Ten Years of Hunterian Headlines

November 2026 marks ten years since The Hunterian opened new facilities at Kelvin Hall. In this long-read post, Harriet Gaston looks back over some of the stories, exhibitions and discoveries that made headlines over the last decade.

2016 – A New Chapter

This time ten years ago we were preparing for the official ‘reopening’ of Kelvin Hall by the then First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon.

Kelvin Hall first opened as an exhibition centre in 1927, but over the years has also been a concert venue, wartime factory, circus and sporting arena. By November 2016, the historic building had been transformed into a shared hub for Glasgow Life, The Hunterian, the University of Glasgow and the National Library of Scotland.

Hunterian staff had settled in new rooftop offices, collections had moved to state-of-the-art storage facilities, and The Hunterian Collections Study Centre was open for object-based research, learning and teaching. Meanwhile, visitors continued to explore the Hunterian Museum, Art Gallery, Mackintosh House and Zoology Museum on the University of Glasgow campus.

a historic red-brick civic building with ornate towers and prominent domed roof, viewed at dusk from a city street. Modern glass extension, streetlights, traffic lanes, trees, railings and cloudy blue sky highlight contrast between heritage architecture and contemporary urban development. — Kelvin Hall under moody Glasgow skies. Image © Andrew Lee.

The official opening of the £35 million redevelopment on 11 November 2016 marked the culmination of years of planning. In a BBC News article, the First Minister said: “Having seen a variety of uses in its 90-history, the Kelvin Hall is now home to some of Glasgow’s finest cultural attractions.” Great praise indeed.

Kelvin Hall wasn’t our only story that year. The Dead Teach the Living exhibition at the Hunterian Art Gallery featured the world premiere of Damien Hirst’s Necromancer, Comic Invention displayed works by Rembrandt, Lichtenstein and Warhol, and Skeletons: Our Buried Bones with the Wellcome Collection and Museum of London explored what human remains can reveal about the past.

In other news, 2016 saw the Brexit referendum, Donald Trump was elected US President (for the first time) and Netflix premiered ‘Stranger Things’…

2017 – Building Momentum

While Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi made headlines (and auction history), and Prince Harry announced his engagement to Meghan Markle, The Hunterian was building momentum, with visitor numbers increasing by 20% across our venues.

2017 was also a year of change, with Professor David Gaimster departing for New Zealand and Professor Steph Scholten succeeding him as Hunterian Director. Glasgow West End Today described him as “the new man in charge of one of Scotland’s top museum and art collections”.

Our major exhibition was Art of Power: Masterpieces from the Bute Collections, staged at both the Hunterian Art Gallery and Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute. Coverage ranged from a five-star review in The Scotsman to a feature in the Dunoon Observer.

Another major story was the gift of The Lord Stewartby Collection of Scottish Coins. The Herald described the collection as “the best ever put together by a private individual”.

2018 – Revisiting Our Origins

2018 began with the arrival of the ‘Beast from the East’ in February, when heavy snow caused major disruption across the UK, giving us an early taste of closures beyond our control.

April saw the opening of The Philosophy Chamber: Art and Science in Harvard’s Teaching Cabinet, 1766-1820, bringing rare historical items from Harvard University to Scotland for the first time. The show was rated as one of ‘Five of the Best Exhibitions’ in The Guardian.

And in September we marked the 300th birthday of our founder, Dr William Hunter, with William Hunter and the Anatomy of the Modern Museum. A review of the exhibition even saw Hunter sharing the cover of The Herald Arts section with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper as A Star is Born arrived in cinemas.

Magazine cover for an arts and entertainment section, featuring a large photograph of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper from 'A Star Is Born'. Header includes ARTS branding, William Hunter exhibition feature, category strip, and right-hand Highlights column with Music and Theatre panels. — William Hunter on the cover of The Herald Arts section. Image © Herald and Times. Herald and Times/Newsquest Media Group.

2019 – The Year of the Dinosaur

2019 was the year of the dinosaur, and few stories captured the public imagination quite like the arrival of Trix the Tyrannosaurus Rex in Glasgow.

