The Museum

In the British Museum's Great Court a spectacular 18 foot image of the Hindu goddess Durga is being crafted from straw, clay and paint. This programme follows curator Sona Datta through the construction to the climax of the Durga Puja festival when the goddess is immersed in the River Thames - the first time such an event has ever happened in the UK. Each year the BM takes thousands of objects to hundreds of cities, so the public outside London can get up close and personal with star artifacts, and curators can try out new ideas. Jill Cook is in Norwich, encouraging visitors to break the great Museum taboo, and handle her million year old prehistoric hand-axes. Irving Finkel visits his touring exhibition in Leicester where the famous Lewis Chessmen are on display next to Ludo, Mancala and Monopoly.