National Museums Scotland has always been a museum of past and present. Contemporary collecting has been core to the development of the National Collections over the last two centuries.

Today, we collect objects to reflect key social, cultural, political, artistic and environmental shifts in the world around us. We also collect contemporary objects that reflect how the present continually reshapes our understandings of the past.


Collecting contemporary Scotland

Objects that reflect major shifts in Scotland during the 21st century, or change our understandings of the past, can tell inspiring stories, now and in the future.

We collect objects that document the impact of major social, cultural, political and environmental changes in Scotland. The emphasis is on collecting material to represent what is distinctive about Scotland today in a global context, mindful of the differences within and across the country. A strong focus is on objects embedded with a sense of place, and on objects which link to existing collections to demonstrate how the past continually shapes the present.

Related items

  1. Discover

    Gaelic-English roads signs: culture and language

    In this film, singer Anne Martin and Gaelic language specialist Eilidh Sgaimel discuss the impact of bilingual signs across the North-West region of Scotland.
  2. A close up of two wooden skis with made in scotland etched into the surface
    Discover

    Scotland's ski-maker

    Jamie Kunka is a self-taught ski-maker. Fusing tradition and innovation, he founded Lonely Mountain Skis in Birnam, Perthshire.
  3. A woman poses in a patterned shirt and striped trousers
    Discover

    Eunice Olumide, MBE: her story in objects

    Eunice reflects on her personal journey, and on feeling conflicted about accepting an award that celebrates the British Empire.
  4. A boat on an inlet of water pulls into a jetty where there is a white house. There are green hills in the background.
    Discover

    Community buyouts in the islands

    This film explores objects that document community buyouts in the islands of Eigg and Ulva.
  5. A white tea set of four cups and saucers, a teapot, and a serving plate
    Discover

    A porcelain tea set and the legacy of slavery in Scotland

    Collecting objects from the present allows us to develop new interpretations of difficult aspects of Scotland's past.
  6. Laura Scobie leans on a white surface. She is looking at a whisky bottle she holds with purple latex gloved hands. There are two other bottles on the table.
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    Collecting contemporary Scottish whisky

    Plenty of people collect whisky, but how many can say that they collect whisky for a museum? PhD student Laura Scobie has the enviable job of expanding our whisky collections. In this post, Laura explores the ways that whisky brands adopt…
  7. A woman standing at the entance of a snow tunnel on a mountain, looking out towards a river and mountains,
    Discover

    Snow Hunter: Collecting Scotland's vanishing ice

    What can patches of snow across Scotland tell us about the global environmental challenge?
  8. Light brown wooden desk shaped like a humanoid robot, with two blocky 'feet', a tall, curved centre, and two flat surfaces at the top.
    Discover

    Collecting Scottish constitutional politics

    Scottish politics is currently undergoing one of the most consequential and controversial periods in its modern history. Recently, important questions about the status of Scotland within a political union, the United Kingdom, have been…
  9. A large group of pots, mugs, jugs, and bowls in different styles on a grey background.
    Discover

    Joan Faithfull's Mull pottery

    What does it mean for an object to be ‘of’ a place? Joan Fathfull’s pottery in Tormore, Mull, became a fixture for visitors to the Inner Hebrides in the mid-20th century. Ailsa Hutton, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary History,…
  10. Gold signet ring with a gold fleur de lis on a shield backed by white rock and framed with diamonds.
    Discover

    Into the Hills: Digging for Scottish Gold

    It’s February 2020 and I’m in a Land Rover roaring up the side of Beinn Chuirn. Ben Lui is behind me, a waterfall tumbles hundreds of feet from above and to my right Cononish Glen stretches out below, disappearing into a grey wall of…

Collecting environmental change

The environment is a thread that runs through all of our contemporary collecting work.

We collect a range of material to document the changing environment and responses to it. For example, specimens, such as stranded whales, are collected and analysed to reveal important evidence of the impact of human activities on different species. By doing this cutting-edge research, our teams are uncovering hugely significant understandings of our activities are affecting the natural world and contributing to efforts to combat these.

We also collect cultural responses to environmental change, from protest art created by children to examples of renewable technologies to artistic works documenting the impact of fossil fuels.


Tartan today

Tartan is one of the most recognisable symbols of Scotland. With historical roots in the display culture of medieval Gaelic society, this living tradition has constantly evolved to suit the social and cultural landscapes of the moment.

Through our contemporary collecting programme, we have acquired a rich selection of material from the 21st century, extending our unrivalled historical collections into the present.

Covid collecting

We are collecting objects to represent the impact of and response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland and across the world.

The focus is on documenting this moment in time as we live through it, and to preserve a material record of the events and experiences of 2020 and 2021 for the future. Many years from now, these objects will tell people about how the pandemic reshaped our lives.  

Initially, we focused on collecting objects across six main themes: Public Health, Hospitals and Treatment; Politics; Economy; Tourism; Education; and Everyday Life. Subsequently, we’ve collected a diverse range of objects across all of our collections areas, from a rainbow-adorned beach pebble on a doorstep in Shetland to fish skin face masks from Alaska.