers to the question ‘What are Museums For in 2022’.

At a time of an appalling refugee crisis in Europe, a visit to Leicester museum is timely. All this week he'll be going to Museums in cities that have seen demographic changes. Sometimes that change is gradual, sometimes sudden and . That was certainly been the case in Leicester, which saw a huge influx of refugees at the time of Idi Amin's ejection of Ugandan Asians in 1972. But it also saw German refugees in the run up to the second world war, and it's fragments of a painting by one of those figures, the artist Johannes Koelz, which the museum have chosen to illustrate the way they see themselves responding to the particular situation of Leicester both historically and in the present. And with grim irony, given that the object was chosen for the series before Russia's barbaric invasion of Ukraine, the painting is called 'Thou Shalt Not Kill'.

Museums have always been telescopes trained on the past to help locate a sense of place in the present. Neil believes that role is an active one, responding to changes in the people museums serve and the shifting social and cultural landscape they inhabit. After spending much of his life at the centre of our national Museum life in London, Neil is taking to the road to discover more about the extraordinary work being done in Museums outside the capital, from Stornoway to Stowmarket, and Belfast to Birmingham.

In each episode he visits a single museum, inviting them to choose an object from their collections which they feel best illustrates their civic role, and the way they relate and want to relate to their local audience. Very rarely have they chosen a crown jewel from their often priceless collections. More often it's an object with a particular local resonance, or which helps tackle episodes from the past which are being viewed very differently by citizens in the 21st century.

He’ll be visiting the great national museums of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, as well as major city institutions in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and elsewhere. And in spite of the challenges of the last two years, everywhere he meets passionate teams who are dedicated to providing a unique experience for both local audiences and visitors from further afield.

Neil writes: “What’s going on in our museums is at once challenging and exciting and it can only really be understood by visiting as many as possible and finding out how they have approached what is a vital role in providing a sense of local, regional and national identity.”

Producer - Tom Alban
Original music composed by Phil Channell Show less