The architect Rick Mather is celebrated for renovations of British museums and galleries that amounted to re-founding them, because with subtlety, refinement and, above all, respect for their traditions and collections, he made historic spaces work as modern institutions. His great imaginative gift was to take a dark or enclosed space and let in light and air.

Friends reunited

For the first time in almost 3000 years – a full size Bronze Age style sea-going boat has been launched in Britain. Slipping gracefully down a slipway today into Falmouth Harbour, Cornwall, the 15m-long vessel was then paddled by its 18 person crew for two 500m trial trips.

The exhibition

When the full history of British national museums in the 20th century is written, the late 1960s and '70s may seem rather a golden age.

Not to be confused with Ridley Scott's alien thriller Prometheus, another reinterpretation of the Greek myth arrives in Greenwich next week. Prometheus Awakes will be a piece of theatre on a grand scale - providing the weather stays fine.

Previously unpublished photographs reveal the treacherous journey to Russia undertaken by Allied naval and merchant ships during World War Two

Shops across London closed their doors early today amid fears of further rioting.

The end of an era – this was the reaction on hearing of the unexpected death of Honor Frost: the end of the heroic age of pioneering aqualung diving and its impact on archaeology.

Tens of millions of pounds held in the reserve accounts of Britain's major museums – much of it donated by private donations and bequests – is frozen by the Treasury, despite the arts being in the midst of the biggest funding crisis in a generation.