Our History & Purpose
Learn more about the the UK's only museum dedicated to fans & fan making.
Since 1991...
The Fan Museum is the only organisation of its kind devoted entirely to the multifaceted history, culture and artistry of the fan. The Museum is small-scale, Independent, and accredited by Arts Council England. Situated within the World Heritage Site of Greenwich, London, a pair of beautifully restored Grade II* Listed early Georgian period townhouses accommodate the Museum and its collections.
The Fan Museum owes its existence to the vision of its two Founders, Hélène Alexander MBE (a world authority on fans) and her late husband, ‘Dickie’ A.V Alexander OBE. The Alexanders strived to create a museum unlike any other: one which maintains a special atmosphere redolent of times past and where visitors of all ages and backgrounds are similarly welcomed like members of an extended family. During the past thirty years the Museum and its small team of curatorial staff has staged more than eighty fan-themed exhibitions covering a bewildering variety of fan-related topics – World cultures, Classical history & Art Deco to name but a few – and welcomed in excess of 300,000 visitors.
Our Purpose
Our primary purpose is to promote awareness and appreciation of the diverse history, culture and artistry of fans and fan making. This we achieve mainly by collecting, conserving, documenting, studying, exhibiting and making fans. We use our collections, specialist knowledge and heritage buildings to enlighten, entertain and inspire broad ranging audiences.
The Story of The Fan Museum
The fascinating story of how The Fan Museum came to fruition is retold by one of the Founders, Hélène Alexander in the below film, released on the occasion of the Museum’s twenty fifth anniversary in 2016.
