Craig Barclay

Assistant Director and Head of Museums, Galleries & Exhibitions; Library & Collections

Dr Craig Barclay leads Durham University’s Museums, Galleries and Exhibitions Team, which is responsible for the care, development, interpretation, and display of the University’s world-class collections. He is a member of the Centre for Visual Arts and Cultures (CVAC), the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies and Durham and Durham University’s new Centre for Heritage.

Having previously held posts at Aberdeen University, the Royal Mint Museum, the Yorkshire Museum and Hull & East Riding Museum, Craig Barclay joined Durham University in 2005 to lead its museums. Today he has responsibility for the management of the Oriental Museum, Museum of Archaeology, and Durham Castle Museum. He is also responsible for the University’s Western Art collections, Biological Science collections and for supporting the management of the diverse heritage collections held by Durham’s colleges.

As Head of Museums, Galleries & Exhibitions Craig is responsible for the management of world-class collections (including two ACE Designated Collections) of art and archaeology, as well as the delivery of a major exhibitions programme both in the UK and overseas. In addition, he and his museums team are heavily involved in the delivery of teaching across multiple courses, departments and faculties as well as the support and development of cutting-edge research. Internationally, Craig has contributed to the planning of major museum development projects in West Asia and museums capacity building initiatives in SE Asia, as well as collaborating with Durham’s UNESCO Chair on multiple projects in Nepal, Sri Lanka and East Asia.

Craig was until 2020 Regional Representative for the Islamic Art and Material Culture Subject Specialist Network (UK) and has served as the Commonwealth Association of Museums’ representative on the Commonwealth Consortium for Education.

Read more about Craig and his work here.