The year began with a visit from Dippy the Diplodocus to Kelvingrove as part of Dippy on Tour from the Natural History Museum. By summer, Trix had arrived at Kelvin Hall for our T. rex in Town exhibition, sparking a serious case of dino fever. The 39-foot-long fossil became a media sensation, generating plenty of “roar” pun headlines and my personal favourite from The Sun – “How’s Trix old girl”.

Photograph showing a museum exhibit featuring a mounted T-Rex dinosaur skeleton. Large skull dominates foreground, with rib cage, spine, limbs and tail extending across a black platform, while blue information panels and spotlights support educational interpretation. — Trix the Tyrannosaurus Rex at Kelvin Hall. Image © Martin Shields.

Other large things arriving in Glasgow that year included the Emirates A380. Dubbed the world’s largest passenger plane, it began a regular daily service between Dubai and Glasgow Airport.

Our major art exhibition that year was The German Revolution: Expressionist Prints, followed by A Gift to Glasgow from New York: The Phillip A Bruno Collection, celebrating the donation of over 70 works from the art collector and gallery director to mark his 90th birthday.

Elsewhere, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was destroyed by fire, the first image of a Black Hole was captured, and a banana was sold for $120 thousand at Art Basel Miami.

2020 – Museums through the Pandemic

Few years have disrupted daily life quite like 2020, a year many of us would rather forget. For The Hunterian, it meant venue closures and a shift to virtual programming.

A prime example was the highly anticipated Old Ways New Roads, which was scheduled to open at the Hunterian Art Gallery but was stymied by the pandemic restrictions. Instead, the exhibition moved online, taking visitors on a virtual journey across Scotland with 18th-century travellers.

In July, The Hunterian was selected as one of six UK institutions to receive funding from the Contemporary Art Society’s Rapid Response Fund. Through this initiative, we acquired Eglantine, an avant-garde nature film for children by Glasgow-based artist Margaret Salmon.

In September, we announced the appointment of Zandra Yeaman to lead the Museums Galleries Scotland-funded project Curating Discomfort. The initiative explored new ways of interpreting contested collections and addressing historical bias.

In other news, the murder of George Floyd prompted racial justice demonstrations around the world and renewed conversations about representation, history and inequality.

2021 – Reopening and Recovery

Our venues were closed at the start of 2021, having shut again in December under Scotland’s lockdown restrictions. A phased reopening began in April, with the Hunterian Museum welcoming visitors back at weekends, followed by the Hunterian Art Gallery and Mackintosh House reopening fully in June.

Despite the ongoing restrictions, 2021 was a significant year. The Hunterian secured £90,000 from the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund for Power in this Place: Unfinished Conversations. We celebrated the centenary of artist Joan Eardley’s birth, and Whistler: Art and Legacy was named among The Scotsman’s art highlights of 2021.

Tobacco Flower by artist Jimmy Robert premiered at the Hunterian Art Gallery as part of Glasgow International, attracting the attention of Jonathan Jones, who featured it in The Guardian’s Week in Art. Meanwhile, Glasgow West End Today reflected the realities of the time by reminding readers to book timed entry slots in advance.

In November, Glasgow was in the headlines when it hosted COP26. The Hunterian contributed to the conversation on climate change through Flare Oceania by John Gerrard, which was premiered on the University’s South Facade to coincide with the UN climate conference.

Elsewhere in 2021, the postponed Tokyo Olympics finally took place, and the grounding of the container ship Ever Given in the Suez Canal disrupted global trade, becoming one of the year’s defining news stories.

2022 – Global Headlines and National Treasures

If one story defined 2022, it was Sponsian.

Research on four ancient gold coins in our collection revealed compelling evidence for the existence of Sponsian, a long-lost Roman emperor whose coins had been dismissed as fake for more than a century. The discovery made headlines around the world, from The Guardian and The Times to The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr.

Photograph showing a person in purple nitrile gloves holding a worn gold-coloured coin for close examination. — Hunterian Curator of Numismatics, Jesper Ericsson, with the Sponsian gold coin.

Our major exhibition, The Afterlife of Mary Queen of Scots, explored the posthumous reputation and cultural legacy of Scotland’s most controversial monarch. Duncan Macmillan gave it five stars in The Scotsman, calling it “a fascinating exhibition”.

