coronavirus hits museums: Van Gogh's sunflowers in quarantine

newsletter 15: March 2020

the sun is back out here in London, just in time for me to press send on this latest edition of my newsletter. so that's two wonderful gifts for your Friday 😜

museum news has been dominated by the coronavirus the past few days. get up to date on the biggest stories on the virus' impact below

and i'm thrilled to say my interviewee this week is the one and only Mar Dixon, who literally everyone in the museum world knows. if you don't, you should, so read on!

catch up: news

the (brilliant) Folkestone Triennial is back in 2020, and will feature Gilbert & George billboards and 19 other artists. The Art Newspaper

PUT YER TITIANS AWAY! the RA and Twitter have beef over breasts. The Sun

Van Gogh's Sunflowers is under coronavirus quarantine in Tokyo as the National Gallery's much hyped touring show is delayed. The Guardian

...meanwhile Paris' Louvre reopened after being shut down by staff worries over the virus outbreak. France24

...and in London, a Vietnamese curator was told their appearance at a London art fair would “create hesitation” because of the coronavirus. The Independent

triple Oscar-winner Sandy Powell got every A-list star you've ever heard of to sign her suit to raise money for Art Fund's latest appeal. Irish Times

instruments made from human remains will go show at the British Museum in consultation with Tibetan groups. The Guardian

...and the BM has also acquired "one of the most important bronze age finds of the last century". The Guardian

relatives of victims who died in the Grenfell Tower say they feel “totally disenfranchised” by Steve McQueen's latest project. The Art Newspaper

prince Harry and Lewis Hamilton open a new museum at the British home of Formula 1. Mailonline

Faces of a Queen at the Queen's House. Photo: @maxwellmuseums

weigh up: reviews

David Hockney: Drawing from Life at the National Portrait Gallery
"When it comes to wielding a pencil, an etching needle or just a felt pen, David Hockney has no rivals... His retrospective of a life of portrait drawing is the most dazzling display of his art I have ever seen." The Guardian

Faces of a Queen at the Queen's House
"The three Armada portraits of Elizabeth I make a remarkable threesome: almost the same, but not quite — a difference in the glance here, an older globe there, the third unhappily truncated. But whichever you choose, they are fabulously bombastic". Evening Standard

Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk at the V&A
"As well as showcasing some truly beautiful examples of traditional textile crafts, the exhibition is something of a love letter to the conservators and archivists of the V&A, the dedicated staff who toil behind the scenes." Culture Whisper

listen up: this week's interview

Mar Dixon's work in the world of museum social media has been a tour de force. She has created the world trending social media campaigns including #MuseumSelfie, #AskACurator, #MuseumWeek and #LoveTheatreDay, and has traveled all over the globe championing digital technology at some of the biggest museum and cultural conferences and events. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter.

how have you grown your museum hashtag empire?

With A LOT of help. I always say I might be the one coming up with the tags (and sometimes I'm asking for help on that) but it's the museums/galleries and public that get it going. In the beginning it was hard to convince people they were worth while but now everyone gets involved when they want.

what museums killed it on social media in the past year?

So many - it's hard to say. I always love Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, V&A Dundee, Natural History Museum London and Cincy Museum in the States.

negative aspects of social media, such as fake news and it’s affect on mental health, are in the spotlight more and more. how should museums respond to this?

Posting anything has been an issue and no matter how many times people look at the response, make sure it's on brand, make sure it's the right tone etc. There are going to be those keyboard warriors who will flip it - and provide misleading facts to their arguments.

Social Media Managers tend to stick together and support each other as much as possible but when you're talking as a museum you have to make rapid decisions which has lead to many getting social media fatigue. I would love for management to start taking this more seriously.

what new trends in museum social and digital will we see in the next few years?

I'm crossing all fingers that museums go back to being social and stop with all the marketing and scheduled information. Hopefully this will also stop all the burn out from social media managers who lost the spark when everything went so rigid.

Podcast, immersive, and fun are the next trends. I also feel people are going to be looking more for repatriation and using social media to highlight the cases.

you’ve been to museums all over the world. what’s been your favourite outside the UK?

Ouch - I have one child for a reason as I am not going to have a favorite. I respect and love so many museums but especially those that listen to their community and reflect what is best for their community. See Philbrook Museum as an example. But they are very lucky to have an awesome director that leads them in positive fun challenges.

Untitled, 1981 © Tom of Finland, Tom of Finland Foundation Collection

get up: what's new

here's the new and upcoming shows that you should be heading to asap:

• Edmund de Waal: library of exile at the British Museum - 2,000 books by writers in exile make up this new installation

• Aubrey Beardsley at Tate Britain - the largest exhibition of his (erotic and elegant) drawings for 50 years

• Tom of Finland: Love and Liberation at the House of Illustration - the UK’s first public exhibition dedicated solely to the gay cultural icon

• Alberto Giacometti: In search of lost works at the Giacometti Foundation, Paris - recreations of forgotten, lost, or destroyed sculptures by the Swiss sculptor

• Bharti Kher: A Consummate Joy at the Irish Museum of Modern Art - acclaimed British-Indian artist presents new and recent works

• Studio 54: Night Magic at Brooklyn Museum, New York - trace the radiant history of the most iconic nightclub of all time

last up: and finally

planning your 2020 trips? here are the 10 smaller European Capitals of Culture you may not have heard of, but should. The Guardian

thanks for reading. it takes time to put this together, so if you enjoy what you see, please consider sharing it with at least one museum-loving friend so even more people can see it. or subscribe below. BIG THANKS