Major street protests at gallery director's sacking
PLUS: Why are the arts losing out to sports?
This edition also features: Stunning new Stonehenge discovery | £14m Wiltshire Museum move | Italy selling historic sites | Royal Armouries new gallery
Happy Friday
I’m back from my summer break — so I’m back bringing you all the news you need to know!
What did I do with my time off? Well there are not many things that can take me fully away from museums, but the Olympic Games is one of them. I travelled to Paris to have an incredible week watching incredible athletes, while soaking up the (really) incredible Parisian atmosphere. It was buzzing!
But in my post-Games blues, I spotted this piece in the Times today: We cut arts funding but spent £4m on each Olympic medal. Is that fair?
Essentially it says it cost £3.78 million for each of the 65 medals Team GB won in Paris. And that with less money to go around these days, the balance in funding between arts and sports is unfair. I’ll let you read the full piece to make up your own mind, but I don’t agree with it.
I think the reaction should be: what is sport doing right that the arts aren’t?
Why did 9.1m people in the UK tune in LIVE to watch Keely Hodgkinson win her stunning 800m gold? Why were there record Olympic viewing figures in the USA, despite the action not being anywhere near prime time? Why did Paris 2024 drive 215m people to NBC’s Youtube channel (showing it’s not simply a gift of linear TV scheduling — v 20th century.)
Why does (superhuman) Leon Marchand have 1.5m Instagram followers and (icon) Katy Ledecky have 900k? The V&A has 1.8m. The Science Museum has 287k. Why is arts coverage in national newspapers shrinking, why are sports documentaries dropping weekly on Netflix, why are brands lining up to sponsor breakaway, untested new leagues when established institutions can’t get their most mainstream exhibitions sponsored?
The short answer to all of the above is simply because sport as a whole is better at making an instant connection with people, at telling a simple story, at giving people what they want. The arts are actually not that good at engaging with people outside of core audiences. The arts should connect universally, but it’s sport that is winning that race.
For example, why did the National Lottery — whose cash is pretty much the main reason Britain is now a sporting powerhouse — plaster billboards with Team GB medal successes during the games to thank lottery players for supporting them. Is it because it’s commercial good sense and that its millions of players are proud to spend their money supporting our athletes? They feel part of it. They feel something full stop!
Let’s be clear, I say all this because I want arts to thrive like our sporting heroes have.
But the arts world must not look at sport begrudgingly. You cannot be complacent and just expect attention, or money, or that people will care. You have to prove your value at every turn. It might not be ideal, but it’s the reality. And it’s even more true in 2024 in our noisy, splintered, siloed attention-based ecosystem.
To improve the finances of the arts, some soul searching might be a good first step. The second might be to pick up the phone to some athletes and start getting some tips.
— maxwell
I bring you news and opinion from the world of museums, galleries, art and heritage each and every week. A great way to thank me is to make a donation here.
Need To Know
Protests over gallery sacking
Thousands of demonstrators have been on the streets of Slovakia’s capital to protest against the government’s hostility to the country’s cultural organisations, including the sacking of Alexandra Kusá, the director of the Slovak National Gallery.
The dismissal — along with the director of the Slovak National Theatre — was made by hard-right culture minister Martina Šimkovičová. She justified their firings by citing "political activism" as well as their ‘priority’ for foreign over Slovak performers within the cultural institutions. Kusá responded by saying the allegations against her were "vague and mostly fabricated."
Since her appointment, Šimkovičová has resumed cultural links with Moscow which were suspended after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, dismissed the board of the Slovak Fund for the Promotion of the Arts, and fired the heads of the National Library and children’s museum Bibiana.
360 professionals from the international arts community have called for Kusá’s reinstatement. Six former Slovak ministers of culture have also issued a joint statement condemning Šimkovičová. (Read more)
Plans for major museum move
A major £14m museum project to relocate the home of Britain’s best Bronze Age archaeology collection — and to save a derelict 19th century building in the process — is about to take a step forward.
Wiltshire Museum wants to move into a much-loved, Grade II* listed local landmark which is at risk of being lost due to neglect, and transform it into a world class cultural and community destination. If successful, work on the building will begin during 2026, with the aim to open it in 2030.
