Abu Dhabi’s Zayed National Museum | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Zayed National Museum | Photo credit: Foster and Partners
Zayed National Museum, one of the UAE’s most significant cultural megaprojects, is set to open this year. Four years in the making, art and culture enthusiasts will finally be able to walk through its doors in December 2025. If you’ve visited the Louvre Abu Dhabi, you may have seen the museum slowly taking shape in the background. The five striking steel structures represent the wings of a true regional icon, the falcon. The museum highlights falconry, as it’s an important part of the UAE’s heritage, and Sheikh Zayed himself was a great enthusiast and promoter of falconry. Historically, the Bedouin community relied on falcons to hunt for food in the harsh desert environment. Today, falconry is celebrated as the UAE’s most honoured traditional sport. Inside this architectural marvel, the museum will pay tribute to the inspiring story of the nation and its visionary founder, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
No date has been announced, but we do know it’s in December. It could most likely be on December 2, which is UAE National Day, but this is to be confirmed. Team What’s On will be keeping a close eye for any updates.
Grand Egyptian Museum | Giza, Egypt
An admirer of Egyptian art? Then you’ve likely heard about the highly anticipated opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). First announced in 1992, construction began in 2005 and was fully completed in 2023. Though initially slated to open earlier, the launch was delayed due to regional security concerns.
Inside, visitors will finally be able to view the complete treasure of King Tutankhamun displayed together for the first time since Howard Carter’s groundbreaking discovery in 1922. The collection includes over 5,000 artefacts, including the iconic gold death mask. A highlight of the experience will be a virtual tomb recreation that brings Carter’s discovery to life. Beyond King Tut, the museum will showcase over 100,000 artefacts, offering what many consider the ultimate pilgrimage for ancient history lovers.
Can’t wait to visit? The GEM Complex is currently offering limited access to certain areas ahead of the official opening. These include the Main Galleries, Grand Hall, Grand Staircase, commercial area, and exterior gardens. However, the Tutankhamun galleries and the Khufu’s Boats Museum will remain closed until the official launch.
As of now, the official opening is scheduled for November 1, 2025. That said, given past delays, it’s wise to wait until the date is firmly confirmed and tickets are released before booking flights or accommodation.
Dib International Contemporary Art Museum | Bangkok, Thailand
Dib International Contemporary Art Museum | Bangkok, Thailand | Photo credit: WHY Architecture
Set to open in December 2025, this will be Thailand’s first museum dedicated to international contemporary art. The museum will showcase the private collection of the Osathanugrah family, who are well-known for their legacy in Thai business, as well as their lineage of artists, philanthropists, and collectors. The vision for the museum came from the late Petch Osathanugrah, a celebrated collector of international contemporary works and masterpieces by Thai artists.
Although he sadly passed away in 2023, the dream has been brought to life by his son, Purat (Chang) Osathanugrah.
Located in downtown Bangkok, the museum occupies a repurposed 1980s steel warehouse. While much of the original industrial structure has been preserved, it now incorporates striking contemporary design elements. The second floor retains key architectural features, such as traditional Thai-Chinese window frames and ceilings. This balance between preservation and modernity reflects the museum’s name, Dib, a Thai word meaning “raw” or “natural state.”
Visitors can also enjoy a spacious central courtyard, an outdoor sculpture garden, and a cone-shaped mosaic-tiled gallery space called The Chapel, adding to the museum’s unique and immersive atmosphere.
National Museum of Photography | The Netherlands
National Museum of Photography in The Netherlands
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Imagine the stories waiting to be discovered in a museum that will house millions of photographs, each capturing a unique Dutch perspective on the world. With a mission to become the international platform for Dutch photography, the museum is dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and sharing the country’s photographic heritage in all its diversity.
Set within a historic nine-storey warehouse in Rotterdam’s docklands, the museum will be one of the largest photography collections in the world. How many, you ask? Over 6.5 million photographic images will be held in its archives.
Beyond its expansive exhibition spaces, the museum will feature a photography bookshop and library, an education centre, community areas, and if you need a break, a museum café and a rooftop restaurant offering panoramic views of the Rotterdam skyline.
An official opening date has yet to be announced, but anticipation is already building for what promises to be a landmark cultural destination.
New Museum expansion | New York, USA
A rendering of the New Museum Expansion
While it may not qualify as a brand-new museum opening, the seven-storey expansion of the New Museum of Contemporary Art on Manhattan’s Lower East Side will mark a major transformation. Designed by OMA and led by Rem Koolhaas, the expansion will nearly double the museum’s size, introducing a new restaurant and an expanded bookstore.
The development will also add dedicated spaces for artist residencies and public programmes, further cementing the museum’s role as a hub for experimental contemporary art. One architectural highlight is the atrium stairway, designed to offer sweeping views of the surrounding neighborhood and serve as a platform for innovative art installations.
According to the museum’s website, the expanded space is scheduled to open in fall 2025.
Leonardo da Vinci Museum of North America | Colorado, USA
Leonardo da Vinci Museum of North America | left: Digital Hart Media, right: Getty Images
Renaissance art lovers, get ready. North America’s first museum dedicated entirely to Leonardo da Vinci is opening this fall. While da Vinci is most famously associated with the Mona Lisa, he was a true polymath whose genius extended across art, science, engineering, and anatomy. Currently, there are only five Leonardo da Vinci museums worldwide; this new addition will bring the total to six and marks the first institution of its kind on the continent.
Drawing from da Vinci’s legendary sketchbooks, which contain over 13,000 drawings, the museum will offer interactive exhibitions and life-sized replicas of his inventions. These models are produced by the Artisans of Florence, a touring exhibition company closely affiliated with the Museo Leonardo da Vinci in Florence.
Whether you’re an art historian or simply curious about one of history’s greatest minds, this new museum promises a fascinating and immersive experience.
Dataland | Los Angeles, USA
Like it or not, AI is now woven into our daily lives, and often in ways we don’t even realise. From Siri and Alexa to ChatGPT and countless other tools, artificial intelligence is quietly shaping how we live, work, and communicate. Now, it’s making its mark on the world of art and culture, with AI-generated art stepping into the spotlight. And that evolution will take centre stage when DATALAND opens its doors in Los Angeles.
Housed within a 20,000-square-foot space, DATALAND will immerse visitors in a bold new world of evolving, interactive installations. Powered by an AI model trained on vast datasets from institutions like the Smithsonian, London’s Natural History Museum, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the experience will transform natural imagery into dynamic, sensory-rich “living paintings”, complete with soundscapes and even AI-generated scents. On social media, the project describes itself as a space “where human imagination meets the creative potential of machines.”
DATALAND is set to open in late 2025, promising a cultural experience unlike anything we’ve seen before.
