
A big opportunity to feel small: colossal creatures descending on UK in giant exhibition
- Immersive showcase of giant prehistoric animals opens at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery on 2 August before moving to Scotland in January 2026
- Visitors will encounter awe-inspiring creatures that roamed the Earth after the extinction of the dinosaurs
- Exhibition also highlights need to protect current natural giants such as elephants and whales.
To coincide with World Environment Day, Birmingham Museums and National Museums Scotland are delighted to announce the UK debut of Giants, a spectacular touring exhibition developed by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and toured by Nomad Exhibitions.
Press images are available here.
This immersive showcase of giant prehistoric animals will open at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery on 2 August 2025, before travelling to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh in January 2026.
Giants invites visitors on a journey through time, from 66 million years ago to the present day, to encounter the awe-inspiring creatures that roamed the Earth after the extinction of the dinosaurs.
The exhibition features life-sized 3D models and nearly complete skeletons, including the formidable Otodus megalodon, the mightiest shark of all time, the Mammuthus primigenius or woolly mammoth, weighing in at between six and eight tons with long thick fur and imposing tusks and Gigantopithecus blacki, an Asian primate comparable in size to three orangutans.
Interactive elements allow visitors of all ages to step into the shoes of palaeontologists and biologists, engaging with the scientific processes behind fossil discovery and reconstruction.
Immersive projections transport audiences into the natural habitats of these colossal beings, providing context to their existence and eventual extinction.
New giants have emerged since, such as elephants, rhinoceroses and whales, but they are now too under threat of extinction.
The exhibition also serves as a poignant reminder of nature’s fragility and the urgent need to protect these animals for future generations.
The announcement of the exhibition’s arrival coincides with World Environment Day on 5 June, which this year is focused on ending plastic pollution.
Zak Mensah and Sara Wajid, co-chief executives of Birmingham Museums Trust, said:
“We are delighted to welcome the Giants exhibition to Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. This inspiring installation not only captures the imagination with its monumental scale but also delivers a vital message about sustainability and our shared responsibility to protect the planet.
“Birmingham Museums is committed to using storytelling to engage communities with the challenges of our time and Giants does exactly that in a powerful and accessible way.”
Dr Nick Fraser, Keeper of Natural Sciences at National Museums Scotland, said:
“We’re really looking forward to bringing Giants to Scotland next year. Popular attention on prehistoric life tends to focus either on dinosaurs or on our own earliest human ancestors, which leaves a relatively neglected gap of around 60 million years of natural history.
“Giants is a striking invitation to us all to think about that period, to see how nature adapts over time, and also to reflect on the ways in which current human activity is denying that time to today’s endangered giants.”
Exhibition details:
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery: Opening August 2025
National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh: 31 January – 14 September 2026
Notes to editors
1. About Birmingham Museums Trust
Birmingham Museums Trust is an independent charitable trust (no 1147014) formed in 2012 to care for over one million objects and nine museums. We share the city’s diverse collections, stories and spaces with the people of Birmingham and beyond thanks to regular funding from Birmingham City Council and Arts Council England, as well as the kind support of many individuals, companies and charitable trusts.
More information on Birmingham Museums Trust can be found at https://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/about.
2. About National Museums Scotland
National Museums Scotland is one of the leading museum groups in the UK and Europe and it looks after collections of national and international importance. The organisation provides loans, partnerships, research and training in Scotland and internationally. Our individual museums are the National Museum of Scotland, the National Museum of Flight, the National Museum of Rural Life and the National War Museum. The National Museums Collection Centre in Edinburgh houses conservation and research facilities as well as collections not currently on display.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/NationalMuseumsScotland
Instagram: @NationalMuseumsScotland
Bheireadh Oifis nam Meadhanan eadar-theangachadh Gàidhlig den bhrath-naidheachd seachad do bhuidhinn mheadhanan bharantaichte. Cuiribh fios do dh'Oifis nam Meadhanan airson bruidhinn air cinn-latha freagarrach.
3. About Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences has been entrusted with four major missions: scientific research into natural sciences, scientific expertise at the service of public authorities, conservation and management of scientific heritage and collections, and dissemination of scientific knowledge in society.
Its museum offers 16,000 m² of permanent galleries, temporary exhibition rooms and educational workshops. Its Dinosaur Gallery is world famous and the largest in Europe. It plays an active role in the promotion and dissemination of scientific culture, both within and beyond its walls, in particular through travelling exhibitions.
https://www.naturalsciences.be/
Instagram: @natural.sciences.belgium
4. About Nomad Exhibitions
Nomad Exhibitions is an award-winning UK-based company that specialises in the design, production, and management of engaging and experiential temporary, touring, and permanent interpretive exhibitions for museums and cultural venues worldwide. With their experienced team of design and construction experts, they work in partnership with museums and cultural venues to create unique concepts, design outstanding exhibitions, and bring these projects to life through expert construction and installation management and market-leading sustainability practices.
Instagram: @nomadexhibitions