Centuries of lace making in Normandy are celebrated in the new Fashion and Lace Museum located in Calais. The building itself meshes a contemporary facade with existing industrial space. On the contemporary side a curved glass wall takes inspiration from the properties of lace. Inside, the exhibition halls are dedicated to hand craft and fashion. The full story is available at Wallpaper*.

Designed by Merkx+Girod, the interiors and new exhibition of the Hermitage Museum’s Amsterdam satellite space opened to the public this week. The exhibition halls and especially the display of garments are magnificent. Well fitting of the heritage of the collection and the environment itself. Head to Dezeen for a full look.

More direct gallery shots after the jump.

Following 10-days archaeological work in Point Barrow a few years back a firm interest in the Artic began to take hold. Much of this has centered, for me, on Whaling. However, the North, and especially the North West Passage generates obsessive interest far beyond the search for Bow Head’s.

The National Maritime Museum in Greenwhich explores the arctic seas in The North West Passage: An Arctic Obsession. Drawing on stories of endurance, exploration, and tragedy the exhibition brings together a variety of object and primary sources to investigate just how important the North West Passage was for 19th-century explorers. In addition, information about the relationships between the explorers and the native Inuit people is brought to the fore.

On view at the National Maritime Museum until January, 2010.

Sample objects follow.

Furniture museums are almost always excellent. The combined stories of craft, taste, style, mode, influence, and more that a piece of furniture tells makes each piece ripe for cultural exploration. DesignBoom has published a wealth of photographs from a past trip to the Korean Furniture Museum today. The museum holds 1,500 objects and aims to provide a complete look at Korean antique furniture. Well worth skipping through the many images provided

A few teasers after the jump.

Celebrating 275 years of brotherhood, the National Heritage Museum has mounted The Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts. The exhibition explores the history of Freemasonry in the Western Hemisphere through objects and artifacts collected over three centuries. The people, places, and events that form the Masonic story are pulled together by the selected material. The Bee has a full review of the exhibition which includes a concise primer on the brotherhood.

Select objects from the exhibition follow.

Curated by Melissa Buchanan the new 20th-Century Design Gallery at Milwaukee Art Museum is now open to the public. A permanent exhibition, the instillation highlights the Museum’s fine collection and offers a general trajectory of 20th-century design.

More images after the jump.

Work, War & Wilderness: Pennsylvania WPA Posters, 1937-1943 showcases a collection of rare designs from the Works Progress Administration (WPA). On view until August 10, 2009, at the Michener Art Museum, the exhibition stems from the collection of New York collector Laurence Miller. A full review of the show can be found at The Bee.

The James A. Michener Museum is located at 138 S. Pine Street, Doylestown, PA.

Opening tomorrow at Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum Skin and Bones: Tattoos in the Life of the American Sailor gives a nuanced view of the connections of sailor and tattoo in American culture. The comprehensive exhibition features historic documents, flash art, and biographies from some of the most important sailor tattooists. Included are looks into tattoo life on the Bowery, and life at liberty in Hawaii.

Skin and Bones runs to January 3, 2010.

New York designer Ji Lee has launched an admirable project to collect and archive photographs of logos that incorporate the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Lee rightly believes this project is vital, as many of the small business won’t last forever. A site is up, wtclogo.com, where visitors can add to the growing collection.

Projects like this are important for collecting and preserving American ephemera and visual culture. Worth exploring too, there are some good finds. (via Dezeen).

Lincoln In Memory explores public perceptions about Lincoln through the advertising, film, folk art, and the media. The exhibition includes posters and art from the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum’s substantial collection. Located in Harrogate, TN, the museum is the nations oldest collecting institution dedicated to Lincoln and his legacy.

Lincoln In Memory runs to September 2009. More from the exhibition follows.