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. 

PRISM PHOTOGRAPHY OPEN

Selected from an open call organised with PRISM Photography network, this thought-provoking exhibition presents portraits and landscapes - and both political and personal stories - which explore the themes of belonging and interconnectedness.

Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, until Sunday 18 May

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REMBRANDT: MASTERPIECES IN BLACK AND WHITE

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery is the only UK stop-off for this major new show, which marks the first time Rembrandt’s etchings have been brought out of the Netherlands as a collection. 
“We are delighted to be bringing his fascinating prints to Birmingham,” says Epco Runia, head of collections at the Rembrandt House Museum, which has co-organised Masterpieces In Black And White with the American Federation of Arts. “With this exhibition, we hope to demonstrate that each of Rembrandt’s prints is a work of art in its own right. If you take the time to look at them closely, a whole world opens up to you: a world in black & white, but with enormous visual richness.”

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, until Sunday 1 June

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MAHTAB HUSSAIN: WHAT DID YOU WANT TO SEE

A new exhibition of work by Birmingham artist Mahtab Hussain, What Did You Want To See features photographs which celebrate the city’s Muslim community. The installation includes portraits of Muslim people and places of worship, but also examines how cameras can be used as tools for surveillance.
“I want visitors to leave the exhibition questioning how they see the world and the people around them,” explains Mahtab. “I want them to think about visibility… what it truly means to witness someone, rather than observing them. 

“I hope the show can challenge assumptions and create moments of recognition, and also make people look at Birmingham in a new way. If we can do that, I think that’ll be a really lovely thing.”

Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, until Sunday 1 June

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BEYOND THE CANVAS

Taking the subtitle A Celebration Of British Sculpture From The Ingram Collection, Beyond The Canvas explores the diverse styles and techniques that defined British sculpture throughout the 20th century. 
The Ingram Art Foundation boasts one of the most significant collections of modern British art in the UK. The collection is here sharing space with pieces from the widely admired Rugby Collection. 
The display is being presented as part of the gallery’s 25th anniversary celebration. 

Rugby Art Gallery, until Saturday 7 June

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EMII ALRAI: RIVER OF BLACK STONE

Blackpool-born and Yorkshire-based artist Emii Alrai produces sculptures and installations that imitate archaeological artefacts and which combine ancient mythologies from the Middle East with oral histories from her own Iraqi heritage. Her aim with her art is to highlight the contrast between the polished aesthetics of museums and the states of ruin which befall archaeological objects and the landscapes from which they are excavated. 

Emii’s Compton Verney commission sees her responding to the venue’s nationally important Naples Collection. Through a sequence of darkening rooms, the artist dramatises the moment of archaeological discovery, at the same time considering ‘themes of volcanic eruption and geological rupture as metaphors for our times’.

Compton Verney, Warwickshire, until Sunday 15 June

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HRAIR SARKISIAN: OTHER PAINS

“Keeping the same way of thinking is depressive,” Hrair Sarkissian told whitehotmagazine.com. “I am someone who makes a lot of jokes, and my work is completely depressive, melancholic, and [tells] only sad stories. There is nothing that gives a positive feeling. It’s all kinds of desperation.”

An Armenian born in Syria and currently based in London, Hrair is considered one of the leading conceptual photographers of his generation. He also works with moving image, sculpture, sound and installation, conveying stories of conflict, displacement, loss and hope. 

Comprising three bodies of work, Hrair’s now-showing Other Pains exhibition features captivating landscapes and urban scenes which reflect sites of pain, trauma or melancholy, either from the artist’s own personal history or the previous experiences of others.

Wolverhampton Art Gallery, until Sunday 22 June

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SUZANNE HOLTOM: AND HILLS BORE SCARS

“During the pandemic, I lost my dad,” explains Suzanne Holtom, “and as a result, my trips back home to the West Midlands became far more frequent. It was this continuing return to my original home, contemplating and experiencing this embodied landscape, that initiated a new direction in my work.”
A deep mapping of place - encompassing geological time, personal experiences, social histories and memory - has become the primary motivation in Suzanne’s art.

The paintings featured in And Hills Bore Scars - which draw from ‘geosites’ in the Black Country Global Geopark - contemplate bodily forms, land masses, histories, patterns of energy and industry, layered materiality and shifting terrains.

Visitors to the gallery on Saturday 10 May can join Suzanne for a printmaking session and a tour of her exhibition.

New Art Gallery, Walsall, until Sunday 29 June

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ELIZABETH AND STANHOPE FORBES: A MARRIAGE OF ART

Elizabeth and Stanhope Forbes were very much the power couple of British Impressionism, with both artists already well established and enjoying success at the time of their marriage in 1889. 

This brand-new exhibition features what’s being described as a ‘sumptuous’ selection of their artworks. The show includes many pieces that are on loan from Penlee House Gallery & Museum, and which are visiting Worcester for the very first time. 

Also on display in the exhibition is Stanhope’s Chadding On Mounts Bay, one of the most widely admired and beloved paintings in Worcester City’s Fine Art collection.

Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum, until Sunday 29 June

Image: Stanhope Forbes, Lighting Up Time, 1902, courtesy of the Bowerman Charitable Trust.

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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 Birmingham as part of an extensive national and international tour, the exhibition features a host of awe-inspiring images capturing fascinating animal behaviour and breathtaking landscapes. 

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, until Sunday 20 April

Image credit: Jason Gulley

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COLLECTING COVENTRY

Seventy-five years of collecting is being celebrated in this brand-new and long-running exhibition.
Featuring a selection of objects dating from the founding of the Herbert Art Gallery in 1949 through to the present day, the show is being presented across four of the Herbert’s rooms. 

Featured objects and curiosities include a 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite, a Covid testing kit, LS Lowry’s famous painting of Ebbw Vale and a number of items being displayed for the very first time.

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry, until Sunday 27 April 2025

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POP, PRINT, PROTEST

Featuring artwork created in the mid-20th century, this fascinating show explores how Pop Artists used mixed-media collage and combined text and image in order to protest against capitalism, racism and conflict. In the process of doing so, the artists were responding to some of the biggest social and political issues of the time, including the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War... The exhibition has been curated by Sophie Hatchwell, who is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Birmingham.

Wolverhampton Art Gallery, until Sunday 11 May

Image credit: Bela Lugosi Journal (1964) Joe Tilson, © DACs

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EARTHBOUND

Work by nine artists and community makers is featured in this topical exhibition, a show set within the context of global anxiety about the climate crisis. 

Addressing earthbound themes that connect people with soil, plants, seeds, mycelium, animals and birds - and the histories, cultures and knowledge surrounding these - the exhibition includes sculpture, drawing, painting and installation, as well as work produced via natural art-making techniques.

Image: Charmaine Watkiss, The warrior focuses intent to overcome adversity, 2022. 

New Art Gallery, Walsall, until Sunday 8 June

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GREENER GLASS

With an emphasis on eco-friendly practices and the artistic exploration of environmental themes, the future of glassmaking is brought firmly into focus in this long-running exhibition. 
The show - co-curated by UK artists in collaboration with University of Birmingham students - features a diverse array of glass artworks produced using a wide range of techniques, including kiln work, glass blowing, mosaic, flame working and cast glass.

Stourbridge Glass Museum, Wordsley, until Sunday 27 July

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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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