Photograph showing a woman in traditional white dress, black bodice and red headscarf standing before a colourful stylised portrait mural. Large face features turquoise, pink, orange and purple shapes, with painted figures and bold geometric forms creating a theatrical cultural display. — ‘Mary Queen of Scots’ visits her exhibition. Image © Martin Shields.

Visitors could also see the largest gold nugget discovered in Scotland in more than 400 years.

2022 saw the opening of our acclaimed Curating Discomfort intervention. Developed by our Community Curators, it sparked conversations about collections, power and representation that extended beyond the museum sector.

In other news, 2022 was a year of significant change. Queen Elizabeth II died after 70 years on the throne and was succeeded by King Charles III. The UK had three Prime Ministers in quick succession and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated international news.

2023 – Reframing The Hunterian

2023 saw a major redisplay of the Hunterian Art Gallery’s main gallery, bringing together more than 200 artworks spanning seven centuries and transforming how visitors experience our collection. Organised around themes and questions rather than chronology, it increased the visibility of women artists and brought significant works back on display.

Photograph showing a museum gallery wall displaying framed paintings alongside an empty ornate frame. A woman in black clothing and purple gloves holds empty frame, while gilt frames, varied artworks and burgundy wall create a curated exhibition setting. — Reframing the Hunterian Art Gallery. Image © Martin Shields.

Stage and Screen: Designs from the James L Gordon Collection showcased over 400 theatre, film and television designs spanning Shakespeare to Hollywood musicals. Westender Magazine called it “the perfect thing” for fans of classic Hollywood, Broadway musicals and cult television.

Our final exhibition of 2023 was The Trembling Museum, a collaborative exhibition curated with filmmaker and scholar Manthia Diawara and art historian and curator Terri Geis. Described by The Art Newspaper as “an ambitious new exhibition”, the show reframed African art and textiles from The Hunterian’s permanent collection alongside works by contemporary artists.

Elsewhere, Nicola Sturgeon resigned as First Minister of Scotland, King Charles and Queen Camilla were crowned at Westminster Abbey and Eurovision was held in Liverpool on behalf of the 2022 winners Ukraine.

2024 – Recognition and Renewal

In April, The Hunterian repatriated a 170-year-old Jamaican Giant Galliwasp specimen (Celestus occiduus) to Jamaica. As the first repatriation of a natural history specimen to the Caribbean, it supported wider efforts in reparatory justice and post-colonial cultural equity. Known as Celeste, the specimen had been held at The Hunterian since 1888. A handover ceremony at Kelvin Hall brought together representatives from the University of the West Indies and the Institute of Jamaica before its return to Kingston.

Six members of a project team gather around a glass jar containing a sample, suggesting collaborative scientific learning. Participants are seated and standing while leaning in attentively. — The project team with the Jamaican Giant Galliwasp specimen. Front (L-R) Elizabeth Morrison, Zoologist at the Institute of Jamaica. Dr Shani Roper, Curator at The University of the West Indies Museum. Mike G Rutherford, Curator of Zoology and Anatomy, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow. Back (L-R) Desireina Delancy, Graduate Student, The University of the West Indies, Mona. Dr Tannice Hall, Lecturer in Life Sciences, The University of the West Indies. Dionne Newell, Senior Research Officer in Entomology at the Institute of Jamaica.

Cathy Wilkes was a major highlight of Glasgow International 2024. In Sculpture magazine, Beth Williamson praised the exhibition’s emotional impact.

The year also saw record visitor numbers for The Hunterian, with more than 209,000 visits across our venues, the highest figure in our history.

In September, The Hunterian won the 2024 UMAC Award from the International Committee for University Museums and Collections for Curating Discomfort. Then, in December, we received £249,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for Unlocking the Potential of The Hunterian: The Changing Museum, a major scoping project exploring the future of our venues.

In other news, Donald Trump became US President (again), Labour won the UK general election, and Paris hosted the Olympics, raising the bar for the games with a rather spectacular opening ceremony.

2025 – Connecting Communities and Returning Heritage

As Glasgow celebrated its 850th birthday, we explored stories of place, belonging and community.

