30 year British Museum overhaul
Talk of 2053's 300th anniversary implies scale of Masterplan
— In partnership with HdK
This edition also features: Museums ditch Twitter | Rembrandt restoration begins | Christmas comes to Natural History Museum
Happy Friday.
This week ‘museum twitter’ joined Bluesky. A critical mass was reached where workers in the sector took a punt on the new(ish) social platform, now seen as a superior product to Twitter, after — shall we say — ‘the Elon years.’
Why now? I think for museum professionals it was probably the Guardian’s announcement that it will no longer post on Twitter — sorry — X. Fear of being the odd one out was removed after such a big beast — and one that’s so well-read in the museum world — finally abandoned it. And Bluesky has been the natural alternative for some time.
With Twitter’s demise as a valuable platform for museums and galleries, I think this is also the death ‘2010s Twitter mindset’.
Since its beginnings, social has been used as a broadcast channel, pinging out messages about “being delighted to announce” and advertising events that no one wanted to buy tickets too (hence them being posted on Twitter).
Museums and their failings on social was covered excellently in this newsletter’s 250 Take column by Adam Koszary in the summer. But essentially, the past 15 years was defined by museum social media being shaped by a top-down ethos from bosses who didn’t understand it or didn’t care.
Things have broadly evolved though, especially in recent years. Museums (that can afford it) employ full social media teams. Digital communications are valued part of projects. Skills in social are coveted.
The output has changed too. Institutions are smashing it by abandoning the playbooks of the first generation. Just look at the National Gallery on Threads or the V&A East on Instagram. Although, it is head-scratching that it took until this summer for museums to figure out how to use TikTok. (At least they finally ate).
And with Bluesky, while it might look and feel like 2010s Twitter, it isn’t. Marketing-speak will go unanswered here.
So — finally — this week’s shift feels like the outdated legacy of this first era is finally over. Twitter might not be dead, but museums and galleries have the cut the chord, and with it, hopefully severed enduring bad habits of a different time.
The 2010s mindset can still be found in some nooks and crannies. There’s still too many “thrilled to announces” on LinkedIn. Instagram accounts aimed at museum patrons are still run (badly) by fundraisers who don’t understand the platform. Vertical video is still an alien concept to many orgs.
But the bottom line is that the whole sector should now fully move forward into museum socials 2.0. Professional, platform-specific, taken seriously. Maybe it’ll even be given its own content budget (lol, ok, we’re not in a parallel universe).
I’m here for it. And I’m now on Bluesky as maxwellmuseums, of course.
— maxwell
— In partnership with HdK
Futureproof your cultural website
Websites seem to age faster than ever before. And it’s usually painfully obvious when a museum or gallery has a creaking site.
I get it though. Maintaining them can be expensive, right?
“Not necessarily,” Hans de Kretser from arts and culture digital agency HdK told me. “Yes a very substantial refresh is going to take up a lot of budget, but there’s lots of small, regular updates you can make, usually for no cost at all. Plus, there are steps you can take to futureproof your site and to extend its life.”
These actions are gold dust for organisations with small budgets. And Hans and HdK will be offering them up for FREE in a webinar later this month.
“In a time where maintaining a website can feel overwhelming, we’re here to help make it feel easy,” he adds.
Keep your website’s youthful glow by joining Hans and HdK at the free online session on 21 November.
Need To Know
£1 BILLION acquisition
An astonishing haul of Chinese ceramics worth £1 BILLION has been donated to the British Museum — making it the highest-value object donation to a UK museum in history.
The 1,700 pieces dating from the third to the 20th century have been given permanently by the trustees of the Sir Percival David Foundation. They’d been on loan to the museum since 2009. It means the British Museum now holds one of the most important collections of Chinese ceramics outside the Chinese-speaking world.
Chair of the British Museum George Osborne is thrilled by the donation. “Wow” he said. “It’s a real vote of confidence in our future... as we embark on the most significant cultural redevelopment of the Museum ever undertaken.”
Artist Edmund de Waal said “encountering the Percival David Collection has been the foundational experience for generations of potters, scholars, students. I first saw these beautiful pots when I was sixteen and they have stayed with me over the decades.” (Read more)
Masterplan begins — for 30 years??
A giant crane will imminently be erected in the forecourt of the British Museum as the first visible sign that its major overhaul has begun, Chair George Osborne has revealed. Speaking at the annual Trustee’s dinner, he said the crane will be there to help build the new energy centre that will power the museum in a more environmentally-friendly way.
As work on the much-delayed Masterplan begins, for the first time the museum has began to hint at the project’s likely timeframe. Also in a speech at the dinner, Director Nicholas Cullinan spoke publicly of ‘BM300’ and the hope they can “truly fulfil our founding mission” by the time of the museum’s 300th anniversary in 2053. It was something he repeated in an interview with the FT today. He also said in the interview their plans would see the museum’s “visual identity” completely overhauled.
Osborne also spoke of the upcoming new entrance pavilion for the venue. He admitted that “if the Trustees and the VIPs” had had to use the museum’s “ugly white security tent” they would have “been scrapped years ago.”
Major Rembrandt restoration begins
The biggest and most significant restoration work ever to be carried out on one of the world’s most famous paintings — Rembrandt’s The Night Watch — has begun in Amsterdam. And visitors are able to watch it happen in real-time.
Varnish is being painstakingly stripped off the work by a team of restorers as part of work to return it to its former glory. After five years of research, the entire conservation operation is taking place in a specially designed glass chamber so the visitors to the Rijksmuseum can see it.
