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Close up photograph of part of the Norman Arch, which was the entrances to the North Hall

Craig Barclay, MA MLitt PhD FSA 

Head of Museums, Galleries & Exhibitions

Telephone: +44(0)191 3345690 (email at c.p.barclay@durham.ac.uk )

Overview

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) and the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies.

Biography

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 Dr Barclay is responsible for the management of world-class collections (including 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, Dr Barclay 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, Dr Barclay 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.

Dr Barclay holds MA (1983) and MLitt (1988) degrees from the University of Aberdeen and a PhD (2009) from the University of York. He qualified as a Member of Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (MCIfA) in 1996, as an Associate of the Museums Association (AMA) in 2003, and as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) in 2024. Dr Barclay 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. 

Research Interests

  • Museums and Heritage Management
  • Asian Art & Archaeology
  • Numismatics
  • Ceramics
  • Civilian heroism in the 18th & 19th century
  • History of emergency aid organisations

Research Groups

  • Member, Centre for Visual Arts and Cultures (CVAC)
  • Member, Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies
  • Member, Durham UNESCO World Heritage Site Research & Dissemination Group

Research Projects

Dr Barclay has worked on a wide range of research-led projects both in the UK and overseas. Major recent international projects have included:

  • Co-curation of Kapilavastu Museum development project, Nepal (2019 & 2023)
  • Speaker at Longquan of the World International Seminar, Zheijiang Provincial Museum/Palace Museum, PRC (2019)
  • Participation in international planning workshop focussing on interpretation of the Buddha’s natal landscape, Nepal (2018)
  • Co-curation of major international exhibition Walking with the Buddha: Discovering the Natal Landscape of the Buddha, Taiwan (2018)
  • Co-curation of UNESCO-sponsored exhibition at Jaffna Fort, Sri Lanka (2018)
  • Co-curation of Resilience Within the Rubble exhibition at Kathmandu’s Earthquake Museum, Nepal (2018)
  • Co-leadership of International Museology workshop, Vietnam (2017)

Awarded Grants

  • 2024-29 HEMG Museums Funding (Oriental Museum) £475,000
  • 2024 DCMS/Wolfson (MacDonald supplement) £15,675
  • 2023 DCMS/Wolfson (MacDonald Gallery) £104,500
  • 2021 Whitehead Trust (Bio Sciences Conservation) £7,000
  • 2021 AHRC CapCo (Digitisation) £19,000
  • 2020 AHRC CapCo Fund (Research and storage development) £110,000
  • 2018 DCMS/Wolfson (Silk Road Gallery) £50,000
  • 2017-23 HEFCE/HEMG Museums Funding (Oriental Museum)  £487,000
  • 2014-15 DCMS/Wolfson (Egypt/Thacker Gallery) £97,250
  • 2013-14 DCMS/Wolfson (S. Asia) £83,250
  • 2013-14 Sir James Knott (Archaeology) £25,000
  • 2012-14 ACE Strategic (S. Asia) £114,000
  • 2012-13 Art Fund RENEW (Japanese Collections) £50,000
  • 2012-13 ACE Strategic (Egypt) £70,000
  • 2011-12 DCMS/Wolfson (Japan Gallery) £87,600
  • 2010-17 HEFCE Core Funding (Oriental Museum)  £480,000
  • 2010-11 DCMS DDF Funding (China)  £100,000
  • 2010-11 DCMS/Wolfson (Egypt/Wolfson Gallery)  £50,000
  • 2005-07 MLA Funding (Museums Conservation) £54,968
  • 2005-10 AHRC Core Funding (Oriental Museum)  £441,049
  • 2005-10 AHRC Core Funding (Museum of Archaeology) £70,798
  • 2005  Sasakawa Foundation (Nana Shiomi)  £2,000

