British Museum announces new exhibition

The British Museum in London has announced a new exhibition, Living with Gods: people, places and worlds beyond.

The new exhibition will look at the different religious and cultural beliefs of people all over the world, forming part of the fourth collaborative project between the British Museum, the BBC and Penguin Books.

Living with gods: people, places and worlds beyond

The exhibition explores the practice and expression of religious beliefs in the lives of individuals and communities around the world and throughout history.

It will touch on the benefits and risks of these behaviours in terms of co-existence and conflict in societies such as 17th – 18th century Japan, China and the Soviet Union, as well as modern Europe.

The exhibition will include everyday objects relating to world faiths, traditional indigenous, archaeological and modern civil practices.

It will also include intriguing pieces, from the end of the last Ice Age that depict beings that do not exist in nature, to familiar objects of everyday practices of all periods, including an 18th century replica of a Hindu ceremonial chariot, posters relating to Soviet scientific atheism, and a Chinese badge celebrating ‘Mao’s mangoes’ in an example of 20th century veneration.

Taking a new approach to the exhibition’s design, the British Museum will incorporate the sounds, music and silence associated with religious practice, with moments of surprise, achieved with atmospheric lighting effects.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a BBC Radio 4 series, beginning on 23rd October, and a Penguin book written by former British Museum director Neil MacGregor.

Booking your tickets

Group rates are available at the British Museum and groups of ten or more are required to book before visiting.

Guidelines for groups can be found here.

To book your visit, go to www.britishmuseum.org/visiting/group_visits.