Building Memories explored vanished local structures, Glasgow residents could visit the Mackintosh House for free every Sunday, and we hosted Assembly, a solo exhibition of new work by artist-filmmaker Margaret Salmon.

The Museum of Things transformed the Hunterian Museum in partnership with Maryhill Integration Network (MIN). Participants engaged with our spaces and collections through storytelling, visual art and personal reflection, resulting in a vibrant and thought-provoking exhibition.

‘Views of Glasgow: A Window into Communities’ in the Hunterian Art Gallery was created with the Woodlands community and combined artworks, objects and archival material to explore the city’s past, present and evolving identity.

The year also saw a substantial gift of ten works from the John Shaw Collection, donated by Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw in memory of her late husband.

Two of the year’s most important stories focused on repatriation. In March, The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre and The Hunterian announced the repatriation of a rare shell necklace from The Hunterian to Tasmania. Delegates travelled to Glasgow for a handover ceremony before the necklace returned home, where it is now in the care of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre.

Photograph shows three adults standing in an ornate wood-panelled room, with a woman holding a box displaying a shell necklace and a man displaying a black presentation case. Portrait, carved panelling, dark timber furnishings and red carpet create a formal heritage setting, suggesting a ceremonial presentation or celebration. — Tasmanian Aboriginal delegates Jeanette James and Andry Sculthorpe with Hunterian Director Professor Steph Scholten.

The Hunterian also returned ancestral human remains to South Africa following a ceremony at the University of Glasgow in October. The remains of six individuals were transferred into the care of Iziko Museums of South Africa ahead of their reburial by descendant communities. Their return acknowledged the colonial and unethical circumstances in which they were removed.

Several people in a chapel, surrounding a table at which two people are seated. The South Africa and Scottish flags are draped over the table. One of the men is using a pen to sign something, while the others watch on. Other people watch from the chapel's pews. — Mr Petrus Vaalbooi and Professor David Duncan signing the repatriation agreement, alongside (L to R) Mr Brain Miennies, Koning Adam Kok V, Mr Petrus de Wet, Mrs Katrina Maggie Aly, Mr Ronald Hoogstander, Professor Steph Scholten, Mr Thys Williams, Mrs Martha Mangumbu, Koning Johannes Waterboer, Mr Gert Links. Image © Martin Shields.

In other news, Los Angeles was devastated by wildfires, Pope Leo XIV became the first American Pope, and Oasis reunited, bringing one of Britain’s biggest bands back to stadiums across the UK.

2026 – Looking Back, Looking Forward

2026 has already been a year of major milestones, from the University of Glasgow’s 575th anniversary to the 250th anniversary of the United States.

At The Hunterian, we launched our Strategic Plan 2026–36 and presented Naeem Mohaiemen’s striking exhibition THROUGH A MIRROR, DARKLY as part of Glasgow International.

What is Worth Remembering?, curated by MSc Museum Studies students, marked the University’s 575th anniversary, challenging traditional histories by analysing what (and who) the University historically chose to memorialise.

In August, Historic Environment Scotland launched a public consultation on a proposal to award Category A listed status to the Hunterian Art Gallery and Mackintosh House. The proposed listing recognised the building’s distinctive Brutalist design, its links to Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, and its importance as one of Scotland’s most significant museum buildings.

And 2026 is not over yet.

In Conclusion

Looking back over ten years of headlines, the media landscape has changed beyond recognition. Social media has transformed how stories travel, audiences discover museums in new ways, and traditional news outlets face very different pressures.

Ten years ago, a major feature in The Times or The Herald was seen as the pinnacle of media success. Many museums benefited from dedicated arts, heritage and science correspondents who had the time and expertise to develop in-depth features. In today’s faster news cycle, balanced long-form journalism remains enormously valuable.

Despite all the changes, the stories that resonate have remarkably consistent themes: curiosity, creativity and discovery. From Roman emperors to dinosaurs, and community collaboration to repatriation, The Hunterian’s collections have continued to inspire new ways of seeing the world.

As we celebrate ten years at Kelvin Hall, it is clear that there are many stories still to be told.

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