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’.

In this, the final week of programmes, Neil visits national museums in Wales, Northern Ireland and today, Scotland, As in previous episodes, the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh has chosen an object that they feel gets to the heart of the relationship they have with visitors from across the nation. In fact there are two objects hanging opposite each other. One is a battered Saltire, the other the King's colour standard, flags that were seen on opposing sides at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the final event in the Jacobite rising. Neil is joined by fellow Scot and former soldier JJ Chalmers to hear the story behind the survival of the two flags, and the complex histories that make simple national identity in Scotland so fraught, even today.

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 by Phil Channell Show less