Come on in, the door’s open

AFTER an on-again, off-again year, museums and galleries can finally fling open their doors—hopefully, for good. During multiple lockdowns, many found virtual success. The National Gallery, for example, hosted its first and 500th live online event in the space of 12 months and director Dr Gabriele Finaldi’s emails to members became so popular that a digital exhibition, ‘The Director’s Choice’, was born. As well as many online events and a 1,500% engagement increase on Raphael content, a digital V&A Academy was launched last year, with courses on everything from dressmaking to queer history.

Now, in the flesh, there are enough exhibitions to fill a whole magazine. But our short selection must include the V&A’s new Raphael Court, which the public can see for the first time from today after renovation to mark last year’s 500th anniversary of the artist’s death; it contains seven 16ft-wide Cartoons, borrowed from the Royal Collection. The museum also has the immersive, theatrical ‘Alice: CuriouserandCuriouser’ (which starts on