National Science and Media Museum
The National Science and Media Museum (formerly The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, 1983–2006[2][3] and then the National Media Museum, 2006–2017[4][5]), located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum Group in the UK. The museum has seven floors of galleries with permanent exhibitions focusing on photography, television, animation, videogaming, the Internet and the scientific principles behind light and colour. It also hosts temporary exhibitions and maintains a collection of 3.5 million pieces in its research facility.
Former name
National Media Museum
National Museum of Photography, Film and Television
16 June 1983
Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
National Photography Collection,
National Cinematography Collection,
National Television Collection,
National New Media Collection
3.5 million items
439,916 (2019)[1]
Jo Quinton-Tulloch
Charlotte Connelly
scienceandmediamuseum
nationalmediamuseum.org.uk (archived)
nmpft.org.uk (archived)
The venue has three cinemas, including Europe's first opened IMAX screen, finished in April 1983.[6] It hosts festivals dedicated to widescreen film, video games and science. It has hosted popular film festivals, including the Bradford International Film Festival, until 2014.
In September 2011 the museum was voted the best indoor attraction in Yorkshire by the public, and it is one of the most visited museums in the north of England.[7][8] As of February 2016 the museum, in response to revenue shortfalls, has controversially adopted a policy of focusing on "the science and culture of light and sound"—to the exclusion of what are seen as "unsustainable" aspects of creativity and culture, such as past film festivals.[9]
In March 2016 a £7.5 million five year investment plan in the museum was revealed by the Science Museum Group.[10] In March 2017 its name was changed from National Media Museum to National Science and Media Museum.[11]
As of July 2023, the museum is closed until 2025 as part of a project to construct two new galleries.[12]
The museum's collection contains 3.5 million items of historical, cultural and social value. Notable objects and archives include:
The collections are accessible to the public through the museum's Insight study centre.
The collection of the Royal Photographic Society was transferred to the Museum on behalf of the nation in 2003.[24] As of 2017, most of the collection is moving to the Victoria and Albert museum in London.[25] The National Science and Media Museum "will retain collections that help explore the development of photographic processes, such as the Kodak collection; the cultural impact of photography, such as the Daily Herald archive; and archives that have a direct relevance to Bradford."[25]
History[edit]
National Museum of Photography, Film and Television[edit]
The museum (throughout its name changes and to the present) occupies a site originally proposed for a theatre in central Bradford, for which work had been begun in the 1960s but which remained unfinished.[26] Discussions and a decision between Dame Margaret Weston of the Science Museum, London, and Bradford's city councillors[26] led to the establishment of the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, as it was then called, which was opened on 16 June 1983.[27]
Local funding for architectural work complemented the Science Museum's funding to convert the building to its new use, with the bars and dressing rooms of the original theatre layout being converted to galleries, and with the conflicting demands of a theatre building occupying multiple storeys and a museum that would ideally reside on a single level needing to be accommodated. The museum's centrepiece was its auditorium with IMAX cinema,[28] and its opening launched "the largest cinema screen in Britain": the IMAX screen was five storeys high with six-channel sound. During this period the museum specialised in the art and science of images and image-making. Colin Ford, its first director, believed that understanding how images are made led to better appreciation of the ideas expressed, the intentions and skills of the image-makers.[26]
In 1986, to mark the 50th anniversary of the first public television service, two interactive television galleries were developed. These allowed visitors to directly operate cameras on a studio set with programmed sound and lighting, use vision mixers, read news items from an autocue and discover how chroma keying works. In 1989, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of photography, the museum launched the Kodak Gallery, a display of the history of photography from its invention to the present. This was followed by the installation of a standard television studio, first used by TV-am for outside broadcasts and, later, Nickelodeon. These studios were the first live broadcasting studios in a museum.
While continuing to run the Pictureville Cinema and exhibitions in a temporary venue on the other side of the city, the museum closed its main site on 31 August 1997 to allow for a 19-month, £16 million redevelopment, making the museum 25% bigger. The IMAX cinema was also developed to show 3D films. The new museum was opened on 16 June 1999 by Pierce Brosnan.
Current festival programme[edit]
Yorkshire Games Festival[edit]
This video game festival began in 2016. It celebrates games culture, design and production, and includes a conference programme as well as a weekend of events for families. It took place in November 2016 and 2017, before moving to a February slot for 2019.[48] Guests at the first Yorkshire Games Festival included John Romero, Rhianna Pratchett, Charles Cecil, Warren Spector (via live video link), Brenda Romero, and presenters of The Yogscast.[49]
Bradford Science Festival[edit]
This family science festival was first held in 2012, but was cancelled in 2016 after the previous organisers no longer had the capacity to carry it on. The museum took over the festival in 2017, in partnership with organisations including the University of Bradford, Bradford Council and Bradford College.[50]