Commemorative events, themed months and special days are a good way of highlighting a part of your portrait collection for a specific audience. They are also a good way of linking up with new partners to organise or promote an event.

 

There are numerous events or themes – the main ones for museums, galleries and historic sites with portrait collections are:

Holocaust Remembrance Day is on 27 January and can be used to remember portraits of people in your collection who were victims of the holocaust or other genocide. More >>

 

LGBT History Month takes place in February and is an excellent opportunity to explore the sexuality of sitters or artists / photographies in your collections and invite local activists to take part. More >>

 

International Women’s Day – 8 March. More >>

 

National Science and Engineering Week takes place for around 10 days annually in mid March. It is run by the British Science Association and is a good opportunity to make connections to portraits of scientists and engineers and get free publicity along the way. More >>

 

Culture 24 run Museums at Night annually over a weekend in mid-May and provide support for putting on an event in the evening or even all night. There are also great opportunities for marketing with this event and each year it just seems to get bigger. More >>

 

Adult Learners Week – usually late May and run by NIACE (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education). More >>

 

The Festival of British Archaeology takes places in July and is a chance to connect to either portraits of archaeologists or portraits / faces of people from the ancient and medieval past. More >>

 

The Big Draw – end of September / beginning October. More >>

 

Black History Month – October. More >>

 

Theme: Drawing over the Colour Line Walk

 

Remembrance Day – 11 November (or the Sunday closest). More >>

 

Religious Festivals
The BBC have a good website calendar of religious festivals for all the main faiths in Britain by month here >>