The Clash's Smashed Bass to Anchor New London Museum

The London Museum will open its relocated and reimagined venue on November 28, featuring Paul Simonon's smashed Fender Precision Bass from The Clash's 1979 album cover. The £437 million ($578 million) development moved the museum from London Wall to Farringdon, renovating a Victorian livestock market designed by Horace Jones. The museum holds seven million items, including Banksy's Piranhas (2025), Emmeline Pankhurst's hunger strike medal, Charles Dickens's chair, Queen Victoria's mourning dress, Tom Daley's diving trunks, and a chunk of the Whitechapel Fatberg. The Bloomberg Collection of 14,000 Roman artifacts, donated in 2025, will anchor early history displays. Programming includes free afternoon tea parties, events by Punchdrunk, and monthly parties by Fabric nightclub. Director Sharon Ament stated the goal is to be "the best museum for London" by embodying the city itself. Mayor Sadiq Khan called the opening a "hugely significant moment" backed by one of the largest cultural investments in the capital.