Bosses at one of Scotland’s most popular museums are at the centre of a ‘woke’ row after removing mummies from display because of a lack of ‘informed consent from the deceased individual’.
Glasgow Life, an arm’s-length charitable organisation funded by SNP-run Glasgow City Council, said a mummified male head was among the items removed at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
The changes came to light after a visitor posted an image on social media platform X of a sign at the museum stating: ‘We have removed human remains from this display as a mark of respect.’
Glasgow Life chiefs said ‘human remains’ would no longer be on show as this ‘reflects contemporary museum practice’.
Condemning the move, Scottish Tory culture spokesman Murdo Fraser said: ‘This is woke madness at its most ridiculous.
‘Even Egyptian mummies are now being cancelled by a society so obsessed with modern sensibilities that it has lost all sense of perspective.
‘People visit museums to learn about ancient civilisations, not to see history hidden away because it fails to meet today’s ideological standards.
Mummy issues: there will be no human remains on display at the Egyptian display
The Egyptian Room was a popular attraction for visitors at the Glasgow museum
A sign telling visitors that mummified remains had been removed from view 'as a mark of respect'
‘Glasgow’s museums should be showcasing our history, not quietly removing it to appease the latest trend in political correctness.’
The items removed include a painted coffin containing the remains of the priest Nekht, a mummified male head, a mummified right hand recovered from the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt, and a mummified right foot.
Museum visitor Jonny McFarlane tweeted: ‘My daughter has a book on the ancient Egyptians and has been quite animated by it so we took her to Kelvingrove Museum to see their mummy.
‘Except, it’s no longer there.
‘All “human remains” gone with the following sign up in place of exhibits that have been there for years.’
Glasgow Life said it was ‘currently working to remove archaeological human remains from the History Discovery Centre and the Scotland’s Early People gallery at Kelvingrove Museum’.
It said: ‘Once we have completed work at Kelvingrove Museum, work will begin to remove a coffin and mummified human remains on display in St Mungo Museum.’
Kelvingrove, which opened in 1901 and attracts more than 1.3 million visitors a year, has long featured Egyptian mummies and other remains among the star attractions of its Ancient Egypt galleries.
The mummies have been among the biggest draws in museums, offering visitors a glimpse into a civilisation which flourished more than 2,000 years ago.
Ancient Egyptians preserved their dead through mummification because they believed the body needed to remain intact for the afterlife.
A mummified head which was formerly on display at Kelvingrove
Mummies have been removed from display at the Kelvingrove because of a 'lack of consent from the deceased individual'
For generations, museums have displayed mummies and other human remains alongside artefacts such as coffins, jewellery and funerary objects to help explain ancient Egyptian culture and beliefs.
Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education and a former adviser to the Policy Unit at 10 Downing Street, said: ‘This is more virtue-signalling, woke nonsense.
‘It represents the triumph of educational stupidity and ignorance.
‘It is not possible to seek permission from those who died thousands of years ago.
‘Visitors to Scottish museums, children in particular, deserve better - they are being short-changed.
‘Museum authorities should take a lead from the great museums in Egypt.
‘On the advice of religious authorities, they display mummies and human remains in a respectful way.
‘Museums in Scotland should ditch their pretence of moral superiority and do the same.’
It is not the first woke row to engulf the council-funded arts scene in the city.
In 2009, the Pope condemned a ‘disgusting’ taxpayer-funded exhibition run by Culture and Sport Glasgow – Glasgow Life’s predecessor - in which visitors are urged to deface the Bible.
A Glasgow Life spokesman said: ‘The removal of human remains from display at Glasgow Life museums reflects contemporary museum practice.
‘The International Council of Museums’ revised Code of Ethics, published in June 2026, states that museums “should uphold the inherent dignity of human remains and promote respect for their significance”.
‘The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Afrikan Reparations 2025 report, “Laying Ancestors to Rest”, also raises ethical concerns about the display of ancient Egyptian human remains due to the consistent disregard of the potential wishes of the ancestors and the intention of the communities that originally laid them to rest.
‘Glasgow Life Museums’ draft Human Remains Policy proposes that human remains should only be displayed where there is documented and informed consent from the deceased individual or, in appropriate circumstances, their descendants.
‘In the absence of such consent, we believe removing ancient Egyptian human remains from display is more respectful to the deceased individuals.’