International Museum Week | What would a world without museums look like? A world with less curiosity, understanding, purpose and knowledge, to start with. Whether they hold paintings, archaeological artefacts, innovative technologies or eclectic pieces, museums are an exercise in humanity’s curiosity, culture, failures and accomplishments—all conveniently in a single space. A single exhibit can transport us across vast distances in time and space, challenge our perspectives, and inspire creativity.
So it's not surprising that one of the top things any curious traveller does on their holiday is to stop in a museum or two. From science and technology to artsy and quirky, here are six new museums in 2025 that you should queue up for.
Situated in Haikou, this museum is set to open in 2025 with exhibitions highlighting a range of scientific disciplines—everything from marine ecosystems to aerospace technology. The 5,00,000 sq ft space will be home to a planetarium, a giant-screen theatre and a spiralling ramp (similar to these gorgeous staircases around the world) that resembles a twisting DNA strand. Museum-goers can use the ramp to work their way down from the top of the building, stopping off at galleries on each of its five above-ground stories (and one below-ground floor), where they’ll find displays dedicated to technology, life sciences and the sea.
Design firm MAD Architects is constructing the building out of fibre-reinforced plastic. Its cloud-like, curved façade is set among the port’s public plazas, wetlands and rainforest, making it appear almost otherworldly.
Address: Haikou, Hainan, China
Partially opened for visitors last year, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) will be officially inaugurated on July 6, 2025. Located about two km from the Giza pyramid complex, the museum hosts over 1,00,000 artefacts from ancient Egyptian civilisation, including the complete Tutankhamun collection. The GEM will also host permanent exhibition galleries, temporary exhibitions, special exhibitions, a children’s museum, and virtual and large format screens with a total floor area of 32,000 sq m.
Admission is currently limited to the Main Galleries, Grand Hall, Grand Staircase, commercial area, and exterior gardens. Access to the Tutankhamun galleries and Khufu's Boats Museum is restricted until the official opening.
Address: Cairo - Alexandria Desert Rd, Kafr Nassar, Al Haram, Giza Governorate, Egypt
The Museum of BBQ is the first-of-its-kind in the world that is focused on all aspects of barbecue. Located in the Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri, visitors will follow two storytelling trails through the interactive exhibits that span 4,223 sq ft. They’ll first learn about the elements of barbecue (meat, rub/spice, wood, fire, smoke and sauce) to see how a pit master turns their favourite cut of meat into something delicious.
Then, they’ll travel through the main American barbecue regions (the Carolinas, Memphis, Texas and Kansas City) to discover how each place has developed its own flavour. There’s even a pit stop where visitors can play in an oversized crock of “barbecued beans.”
Home to over 100 local BBQ restaurants and countless competitions of all sizes, the Kansas City metro gets even more fired up for two weeks every year as the host of the “American Royal World Series of Barbecue,” known as the world’s biggest barbecue contest. It attracts thousands of attendees and more than 500 barbecue teams from across the globe.
Address: 2450 Grand Blvd Suite 231, Kansas City, MO 64108, United States
Naoshima has been a top destination for art lovers for years, drawing people from across Japan and beyond to its quiet corner of the Seto Inland Sea. The island's blend of contemporary art, modern architecture and peaceful scenery has made it something of a cultural retreat. Now, a new gallery is set to boost even more tourism to the region.
Designed by minimalist Japanese master Tadao Andō, the Naoshima New Museum of Art continues the Naoshima tradition of merging art with nature. The museum's first exhibition, “From the Origin to the Future,” brings together 12 artists and collectives from around Asia. Their work reflects a wide range of perspectives and includes everything from large installations and videos to murals and mixed-media pieces. Many of the works touch on themes like memory, migration, cultural identity and how people adapt through change.
Address: 3299-73 Naoshima-cho, Kagawa-gun, Kagawa, Japan
Nearly 20 years in the making, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is finally getting ready to open its doors. With construction to be completed this year on Saadiyat Island, the satellite art museum will be the largest of the four Guggenheims worldwide (the others are in Spain, Italy and New York City), approximately 12 times the size of its Manhattan counterpart.
Visitors will be treated to a collection of global modern and contemporary art from circa 1960 onward, assembled from scratch and in a range of artistic media, with a focus on works from West Asia, North Africa and South Asia. The space will be home to permanent and special exhibition galleries; a conservation laboratory; a centre for contemporary Arab, Islamic and Middle Eastern culture; and a children’s education facility.
Address: Al Saadiyat Island - Cultural District - Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates
The world’s first museum of artificial intelligence (AI) art and a digital ecosystem dedicated to data visualisation and AI-based creativity (such as the Ghibli artworks that took the world by storm) is set to open in late 2025.
DATALAND is a 20,000 sq ft space that will bring together pioneers in diverse fields, including the arts, science, AI research and cutting-edge technology under the artistic leadership of Refik Anadol Studio. The Frank Gehry-designed development in Downtown Los Angeles combines online access and learning platforms, acts as a public repository for large-scale, nature-focused data sets, and will build a comprehensive collection of AI art.