Planning permission to move the museum and its collections — which span over 6,000 years — will be submitted imminently. David Dawson, director of Wiltshire Museum said: "I'm looking forward to the challenge of fundraising...this project will be great for Devizes and Wiltshire."
A major public fundraising appeal will be launched *IF* a major commitment from The National Lottery Heritage Fund is secured next year. (Read more)
Stunning Stonehenge discovery
“Jaw-dropping” new research has overturned nearly a century of knowledge about Stonehenge, after it’s been revealed that the six-tonne Altar Stone at the heart of the ancient monument came from Scotland rather than Wales as previously thought.
The mostly-buried central stone was long thought to have been brought from somewhere in Wales, just as a separate group of Stonehenge’s bluestones are now known to have come from Pembrokeshire. Yet the new study — which involved experts from Curtin University in Perth, Australia; the University of Adelaide; Aberystwyth University; and UCL — reveals it was dragged or floated to Stonehenge from the very north-east corner of Scotland, a distance of at least 466 miles (about 750km).
It means that the ancient monument was built with stones from all parts of Great Britain. “It completely rewrites the relationships between the Neolithic populations of the whole of the British Isles,” one of the scientists told the Guardian.
Of course anyone who visited the Stonehenge exhibition at the British Museum in 2022 will know the interconnectedness of this time — with its major loans from Germany and Orkney. (Read more)
News from the UK
Art acquired 🎨 | Gifts left in the wills of four people have allowed the National Gallery to buy a £2m painting by the Victorian painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema. After the Audience (1879), was purchased from the Pre-Raphaelite collector Isobel Goldsmith in a sale negotiated by Christie’s auction house. The Gallery’s director paid tribute to the four donors whose legacy gifts enabled them “to buy this outstanding picture.” (Read more)
Royal redevelopment ⚔️ | The Royal Armouries in Leeds has announced it will create a major new gallery for temporary exhibitions. Opening in June 2025, it will accommodate 100,000 additional visitors to the museum and its the first step of a major redevelopment plan to mark 700 years since its founding. £250,000 in new funding has come from the Wolfson Foundation and Garfield Weston Foundation. The first exhibition in the gallery will examine ancient gladiators. (Read more)
‘Hidden’ hit 🇨🇳 | Last year’s China’s Hidden Century exhibition was the most-visited paid-for exhibition at the British Museum for seven years. 237,000 visitors saw the exhibition, the highest since 2016's Sunken Cities blockbuster. Also last year, Luxury and power: Persia to Greece welcomed 84,000 visitors, while only 47,000 saw Burma to Myanmar. The figures were released in the museum’s annual report which also revealed they loaned more than 1,900 objects to more than 130 venues across the UK in 2023/24. (Read more)
Sussex sounds👂 | Brand new paintings by artist Maggi Hambling are to be displayed at Pallant House Gallery this winter in a new exhibition by the artist. The gold on black works respond to the Sussex landscape and the transformative impact of sound. Some are inspired by the songs of Leonard Cohen, PJ Harvey and Will Young. Maggi Hambling: Nightingale Night will also show pieces based on a night spent in the Sussex woodland in 2023. (Read more)
Rare restoration ⛪️ | For the first time in 20 years, conservators are getting up close to Queen Anne’s 18th century redecoration of Hampton Court Palace’s Chapel Royal, which was masterminded by Sir Christopher Wren. This is thanks to a new 10m scaffold erected in the Chapel — and remarkably, visitors can view the conservation efforts as they take place in real-time. Treatment Conservation Manager Mika Takami said it was “a once in a generation chance” to work on these heritage assets. (Read more)
News from around the world
Italy 🇮🇹 | 33 historic national sites are to be sold off to try and pay off the country’s ballooning public debt. A vast 16th-century castle built the Holy Roman Emperor is one site to be flogged in an attempt to raise millions of euros. All the sites are owned or managed by the defence ministry. But Italy’s version of the National Trust has hit out at the plans, saying “depriving the public of a jewel like the Charles V castle should not be debatable.” (Read more)
