NG200 Summer on the Square, designed to unlock the nation’s creativity and bring the collection to the streets of Westminster
On May 10, 2024, the National Gallery will start its celebration of the Bicentenary – marking 200 years of bringing people and paintings together.
Throughout the entire year, it will celebrate its past and look forward to its future with NG200, a year-long festival of art, creativity and imagination that sets the stage for its third century.
Everyone is invited to join its celebration as part of an ambitious programme of events and exhibitions that extends from the Gallery into Trafalgar Square, across the nation, and to the globe through a series of online and virtual experiences.
Find out more about the programme below.
National Treasures
Opening May 10, 2024
As part of the Bicentenary celebrations programme, twelve of the nation’s most iconic and well-loved paintings from the collection are being lent to twelve venues across the UK. Paintings including Constable’s The Hay Wain, Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire and Monet’s The Water-Lily Pond will each travel to a regional centre such as Bristol, Newcastle and York. For some of the works, not least the The Wilton Diptych and Botticelli’s Venus and Mars, it will be the first time that they will have left the Gallery since they were acquired. Each of the partner venues is set to mark the national treasure’s stay by organising events, exhibitions and digital interventions to showcase their works.
Discover the 12 paintings and their displays
Art Road Trip
May 2024 – May 2025
From this May to May 2025, the National Gallery’s travelling art studio programme, Art Road Trip, is visiting eighteen places across the UK, taking art and creativity on the road. It will work with 24 local arts organisations to create community-led arts projects. In each location, events will be designed for people with the least access to creative opportunities and the arts.
Find out more about the organisations involved
Summer on the Square
A festival is set to take place in Trafalgar Square, designed specifically for children, young people, and their families, aiming to engage new and diverse audiences. It is designed to unlock the nation’s creativity and bring the collection to the streets of Westminster.
Stay updated on the NG200 site to discover the dates and programme for Summer on the Square
Online and virtual experiences
NG200: Behind the Scenes
A new online film series that takes viewers behind the scenes of the National Gallery creating a continuous micro documentary that engages people with key aspects of the NG200 programme.
200 Paintings for 200 Years
The National Gallery will open the door to the entire history of a painting, in one place, sharing the wealth of its research, digitally available for everyone, everywhere, anytime.
The Virtual Gallery
A new, large-scale digital Gallery experience will be created for the Bicentenary, available via National Gallery’s website.
National Gallery Stories
The story of the National Gallery and the people who have played a part in its 200-year history, delivered through a series of digital experiences that will create new personal connections with the collection.
Stay tuned for the online and virtual experiences release
If you have interesting news and events to point out in the field of digital cultural heritage, we are waiting for your contribution.