Esteem Indicators

  • Museology Adviser to the Mohamed Ali Foundation (UK/Egypt)
  • Opening Speaker, 3rd International Exhibitions Curatorial Program, Chengdu, PRC (2025)
  • Professional Adviser on the Assalam Museum Development Project in Al Madina Almonawarah, Saudi Arabia (2016)
  • Member of International Jury for the design of the Museum of Faith in Mecca, Saudi Arabia (2015)
  • Recipient of Japanese Red Cross Order of Merit (Yuko-sho), Gold Class (2007)
  • Former DCMS Adviser on Treasure
  • Former Independent Assessor to DCMS National Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art
  • Former Commonwealth Association of Museums representative on the Commonwealth Consortium for Education
  • Former Member of Committee, National Museums Security Group
  • Former NE Regional Representative, Museums Association
  • Former NE Regional Representative, The Islamic Art and Material Culture Subject Specialist Network

Recent Publications (2015-2025)

Edited Volumes

  • Barclay, R., Ramsay, G., Miki, Y., Okubo, J. & Barclay, C. (eds.), Monogatari: the Art of Storytelling in Japanese Prints, (Friends of the Oriental Museum, Durham, 2022)
  • Coningham, R.A.E., Lin, R., Chang, R., Chien, M., Gong, M., Barclay, C., Lu, Y., Barclay, R., Tremblay, J. & Xian, Y. (eds.), Walking with the Buddha: Discovering the Natal Landscape of the Buddha, (FGS, Kaohsiung, 2018)

Chapters in Books

  • Barclay, R., Barnes, L., Ramsay, G., Barclay, C. & Armstrong, H., “‘Found in Store’: Working with Source Communities and Difficult Objects at Durham University’s Oriental Museum” in Bryant Davies, R. & Johnson-Williams, E.G. (eds.), Intersectional Encounters in the 19thC Archive: New Essays on Power and Discourse, (Bloomsbury Academic, London, 2022)
  • Barclay, C, “From Port Arthur to Tsushima: The War at Sea, 1904-1905”, in Barclay, R., Ramsay, G., Miki, Y., Okubo, J. & Barclay, C. (eds.), Monogatari: The Art of Storytelling in Japanese Prints, (Friends of the Oriental Museum, Durham, 2022)
  • Barclay, C. & Barclay, R., “‘Not the Footballer’: Malcolm MacDonald and the Oriental Museum”, MacDonald, M. and Shaw, N. (ed.), The Pleasures and Pains of Collecting, (Friends of the Oriental Museum, Durham, 2018)
  • Barclay, C. & Barclay, R., “‘Filling the Gaps’: Reconsidering the Contribution of Henry, Earl Percy, to the Alnwick Castle Collection of Egyptian Antiquities”, in Doyen, F., Preys, R. & Quertinmont, A., (eds), Sur le Chemin du Mouseion d’Alexandrie. Études Offertes à Marie-Cécile Bruwier, (CENIM, Montpellier, 2018)
  • Barclay C., “Our Heroes of To-day’: The Royal Humane Society and the Creation of Heroes in Victorian Britain”, in Wendt, S. (ed.), Extraordinary Ordinariness: Everyday Heroism in the United States, Germany, and Britain, 1800-2015, (University of Chicago Press, 2017)

Conference Proceedings

  • Davis, C., Azeem, A., Barclay, R., and Barclay, C., “New Light on Marshall: Exploring the Archaeological Methods, Approaches and Perspectives of Sir John Marshall Through his Photographic Collection at Durham University”, in Discovery of Indus Valley Centenary: International Conference Abstracts, (Dept. of Archaeology, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, Chennai, 2025)
  • Barclay, C., “Curating Practices of Permanent Exhibitions at Durham University Oriental Museum” in Third Series of International Exhibitions Program (IECP 2025): Program Brochure, (Arts Exhibitions China, Chengdu, 2025)
  • Barclay, C., “Celadon Ware and Durham University's Oriental Museum”, Longquan of the World: Longquan Celadon and Globalization International Paper Collection, (Palace Museum, Beijing/Lonquan, 2021)
  • Barclay, C. & Barclay, R., “‘Walking with the Buddha through the Collections of Durham University”, Coningham, R. et al (eds), Walking with the Buddha: Discovering the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha, Workshop Handbook, (FGS, Taiwan, 2018)