USA 🇺🇸 | The $75 million expansion of the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles now has an opening date — and a star object. The huge new wing will open on 17 November, and it’ll display a huge new dinosaur. Named Gnatalie, the five-ton, 75-foot-long long-necked fossil is the only dinosaur found on the planet whose bones are green. A huge programme of celebrations are planned to mark the opening of the museum’s new building. (Read more)
Germany 🇩🇪 | The first-ever museum exhibition dedicated to the world-renowned sports brand Nike is to open at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein. Opening next month, the groundbreaking show will explore Nike’s evolution from a grassroots startup to a global phenomenon over five decades. Most items are coming from the Nike Archives and rare items will include prototypes of the Waffle, Air Force One and Shox sneakers, as well as original designs for shoes and apparel. (Read more)
USA 🇺🇸 | The Rothko Chapel — a non-denominational chapel in Houston, Texas and which features 14 murals by the renowned artists — is closed indefinitely after sustaining extensive damage in last month’s Hurricane Beryl. The storm caused water damage, and three of Rothko’s paintings were damaged too. Beryl became the earliest-ever Category 5 storm in the Atlantic basin. The extent of the affects and repair costs are still being determined. (Read more)
Best of the rest
Brum jury | Birmingham residents have begun receiving invites to join a citizens’ jury to shape the city’s museums. It’s described as a UK first, and bosses promise the jury’s recommendations will have a direct impact on what they do. (More)
Dome damage | An appeal to raise an emergency £10,000 to save one of Brighton Pavilion’s domes at risk of collapse due to rot has smashed its target. Managers Brighton Museums are now targeting other repairs. £23,000 has been raised. (More)
Falling down | A 1,100-year-old brick pyramid in Mexico has partially collapsed due to heavy rain. The federal heritage body attributed the collapse in part to the use of outdated materials and techniques during prior restoration efforts. (More)
Greenwich grievance | A 35 storey tower block planned for the River Thames has been scaled back due to the threat it posed to the UNESCO Heritage Site of Maritime Greenwich. So *checks notes* TWO floors have been removed. Big whoop. (More)
Ancients uncovered | A 2,000-year-old Roman mosaic has been discovered during excavations at a site of the ancient city Wroxeter in Shropshire. English Heritage’s Win Scutt said “we never suspected we would find a beautiful and intact mosaic.” (More)
👀 Last week’s most clicked news story | French police investigating abuse targeting Olympic opening ceremony DJ over Da Vinci ‘Last Supper’ tableau
📊 Last week’s poll results | Should children be allowed to be as noisy as they like in a museum or gallery?
👍 👍 Yes, at any time 25% | 👍 Yes, but only at dedicated times 49% | 👎 No, noisy kids are too disruptive 8% | 👎👎 NO. Kids AND adults should be quiet 18%
— Still time to treat me to a summer beer. 🍻 Donate to me and this newsletter here.
The museum sector also has to look at itself in terms of its own inclusiveness in its ability to make people feel welcome. I am beginning to rename going to an exhibition in the U.K. as “posh people have discovered colonialism” Too many exhibitions in museums are patronising, badly told, badly thought out narratives by people who appeared to
find out yesterday the Empire and white male supremacy wasn’t always a good thing.
The recent Post Impressionist exhibition (for all its many great features) at the National Gallery in London and the disastrous rehang at the Hunterian Art Gallery in Glasgow, a place whose intended audience appears to be people with a joint degrees in critical theory and art history but the IQ of inebriated toddlers, are two examples I have recently witnessed.
The sector would do well to visit Germany and see how difficult stories are told while
not assuming the audience is as shocked as the curators, nor as stupid as many U.K. curators seem to believe.
This reminds me a complaint on Nextdoor, "Why are they fixing the sidewalk when there are potholes in the street?"
It's simple: there are different budgets for different agencies. There isn't one pot of money where the government constantly has to ask itself, "Let's see: shall we give this money to the Olympics program, or the National Gallery?"
This way they don't have to constantly re-litigate "whose mission is more important?" They each have a pot of money to spend, and it's theirs to spend on their mission. The relative importance is already decided when the money is allocated annually.