Venetia Porter, Curator of Islamic and Contemporary Middle East Art, looks at how artists of the Middle East and North Africa respond to, and reflect on, issues of gender, identity, politics, history and cultural tradition, through the prism of contemporary art.

3 December is International Day of Disabled Persons. To mark the occasion, we’re exploring some ongoing research into the history of disability in the collection through six objects selected by staff and volunteers.

Dreaming of a day out? Join us as we take you on a virtual whistle-stop tour of some London sights through the prints and drawings collections.

Drawing can be so much more than just pencil on paper. Curator Isabel Seligman takes a look at the dynamic drawings in our touring exhibition, and explains the creative process behind an exhibition co-curated with partnership galleries.

Curator Susannah Walker takes a closer look at the life and work of Dorothy Hawksley – a talented but enigmatic artist who remained independent of any mainstream art movements – and how a recent acquisition has helped shed light on her work.

Rembrandt is one of the most well-known artists in the world, equally adept at rendering sensitive portraits as producing show-stopping compositions. Curator Olenka Horbatsch explains what made the artist such a good storyteller and takes a closer look at the details in his work you might have missed. 

Artists have subverted the common postcard for decades. Discover both the politics and playfulness of a unique collection of postcards recently gifted to the British Museum by the artists’ postcard expert Jeremy Cooper.

In our upcoming spring exhibition, we lift the veil on one of the most remarkable artists and printmakers of a generation – the Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch. He was the creator of art’s most iconic face – but who was the artist behind The Scream?

Our curators have picked 10 of their frightening favourites from the Museum’s Prints and Drawings collection – from ghosts to ghouls, and a witches’ Sabbath to skeletons…

Curator Sarah Vowles takes a closer look at a spectacular Florentine Renaissance drawing recently acquired by the Museum.

Sarah Jaffray, Project Officer for the Bridget Riley Art Foundation, talks about how drawing is enjoying a renaissance among art students, in part thanks to the Museum’s fascinating collection.

Japanese woodblock prints in the 18th and 19th centuries were often produced using inks which can fade dramatically when exposed to light. Scientist Capucine Korenberg explains how she investigated the risks of displaying some of Hokusai’s most iconic prints.

Traditional Japanese woodblock prints are renowned for their exquisite detail and colour. Curator Alfred Haft reveals how the skilled block cutter and printer helped to create these beautiful works of popular art.

With the exhibition The American Dream: pop to the present approaching its final few weeks, Susan Tallman tells us why it is time to pay attention.

As the project to conserve Dürer’s Triumphal Arch reaches the final stages Sam Taylor and Agnieszka Depta work with the Hirayama Studio to prepare the print for future display.

People are living longer than ever before and society is constantly reevaluating what it means to be ‘old’. Exhibition Curator Tim Clark reveals why Hokusai: beyond the Great Wave focuses on the last 30 years of the artist’s extraordinarily long life.

Take a closer look at one of the most famous artworks in the world. The Great Wave was created in 1831 but has had a remarkable influence on art ever since. Here are some key facts you might not know about this iconic masterpiece.

2017 has been a busy year for the Prints and Drawing Department with two exhibitions recently opened at the British Museum. Conservation Mounter David Giles discusses the conservation preparations for these two very different exhibitions.

The exhibition The American Dream: pop to the present is now open. Why is this extraordinary collection of modern and contemporary art at the British Museum?

Author, playwright and self-confessed Baby Boomer Bonnie Greer takes a personal look at five of the works featured in the Museum’s exhibition on American prints from 1960 to the present. From Andy Warhol to Kara Walker, what does a nation’s art say about the state of its politics and its identity?

The project to conserve Dürer’s Triumphal Arch reaches the next stage. Sam Taylor takes technical photographs of the sheets discovering long-hidden details in the handmade paper, delicately unpicks old glue and gives the work a bath.

Kyoko Kusunoki joined the Hirayama Studio last year as Conservator of Japanese Paintings. In this blog Kyoko discusses some of the projects she has been working on, including preparing for the exhibition Hokusai: beyond the Great Wave.

In the next part of our blog series on the project to conserve Dürer’s Triumphal Arch, Agnieszka Depta begins the delicate process of removing the print’s fragile linen backing and separating the work into its original 38 sheets.

Pairing drawings of BA Fine Art students from Central Saint Martins with the works that inspired them during their visit to the Prints and Drawings Study Room Wayfinding explores drawing as a tool that artists, both emerging and established, use to find their way.

Whilst carrying out a student placement Lauren Buttle, a candidate for a Masters of Art Conservation at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, was involved in the first stage of the conservation process of Albrect Dürer’s Triumphal Arch, assisting in cleaning the 3.5 m x 3 m, 16th- century print. 

The project to conserve Dürer’s Triumphal Arch reaches the next stage. Ivor Kerslake and Joanna Russel lset out to take a series of high-resolution images as well as infrared and ultraviolet imaging to reveal information about the work, vital for the next stage in the conservation process.

In autumn 2014, Albrecht Dürer’s monumental Triumphal Arch went on display in the Asahi Shimbun Display in Room 3 to great success. In this blog, Joanna Kosek, discusses the delicate operation of dismantling such an exhibition.

Carole Weiss and Jin Xian Qiu reveal the work that took place behind the scenes in the Hirayama Studio to prepare a Ming dynasty silk painting by artist Zhu Bang to go on display. 

Art historian Frances Carey looks at the life of German artist Käthe Kollwitz and the inspiration behind some of her works. A selection of Käthe Kollwitz’s works will be on display in the exhibition Germany: memories of a nation running 16 October 2014 – 25 January 2015.

In preparation for The Asahi Shimbun Display of Dürer’s paper triumph: the arch of the Emperor Maximilian a team of specialists gathered to move the famous woodcut of the Triumphal Arch by Albrecht Dürer. Joanna Kosek describes how they managed to move and dismantle the print over the course of one night.

Valentina Marabini has just returned from a year in China, spent studying with the conservators at the Shanghai Museum.