The Midlands has a wealth of art galleries and museums hosting a range of fantastic exhibitions - both permanent and temporary. Here's a selection of what's showing across the region. 

UNCOMMON THREADS: THE ART OF JUNE BURNETT

Working in oils, watercolours, prints and collage, June Burnett produced art which blended rich colours and detailed figurative elements. 
Her output presented both real and imagined worlds and was greatly influenced by her Caribbean heritage and personal memories. 
The Potteries Museum exhibition showcases selected works for sale from the artist’s estate. 

The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, until Monday 23 November

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@TIGHT CONTROL: HUMAN RIGHTS IN NEON LIGHTS

Disabled artist & activist Zoe Partington is the creative force behind this brand-new and thought-provoking presentation.
The exhibition comprises nine neon artworks featuring slogans that were used by the pivotal disability rights movements of the 1980s and 90s. Via the display, Zoe invites visitors to confront the realities of discrimination, systemic barriers, and ‘the ongoing fight for equality that defines the disabled community’s experience’.

Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery, until Saturday 29 November

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WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

“We are facing urgent biodiversity and climate crises, and photography is a powerful catalyst for change.” 
So says Dr Doug Gurr, director of the Natural History Museum, which has developed and produced this prestigious competition. 
“As we celebrate 60 years of Wildlife Photographer Of The Year,” adds Dr Gurr, “we also celebrate the generations of visitors who have been inspired by the beauty and majesty of its images, and the millions of connections made with nature.” 
Visiting Wolverhampton as part of an extensive international tour, the show features a host of awe-inspiring images capturing fascinating animal behaviour and breathtaking landscapes.

Image credit: Bidyut Kalita 

Wolverhampton Art Gallery, until Sunday 25 January

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COVENTRY BIENNIAL 2025: OBSESSIONS, POSSESSIONS

An exploration of the roles and functions of collecting - within the art sector, the community and the studio - lies at the heart of the fifth Coventry Biennial.
Artists whose work is being displayed at the city’s Herbert Art Gallery & Museum include Helsinki-based Sophia Ehrnrooth, who is presenting a major four-screen moving-image installation. Also featured is a Simeon Barclay-curated group exhibition exploring ‘the rich and complex history of Coventry’. 

Image credit: Garry Jones Photography

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry, until Sunday 25 January

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STUDIO PRINTS: CELEBRATING THE BALAKJIAN COLLECTION

The archive of London-based Studio Prints is the source of the artwork featured in this new exhibition, which includes prints by Lucian Freud and other 20th-century British greats. 
Studio Prints was established by the artist Dorothea Wight and her husband, Marc Balakjian, in the late 1960s, going on to produce prints for world-renowned British artists for the following 40 years. Commenting on the exhibition, the New Art Gallery’s director, Stephen Snoddy, said: “It’s wonderful to continue to promote the legacy of Studio Prints to new generations. 
“These fantastic examples of world-class printmaking amplify our collection of modern British art, and are closely attuned to our Garman Ryan Collection.”

Image: Marc Balakjian - In the silence of passing years, 1980

New Art Gallery, Walsall, Friday 7 November - Sunday 12 April

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HARDEEP PANDHAL:SAAG AND FISH FINGERS

Saag And Fish Fingers marks Hardeep Pandhal’s first solo exhibition in his hometown. 
Hardeep creates mythical narratives in his artwork with the aim of investigating the complexities of contemporary culture.
Drawing on video games, comics, cultural theory and his personal memories, the exhibition takes form across large-scale paintings, drawings and installation, along the way ‘exploring the transformative forces of cultural assimilation’. 

Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, Saturday 22 November - Sunday 1 February

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DESIGNING TERRY PRATCHETT'S DISCWORLD

Exhibition celebrating 30 Years of Paul Kidby’s Illustration

This brand-new exhibition displays the artwork of Paul Kidby - Terry Pratchett’s ‘artist of choice’ for his Discworld books. 

Explaining why he selected Paul, the late author once said: “He sees things my way about 75 per cent of the time, which suggests either mind reading is happening or that my vision of my characters is really rather vague until I see his drawings.”

The exhibition includes colourful paintings, ‘exquisite’ pencil drawings, ‘and a rogue’s gallery of favourite Discworld characters’.

Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum, until Sunday 4 January

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COMMODITIES: SCULPTURE & CERAMICS BY RENEE SO

Hong Kong-born artist Renee So’s latest exhibition may well be a game changer in terms of how Compton Verney’s world-renowned collection of Chinese Bronzes is viewed... Specialising in darkly playful ceramic sculptures, Renee’s work explores how perceptions of history can be distorted, re-fashioned and changed, asking the question: ‘How do we create the new stories that we tell ourselves today?’

Compton Verney, Warwickshire, until Sunday 8 March

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JESUS & THE POPE BY ROBBIE WILLIAMS

Burslem-born Robbie Williams has teamed up with local ceramic design brand 1882 Ltd to transform two of his ‘inkling’ drawings into abstract works of art depicting Jesus and The Pope. 

The superstar singer’s technicolour pieces sit alongside a collection of works donated by 60 of the UK’s leading artists, architects, designers, musicians and creative polymaths. 

The artworks have been transformed into plates by the Barlastan-based company and are being auctioned off to fund an apprenticeship scheme. 

Publicising the show, Robbie said: “I’m from the Potteries, Burslem born & bred. Clay built our city. We are of the earth - we are earthy people.”

The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, until Sunday 7 December

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THE OFFBEAT SARI

“The idea for the exhibition came from a desire to challenge the way that South Asian culture is conventionally depicted - as being timeless, or rigid in the colonial or post-colonial past.” 

So explains Priya Khanchandani, who has curated this major exhibition. The show celebrates the contemporary sari and brings together a selection of striking garments designed, worn and crafted by people from India. “I wanted to showcase South Asia as a culture in the process of evolution, and one which is as relevant to contemporary fashion as anywhere else.

“MAC is a fantastic place to present the exhibition. Its artistic programme reflects and represents the cultures of the city of Birmingham, and I think the show will resonate with Brummies of South Asian heritage in a meaningful way.”

Midlands Arts Centre (MAC). Birmingham, until Sunday 2 November

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THROUGH THEIR EYES: 80 YEARS ON

Marking this month’s 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, Through Their Eyes is part of the National Memorial Arboretum’s The Year Was 1945... project. The initiative comprises displays, events, services, talks and tours, its aim being to share the stories of those who served during wartime. 
Through Their Eyes has been produced by the Royal British Legion, the UK’s largest charity solely dedicated to supporting the needs of the Armed Forces community.  

National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire, until Sunday 16 November

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DIPPY IN COVENTRY: THE NATION'S FAVOURITE DINOSAUR

The Natural History Museum’s iconic Diplodocus cast - life-size, made of plaster-of-paris, and affectionately referred to as Dippy - has taken up residence in Coventry for an initial period of three years. 

Diplodocus carnegii, to give it its official name, lived during the Late Jurassic period, somewhere between 155 and 145 million years ago. Huge, plant-eating dinosaurs with long, whip-like tails, they grew to about 25 metres in length and are believed to have weighed around 15 tonnes, making them three tonnes heavier than a London double-decker bus. 

Dippy first arrived in London in 1905 and recently visited Birmingham as part of an eight-city tour that attracted a record-breaking two million visitors.

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry, until Tues 21 February 2026

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