Journal Articles

  • Barclay, C., “Redesigning the Royal Humane Society’s Medal, 1998-1999” LSARS Journal 111 (2024)
  • Barclay, C., “The Loss of the East Indiaman Kent”, LSARS Journal 107 (2023)
  • Barclay, C., “Agustin Olmedo and the Casiguran Earthquake, 1968”, LSARS Journal, 102 (2021)
  • Barclay, C., “Malcolm MacDonald and the Chinese Collections of the Oriental Museum, Durham”, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, (2020)
  • Barclay, C., “From the Archives: Case of resuscitation by His Imperial Highness the Emperor of Russia”, Royal Humane Society Annual Report (2020)
  • Coningham, R.A.E., Acharya, K.P., Barclay, C.P., Barclay, R., Davis, C.E., Graham, C., Hughes, P.N., Joshi, A., Kelly, L., Khanal, S., Kilic, A., Kinnaird, T., Kunwar, R.B., Kumar, A., Maskey, P.N., Lafortune-Bernard, A., Lewer, N., McCaughie, D., Mirnig, N., Roberts, A., Sarhosis, V., Schmidt, A., Simpson, I.A., Sparrow, T., Toll, D.G., Tully, B., Weise, K., Wilkinson, S., Wilson, A. 2019.” Reducing disaster risk to life and livelihoods by evaluating the seismic safety of Kathmandu’s historic urban infrastructure: enabling an interdisciplinary pilot”, Journal of the British Academy, 7(S2) (2019)

Reports

  • Barclay, C., “The Coins and Jetons”, in Evans, D.H. & Wastling, L.M. (eds.), Excavations at the Austin Friary, Hull, Yorkshire 1994 and 1999: Vol. 2.  The Fabric and Material Culture, SMA Monograph Vol 46 (Routledge/Society for Medieval Archaeology, 2026)
  • Barclay, C., “The Coins”, in Shakespeare, C., Clark, J., Garner-Lahire, J., Oram, R. and Toop, N. (eds.), Eilean Donan Castle, Exploring a Highland Icon: Archaeological Research Excavations 2009 to 2017, (Oxbow, Oxford, 2023)
  • Barclay, C., “Roman Coin List”, in Clark, J., Garner-Lahire, J. & Spall, C. (eds.), Lincoln Castle Revealed: The Story of a Norman Powerhouse and its Anglo-Saxon Precursor, (Oxbow, Oxford, 2021)
  • Barclay, C.P., “Coins” in J. Adams & R. Daniels (eds), Archaeological Excavations at Piercebridge, County Durham, 2017, (Tees Archaeology, 2017)
  • Barclay, C. “The Coins” in Garner-Lahire, J. (ed.), Excavations at the Minster Library, York 1997, (BAR, 2016)
  • Barclay, C. and Millett, M., “The Coins from the Burnby Road Excavation” in Halkon, P., Millett, M. and Woodhouse (eds.), H., Hayton, East Yorkshire: Archaeological Studies of the Iron Age and Roman Landscapes 1, (Leeds, 2015)

Reviews

  • Barclay, C., Review of Bankhead, G., Pilgrim Souvenirs, Devotional and other Objects of Faith: Late Medieval to Modern Finds from the River Wear, Durham in City of Durham Trust Bulletin (Spring 2026)
  • Barclay, C., Review of Lin, J.C.S. & Li, X., China’s First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors in Journal of the British Association for Chinese Studies, 8.2 (2018)
  • Barclay, C. & Barclay, R., Review of Lau, S. & De Lucy, J. (eds.), Chinese Labour Corps: Photographs from the WJ Hawkings Collection in Journal of the British Association for Chinese Studies, 8.2 (2018)
  • Barclay, C., Review of Williams, I., Created in Canton: Chinese Export Watercolours on Pith, in Journal of the British Association for Chinese Studies, 6 (2016)

Recent Supervision Students

  • Mr Sun Yu, PhD Candidate, Department of Archaeology (Human-bird hybrid Images in the Ancient Asia)