The World of Stonehenge, British Museum | 2021-2022

Designer: Phillip Tefft, Caroline Sjöholm, Bob de Graaf, Cristina Salvi, Mat Mason, Laurène Ciocco, Helen Schulte, Sadie Levy Gale, Ralph Appelbaum Associates, London, United Kingdom
Manufacturer: British Museum, London, United Kingdom

The UK’s first-ever major exhibition on Stonehenge at the British Museum brings together over 430 objects from across Europe in a landmark spectacle on the history and mystery of the famous monument.

Following the story of Britain and Europe from 4,000 to 1,000 BC, visitors learn about the restless and highly connected age of Stonehenge—a period of immense transformation and radical ideas that changed society forever. Featuring some of the most important objects unearthed in the Stonehenge landscape, alongside international loans, the objects offer important clues about the beliefs, rituals, and complex worldview of Neolithic people.

The design for “The World of Stonehenge” reveals the cyclical connections between people, landscapes, and the cosmos. Visitors arrive in a space suspended between darkness and light, announcing the dawning of the world of Stonehenge. Four key objects—each representing the sun in a unique way—reveal the connection between people, nature, and the heavens above.

With these as the core themes, the narrative then unfolds over six distinct sections. Some highlights include Working with Nature, which features a collection of stone axes from across Europe and the British Isles, presented against the largest wall graphic ever seen at the British Museum. In Seahenge, a remarkably preserved, 4,000-year-old timber circle creates a moment of revelation in the exhibition. In Under One Sky, visitors are immersed in a breathtaking canopy of stars, under which stunning gold jewelry and astonishing examples of early metalwork are spotlit to enhance their magical qualities.

From start to finish, each of the exhibition components, from the materials and colors to the graphics and audio-visual media, has been designed to capture a sense of the changing landscapes of the Stonehenge era.