The reopening of The Burrell Collection after a five-year, £69m revamp, has provided a welcome shot in the arm to Glasgow's cultural scene following the difficulties posed by the pandemic.
The collection has been transformed into a modern, environmentally friendly museum which will be able to show more of the items Sir William Burrell devoted decades of his life to amassing.
With the museum now enjoying a 35% increase in gallery space, items that have not been seen for decades are now on show from Burrell's collection, which has been described as "one of the greatest gifts ever made to any city in the world."
With that in mind, we headed along to Pollok Park on the morning it reopened to the public to have a wander around and see for ourselves how the museum looks and feels following the big refurbishment...and we were left completely blown away.
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For a start, to say the newly revamped space is impressive is to sell it short, it's spectacular. What critics deemed a building 'not-fit-for purpose' pre-refurb has now been transformed into one befitting of the items on display across its 24 galleries.
Perhaps the first thing that jumps out are the amount of fantastic hands-on interactive displays that accompany items in the collection; displays that have, alongside the refit itself, helped catapult the museum firmly into the 21st century.
Speaking of displays, there's an awe-inspiring new video installation which charts Burrell and Lady Burrell's forays and meanderings through Glasgow - using actors - to its galleries and shipyards among other places, one which sets the tone for the full visit.
As for the collection, where else could you, in the space of a few metres, come face to face with Rodin's Call To Arms, a Babylonian head of a lion, a set of Highland warrior armour and the Granite head of the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet, all against the tree-lined backdrop of a beautiful city park? You'd be forgiven for thinking you were being consumed by some museum fever-dream.
If tapestries, carpets, or colourful Chinese pottery is your thing, you're in luck thanks to an incredible collection to marvel at, alongside stained glass windows illuminated by natural lighting and a fabulous collection of paintings such as Edgar Degas' stunning 'Red Ballet Skirts', Renoir's 'Lady With Auburn Hair' and James Whistler McNeill's 'A Side Canal, Venice'.
It's hard to pin it down, but the museum seems to have conjured up for itself a real European feel that is easy to navigate and makes intelligent use of the space, in a building that could easily feel at home within Madrid's Retiro never mind Pollok Park.
In a visit full of highlights - not least a fresh 'hiya' to Rodin's The Thinker - the pièce de résistance of the revamped museum may wall be found in the basement of all places, where visitors are met with a huge four screen video wall which provides an insight into the storage facility for the museum. Why is it so impressive? Wait to the end of the video and you'll see for yourself why.
The Burrell Collection's absence for the past five years might have not felt seismic in the grand scheme of things, given the fact we have so many fantastic cultural spaces to visit in the likes of the GoMA, Kelvingrove and the CCA to name a few.
That being said, The Burrell is back with a bang, and will no doubt elevate Glasgow's status as a cultural mecca. A Robin to Kelvingrove's Batman you could say - which is a fitting analogy for its exceptional location in one of Glasgow's finest parks.
The Burrell Collection is free to visit and is open Monday - Thursday and Saturday from 10am-5pm and Friday and Sunday from 11am-5pm.
