Try something new at The Museum of East Asian Art
Museums and Galleries Month May 2007

The Museum of East Asian Art, Bath is pleased to announce its participation once again in the nationwide celebrations for Museums & Galleries Month (M&GM) 2007. This year the theme is “People - Who are we?”, and the Museum will be holding a variety of unusual events focusing on the Museum's collection as well as other mysteries of East Asia.

The celebrations kick off with the Museum's Welcome Weekend which coincides with May Day bank holiday weekend. Visitors can join in the festivities for Japan's national holiday Midori no hi (Greenery Day) on Friday 4th May from 12.30 – 1.15pm with our Natural Designs event. Free with admission this origami session will encourage visitors to get creative and make their own flowers or natural paper designs. On Saturday 5th May, members of the public are invited to explore the Museum's collection and find out more about who we are with a Welcome Tour from 11am – 12 noon and a handling session entitled A Guide to Chinese art from 3 – 4pm. Both Saturday events are free with admission and will be guided by our Founder and Honorary Keeper, Brian S McElney.

If visitors are still curious about what the Museum offers, they can find out more in the Who are we? exhibition being held at Bath's central library from 8th -12th May. A joint collaboration with other non sector and council run museums in the BANES area, this free exhibition aims to introduce the fascinating collections housed within the cities museums, galleries and libraries. As part of the initiative participating organisations will be on hand in The Podium all week offering handling sessions and Q&A's to the general public.

For those who are too busy in the week to pay a visit to the exhibition, why not join the Museum for free on the evening of 12th May to find out more about Asian cultures? In connection with Bath's Night at the Museum's the Museum will be opening from

With a range of fascinating activities throughout the month, visitors will be spoilt for choice as they can explore who we are, the collection's cultural heritage and a variety of Asian activities. However the fun doesn't have stop there, to round off Museums and Galleries Month the Museum is offering a fun East Asian Mystery session. Free with admission visitors can have a go at identifying some mysterious objects from the collection and then discover the real reason behind their creation. From 2-3pm the objects will be asking who and what are we?

-ENDS-

Notes to editors
Museums and Galleries Month (1st May – 31st May) is the biggest celebration of its kind in the world, highlighting the wealth of opportunities for entertainment, cultural enrichment and education that UK 's museums and art galleries have to offer. With a theme this year of People: who are we?, MGM2007 launches throughout the UK with a big Welcome Weekend (4th – 7th May) followed by hundreds of events in museums and galleries around the country. Visit www.mgm.org.uk for further details about MGM2007 and events happening in your area.

Museums and Galleries Month is organised by The Campaign for Museums, a registered charity, with support from Museums Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) through the Renaissance in the Regions programme and Arts Council England.  MGM is also supported by museums, galleries and arts organisations throughout the UK.