Exhibitions

Running until mid-March

On Monday 22 November 1869, 150 years ago, the Cutty Sark, one of the world’s most famous historic ships, was launched in Scotland. Our new exhibition celebrates the Cutty Sark’s time moored in the town.

Until Tuesday 1 September

This exhibition of paintings of traditional boats of Falmouth showcases the work of artist James Dodds. It includes several new commissions including a Falmouth Pilot cutter which will be the largest painting James has ever undertaken.

Running until September

This show focuses on the ancestry of several prominent Porthleven families, linked to the construction of the dock, boatbuilding, fishing and net-making.

Among the 62 passengers and crew from Cornwall who were travelling on the White Star liner RMS TITANIC on that fateful night of 14th April 1912 in the North Atlantic were the West family.

Our major exhibition TITANIC STORIES examines the stories of the Titanic’s momentous sinking on 15 April 1912, re-appraising many of the myths, controversies and assumptions that still linger around one of the most well-known historic events of the 20th century.

Opens October

To the Sea again is the latest exhibition by well-known Cornish artist and writer Robert Jones. Inspired by his childhood growing up on the wild and rugged North Coast of Cornwall and his time spent as a fishing skipper, Jones captures the dramatic nature of the sea in his paintings.

Torre Abbey 3 March – 3 June 2018 In another exciting first for the Museum, the groundbreaking and award winning exhibition Tattoo: British Tattoo Art Revealed began a three year tour of museums and galleries in the UK opening at Torre Abbey in March 2018, where it was on show for three months before moving…

Hevva! Hevva! This horn looks quite ordinary, but it played an incredibly special role in Cornish history. It belongs to a period where the pilchard industry was one of the keystones of the Cornish economy. The seasonal pilchard fishery supported communities across the county and provided a key export of fish to Mediterranean countries, as…

“Pilchards! Whose bodies yield the fragrant oil and make the London lamps at midnight smile!” Peter Pindar 1783. Cornwall once relied upon the sea for nearly everything: food, transport, trade, defence and contact with the outside world. Fishing was always a vital part of the Cornish way of life and in the 18th and 19th…