Our collection

Curator Toni Booth writes about her memories of the BBC series Moviedrome, fronted by film-maker Alex Cox, and looks at what makes a ‘cult film’.

Our doors may be closed (for now), but our amazing collection is always open for all. Here are some of the ways you can explore the museum from the comfort of your home.

Have you ever wanted to take museum objects out of their cases and try them for yourself? Our new Handling Collection has been created so you can do just that.

Take a closer look at the workings of an enigmatic object from our collection: John Logie Baird’s Double-8 apparatus, used in early demonstrations of television.

Museums are spaces for listening as well as looking. Discover the story behind our new Sound Technologies Collection, and find out how you can get involved with our forthcoming Gallery Listening Sessions.

In a second blog post about how we care for our collection, conservator Vanessa Torres looks at how photographs are prepared for travel across the world.

You might not realise it, but early British cinema and magic are very closely linked. Magicians used the new moving pictures as part of their shows; film-makers used the popularity of magicians to create appealing films.

Discover the story of the camera used to capture Robert Falcon Scott’s expedition to the South Pole.

Go behind the scenes and find out how we care for our collection. Here, conservator Vanessa Torres explains how the Ellis collection of daguerreotypes was re-housed.

Annie introduces our latest acquisition: the Midas XL3 mixing console, which has toured the UK with some of the world’s biggest bands and artists.

Visiting researcher Kari Nixon writes about her work with photography journals and other material from our Kodak Collection.

Visiting researcher Ana Maria Mauad writes about her work with photographs from Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay in the Daily Herald archive.