Blog

Visitors to the Maritime Museum, including one wheelchair user, look at a model ship in a glass case. Behind them are several portraits and an information board with the title Leuvehaven.
Destination Port City: the colonial past of Rotterdam

Weaving stories of port and city with present-day personal testimony

Black and white photograph of a small child biting an apple. A bowl of apples on a low table in front of them.
How the apple became an important symbol in culture, science and story

Symbolic apples from Adam and Eve to Isaac Newton, via fairy tale and ancient myth

An etching of an elk
What are you looking at? Seven webcams of the world

From Dracula’s castle to coral reefs, experience world culture with this global webcam tour

colour illustration of two whirling dervishes, with yellow, orange and green clothing
Mevlevi music's European journey

Mevlevi music found its way to Europe through a combination of historical events, cultural exchange and the global fascination with Sufism and mysticism

colour drawing showing a view of Bregenz and lake from a hill
Twin towns in art

Cultural connections between the UK and Europe

black and white illustration, boats being tossed around in very rough seas while buildings in the city of Lisbon in the background collapse
What was the impact of the Great Lisbon Earthquake in 1755?

The earthquake was one of Europe's worst natural disasters

monochrome illustration, portrait of Alexandre Dumas who sits with his arms crossed at a desk with books and papers
How Alexandre Dumas's novels have been adapted in performing arts

The influence of The Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron Mask and The Count of Monte Cristo on film, theatre and music

colour photograph of a football team before a match, they were blue jerseys and white shorts
Miguel Montuori, Fiorentina footballer

First black footballer to play for the Italian national team

Optical views: a way to travel through Europe

The fascination for discovering the world through optical views endures over time

colour photograph of a wooden railway station building
Folke Zettervall, architect of Swedish railway stations

Head architect of Swedish State Railways (Statens Järnvägar) who designed 250 train stations

black and white photograph of Josephine Baker who wears a ball gown
Josephine Baker: Fashion icon

Inspiring photographers and designers

black and white photograph of several black people descending a gangway from a ship
Windrush 75 - the legacy of an inspiring generation

Reflections on a year honouring those who came from the Caribbean to Britain

George Bridgetower

Black violinist and composer who rubbed shoulders with Beethoven, King George, and Thomas Jefferson

watercolour painting of a path by a lake in a park, a woman sits on a park bench under trees in a variety of shades of green
Anna Gardell-Ericson, painter of Swedish nature

Artist from Gotland who lived in Switzerland and Paris

black and white photograph, a plane at night on an airport runway
The hijacking of Finnair Flight 405 in photographs

Photos capturing dramatic scenes of Finland's first-ever airline hijack

The other side of public monuments

Reflecting on the past and present

colour image of a black-and-white image seen through a Kinora motion picture viewer
The Kinora: the first home cinema technology

How people watched moving images at home in the early 20th century

colour photograph, a panorama view of Toledo
Toledo, city of three religions in Spain

How three buildings symbolise Toledo's religious heritage

colour cartoon image of a deer, rabbit and skunk
Felix Salten: the Jewish author and hunter who created Bambi

From environmental novel to famous Disney animation

an oil painting showing two nude women, one holding the other while the other's hands sprout laurel leaves.
Transformed women in Ovid's Metamorphoses

Gruesome stories of women being transformed to escape men in Ovid's ancient Greek text