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York Castle Museum

York Castle Museum has undergone a series of improvements and changes to the displays and much of the year was spent in preparing for three main initiatives: Chinese Reflections, which was part of a county-wide initiative called China In Yorkshire, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund; The Sixties gallery and the three Studios.

We opened Chinese Reflections in February 2008. This exhibition was the first event in the year-long programme across Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford. China in Yorkshire was launched at York Castle Museum by the Chinese Consul of the People's Republic of China and the event included displays of Chinese dance, opera, music, calligraphy and Chinese food. The Chinese community in York were central to the content of the exhibition and celebrations.

Much of the year was spent on the major display, the Sixties, transforming the Edwardian street, Half Moon Court, into a 1960's exhibition whilst still retaining the shop fronts. This also involved local people donating items for display and we plan that elements of the display will continue to change with loans and gifts from York residents. The reasoning behind the change was that it followed on from Dr Kirk's original idea to reflect people's everyday lives. This is a decade that people in their 50's and 60's relate to and they are a target audience for York Castle Museum.

We have also created three new Studios, the first a working kitchen in the Hearth and Home gallery, the second in the Military Gallery and the third in the Costume and Textile Gallery. These spaces are designed to enable visitors to engage with the collections. The Studios and the Sixties both opened in March 2008.