Our winter highlights: What's on in museums and galleries
- Jan 4
- 3 min read
Modern art and history, fashion, classical painting, photography, design — the new year, 2026, in museums and art galleries is busy and diverse. Major openings are planned: some are exhibitions, others the launch of new spaces in the UK and around the world. History is being preserved, and art continues to evolve. Much is planned and already taking shape: here’s what the first winter months of the year have to offer.
Zandra Rhodes: A Life in Print
The Holburne Museum, Bath
24 January – 10 May
The Holburne Museum is celebrating the legacy of Dame Zandra Rhodes, one of Britain’s most influential fashion designers. The exhibition brings together a spectacular selection of her screen-printed garments from the 1960s, 70s and 80s, shown as complete ensembles on vintage Adel Rootstein mannequins.
This collection presents some of Rhodes’ most iconic designs, accompanied by an audio tour narrated by the designer herself, sharing the stories, inspirations and memories behind their creation.
The Last Letter of Mary, Queen of Scots
Perth Museum
January 23 – April 26
The last letter written by Mary, Queen of Scots, will go on display at Perth Museum. Addressed to her brother-in-law in France, and written in the early hours of 8 February 1587, just before her execution at Fotheringhay Castle, this precious piece of history will be free for all to view.
Mary’s letter is rarely seen outside the secure storage of the National Library of Scotland. At the same time, the city of Perth is paying tribute with a complimentary exhibition at the AK Bell Library, just a few streets away from the museum. “The Legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots” opens on the same dates and will present literary works by Robert Burns and Liz Lochhead, inspired by Mary’s story across the centuries – a poetic dialogue between two Scottish authors across time. On display will be Burns’ poem Lament of Mary, Queen of Scots on the Approach of Spring and early manuscripts from Lochhead’s iconic play Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off, both on loan from the National Library of Scotland.
Tracey Emin
Tate Modern, London
27 February – 31 August
Dame Tracey Emin is one of the most important contemporary artists of her generation. Through painting, video, textiles, neons, writing, sculpture and installation, Emin continues to challenge boundaries between the personal and the public, using the female body as a powerful tool of self- expression.
The exhibition traces 40 years of Tracey Emin’s groundbreaking practice, showcasing career-defining works alongside pieces never exhibited before.
Leonora Carrington
Musée du Luxemburg
18 February – 19 July
The art of Leonora Carrington, OBE — a British-Mexican Surrealist artist — reveals a legacy that is both personal and spiritual, extraordinary and radical. Carrington defined her life and forged her style through travel, in a search both inward and outward. She was a witness to, and a central participant in, the Surrealist movement in Mexico in the 1930s.
“This exhibition is the first dedicated exclusively to her work in Italy and France, presenting Carrington as a ‘Vitruvian Woman’: a total artist representing a model of harmony and innovation. Her creations merge human and animal, masculine and feminine, giving form to a world where metamorphoses and symbols respond to each other,” the museum announces.