Brighton Art and Design Guide - Hove Museum

Art and Design Map
Hove Museum sits on New Church Road, to the west of Hove, in shady gardens, a short walk from the shops and cafes of Hove. The Museum is housed in a Victorian villa designed in Italianate style c.1870 by Thomas Lainson. During the First World War the building was used to house German prisoners of war, and in 1926 it was purchased by Hove Corporation and opened as a public museum the following year.

Hove Museum is not a large museum well worth visiting housing as it does a Contemporary Craft Gallery of the national significant. It also houses an important Toy Collection showcasing items from the National Toy Museum and Institute of Play collection. It also has a great and well used cafe!


Hove Museum & Art Gallery attracts a wide range of people – from locals dropping in for tea and cake in the Tearoom, children and families, workshop participants, students, daytrippers to visitors from across the world. It is of especial interest to craft makers and enthusiasts.

The Craft Galleries have works by major 20th century craft pioneers like Bernard Leach, Alison Britton and Elizabeth Fritsch, alongside pieces by prominent contemporary makers including Tadek Beutlich, Fred Baier and Susan Cutts. The museum stages regular craft exhibitions featuring some of the most innovative and exciting international makers.


Hove Museum works with artists and local community groups: metal railings by Jon Mills and pupils from Peter Gladwin Primary School; gallery seating by Beatriz Matud and Brunswick Older People's Project; lift interior panels by Duncan Hoosen and Care Co-ops and a panel highlighting the many sponsors and funders of the redevelopment project by Ian McKay and BHASVIC students.


Hove Museum is one of the most family friendly and accessible centres of learning and enjoyment in the South East. It is also a comprehensive local history resource, providing an essential link with the past, keeping history alive and relevant for the local community.


Hove and Shoreham were one of the early pioneers of the moving image and the museum includes work by film pioneers – James Williamson, Alfred Darling, George Albert Smith and Charles Urban

Exhibitions taking place this year -

Follies of Europe
24 January to 3 May 2009
A photographic exhibition, which traces the development of architectural extravaganzas in Europe from the Baroque to the ultra modern.

Deviants: Irreverence in Contemporary Craft
6 June to 13 September 2009
An exhibition that boldly questions ‘what does craft look like?’ Deviants challenges the current popular opinion of craft as merely decorative or functional and presents objects from the Crafts Council Collection that shatter that notion. The ‘deviant’ artists featured make objects that – through a subversive use of materials, and irreverent exploration of form, function and concept – depart markedly from the norm and challenge accepted craft aesthetics. This is an anthology of surprising objects that invite exploration into the presence of deviance in craft.