The old varnish was added in 1975. Its removal will be “a unique experience for the public to follow this process up close” according to the museum’s Director Taco Dibbits. The work will also significantly change the look of the painting. The restorers will use a special micro-fibre cloth soaked in a solvent and held against the surface for 60 seconds, allowing the varnish to be absorbed. (Read more + watch below)
News from the UK
Perry’s Grandeur 💫 | Grayson Perry’s 2025 exhibition at the Wallace Collection will be the biggest contemporary art exhibition ever staged at the museum. The fact was revealed as more details were announced about Delusions of Grandeur, including that it will open on Perry’s actual 65th birthday. It’s sure to be a hit, especially as Pitzhanger Manor told me this week their current (smaller) Perry show has “far exceeded” visitor numbers for any of their post-covid exhibitions. (Read more)
“Pristine” figurine ⚔️ | The long-awaited Gladiator II film is released today, and English Heritage have capitalised by revealing a rare example of ancient gladiator memorabilia is to go on display next year. The “pristine” piece is a knife handle of a gladiator figurine and was found in the River Tyne in Northumberland, showing how the celebrity status of the fighters in Rome extended to the far edges of the empire. (Read more)
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Egypt’s crafts 🏛 | Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum has revealed it will stage the first exhibition to consider ancient Egypt through the lens of its craftspeople. The Makers of Ancient Egypt — opening in October — will look at how they created iconic items such as the gold mask of Tutankhamun. Star global loans are promised, including from the Neues Museum in Berlin. Could the bust of Nefertiti be coming to Britain? (we can dream) (Read more)
Risky buildings ⚠️ | 155 historic buildings and sites have been added to the list of Britain’s most at-risk heritage. The world’s first railway station in County Durham, and Hurst Castle — a Tudor fortress by the sea in Hampshire — are among the sites now included in Historic England’s annual register. But, 124 have been removed, including one of London’s “magnificent seven” cemeteries — Abney Park — which has been restored into an urban woodland park. (Read more)
It’s Christmasssss 🦖 | It’s officially Christmas season, as Kew Gardens have opened their famous festive lights, and the Natural History Museum’s animatronic T. rex has been given a Xmas jumper. The dino-sweater features Fern the Diplodocus, the museum’s new dinosaur sculpture in its newly-unveiled gardens, and it’s been made by Manchester based social enterprise and ethical factory notjust. It’s on display now. An edition of the jumper has also been made for humans and you can buy it. (Read more)
News from around the world
Italy 🇮🇹 | From today, the number of people who can visit Pompeii will be capped at 20,000 a day amid concerns about overtourism. Timeslots and personalised tickets will also be introduced. The measures come after a record-breaking summer season with over 4 million visits, and more than 36,000 on the busiest day. Bosses said the moves were necessary to protect the site, and that they wanted a “sustainable, pleasant” experience for visitors. (Read more)
Belgium 🇧🇪 | Contemporary art museum MIMA in Brussels is to close for good. The “brutal” move is blamed on emergency roadworks outside the venue which has cut attendance by over 50%, and which prevented them hosting revenue-generating events. MIMA co-founder Raphaël Cruyt said “it is difficult to accept." Opened in 2016, it has attracted 400,000 visitors to 17 exhibitions. It’ll close when the current Vhils exhibition comes to an end. (Read more)
Italy 🇮🇹 | Police have uncovered one of the largest art forgery networks in recent times, and have seized 2,100 fake works attributed to huge names like Picasso and Warhol. Most though were attributed to Banksy — and two whole Banksy exhibitions were shut down after all the works on show were revealed as counterfeit. 38 people have been placed under investigation. The potential market value of the seized works was €250 million. (Read more)
Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 | Sotheby’s is expanding to Riyadh and will host the country’s very first commercial auction next year. “A sleeping giant that has woken up” is how Edward Gibbs, chairman of Sotheby’s Middle East and India described the country’s growing importance in the global art market. Sotheby’s Saudi buyers have increased 74% between 2019 and 2023. Last year, nearly 50 per cent of its Saudi bidders were under the age of 40. (Read more)
Best of the rest
2026 predictions | Already there are hints of big exhibitions coming in 2026. The V&A is looking for a curator for a show that features “Byzantine art.” Similarly the British Museum wants a curator for a “Hawaiʻi Exhibition.” (More)
Bryant’s sympathy | UK culture minister Chris Bryant has told the sector he is “painfully aware” of the financial crisis facing civic museums and galleries. Speaking at the Museums Association conference in Leeds, he said “we cannot carry on indefinitely as we are.” (More)
Wrexham vote | The public are being asked to decide the name of Wrexham’s new museum. The options are ‘Tŷ Hanes’ or ‘Histordy.’ The new venue will open in 2026, merging two existing museums. (More)
Bible campaign | Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has praised a campaign to raise £90,000 in 90 days to bring a 700-year-old Bible back to Salisbury Cathedral where it was written. The Bible is one of only six attributed to the Sarum Master, a renowned medieval artist (More)
Giant loss | Frank Auerbach — the British-German painter who fled Nazi Germany as a child and became a giant of 20th century art — has died aged 93. The Telegraph remembered him as "an artist of remarkable intensity.” (More)
Paging Oasis! | Dynamic ticket pricing is the hot debate in museums right now. And in the latest Arts & Culture podcast, five experts actually debate its merits — and lack of. Get their insights on balancing revenue with inclusivity. (Listen here)*
*This is sponsored
👀 Last week’s most clicked news story | Capital museum projects face uncertainty as government plans £100m cut
📊 Last week’s poll results | Does the architecture ENHANCE or DETRACT from your experience of visiting a museum or gallery?
— Enhance — it's all part of it 72%
— Detract — let's look at art please 0%
— Depends — I judge case by case 28%
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