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Page last updated at 16:35 GMT, Friday, 6 November 2009

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In pictures: New Ashmolean Museum

Art from Islamic world

Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford, the UK's oldest public museum, is reopening after undergoing a £61m refit designed to display the 'old' against a contemporary backdrop.

Ashmolean Museum exterior

The museum opened in 1683 and takes its name from Elias Ashmole, an aficionado of antiquities who studied at the University of Oxford.

Award-winning architect Rick Mather has designed the new building, replacing all but the Grade I listed Cockerell structure.

Japan

The Heritage Lottery Fund contributed a £15m grant to the project which created 39 new galleries, including four temporary exhibition galleries, a new education centre and conservation studios.

Themed galleries on the lower ground floor explore the connections between objects and activities common to different cultures.

The museum was originally conceived to represent the world in microcosm, crossing cultures, times and disciplines.

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