Haunch moves to roomier gallery

A commercial art gallery is moving into one of the biggest vacant museum spaces in central London.

Haunch of Venison has taken a three-year lease on what was for 30 years the British Museum's ethnographical departments - the Museum of Mankind in Burlington Gardens.

When the departments returned to Bloomsbury, the Royal Academy, which is adjacent, needed a new tenant for the 21,500sq ft space. Haunch of Venison will open its first exhibition, Mythologies, in its new space tomorrow as its gallery near Oxford Street begins an 18-month refurbishment.

The gallery will run two spaces simultaneously for the second half of its tenancy but co-founder Harry Blain said of the new gallery: "It's just the most spectacular space an almost unheard-of opportunity."

Mythologies, which runs until 25 April, will show about 40 artists including Damien Hirst, Bill Viola and Tony Cragg.