Sharon Ament is leading London Museum through a once-in-a-generation move to Smithfield, using a new home to rethink who a museum about the city is really for.
Before museums, Sharon Ament worked in wildlife conservation and public engagement.
That early career was fundamentally about helping people connect with something larger than themselves – whether wildlife, science or place.
It took her to London Zoo and later the Natural History Museum, where she worked across visitor experience and public engagement.
In 2012, she became Director of the Museum of London.
Then came a decision that would reshape the institution itself.
Instead of continuing in the museum’s long-standing home, Ament led plans to move it to Smithfield, inside the former general and poultry markets.
London Museum opens there from November 2026.
The move is about considerably more than changing buildings. It creates the opportunity to ask again what a museum about London should feel like, who should see themselves inside it and how visible it should be within the everyday life of the city.
Ament has spent her career helping institutions connect with the public.
This time, she moved the institution.
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