British Museum hosts reception for Ipswich Museum

The evening event on Monday 28th November will mark the partnership between the British Museum and Ipswich Museum and provides an opportunity to hear about plans for the purchase of Ipswich Art School and the redevelopment of the Museum in High Street, which will enable it to become a major cultural venue.

Speakers will include Neil MacGregor, Director of The British Museum, Councillor David Ellesmere, Leader of Ipswich Borough Council, and Maggi Hambling, artist and patron of the Ipswich Art School.

Councillor Ellesmere said: "We are proud to be associated with the British Museum. Ipswich is home to some outstanding cultural assets and the collections in Ipswich Museum are of local, regional and national significance. We are delighted that the British Museum recognises this and is supporting our efforts to give a bright new future to Ipswich Museum."

Guests will be able to view the Mildenhall Great Dish which will travel to Ipswich next year for display at Christchurch Mansion as part of the British Museum's Spotlight Tours financed by The Art Fund Prize 2011. The dish will be returning to Suffolk for the first time since its discovery in 1942.

Three 8th Century BC ivories from Nimrud, Assyria (modern day Iraq) that belong to the collections in Ipswich Museum will also be on display. They complement a large collection of the same ivories that the British Museum acquired earlier this year.

The two museums have many other links through their respective collections. Finds from Sutton Hoo can be found in Ipswich Museum as well as at the British Museum and the two museums have recently completed a project that was based around the Partridge collection from Nigeria, parts of which can be found in both museums.

The British Museum is delighted to continue to support redevelopment of Ipswich Museum as part of their programme of partnerships with museums and galleries of all sizes across the UK.

Colchester and Ipswich Museums Service is planning a multi-million pound project to create a combined centre for heritage, visual art and performing art. The redevelopment will include Ipswich Museum, Ipswich Art School and the New Wolsey Studio. It will become a regional and national tourist attraction and a source of learning, pride and inspiration for the whole community.