Bristol museum displays toppled Colston statue
Plus: Pompidou Centre heads to the USA
Hasn’t the arrival of summer in the UK been the tonic we all need? I hope you managed to catch some rays in this week’s sunshine.
In my last newsletter I told you how I’d received my first covid vaccine at the Science Museum (I’m a Pfizer Chief now). Well where I go, royalty follows. Days later HRH the Duchess of Cambridge did exactly the same. Perhaps she should become the Science Museum’s royal patron too so she can have a clean sweep of all the South Kensington museums.
Before we get into this week’s news, I just want to offer a big congratulations and hearty shout-out to the Black Country Living Museum who this week hit 1 million followers on TikTok. By my count, they are the very first UK museum to do so. Their videos are absolutely brilliant and you should all be following them. (If you’re not, rectify that here!) And if you’re a museum debating whether you should sign up to TikTok, YOU SHOULD! I’ve written about the reasons why for the news website Blooloop.
Happy reading.
This week’s top story
Edward Colston’s toppled statue goes back on public display today for the first time since it was removed from its plinth a year ago. The bronze memorial to the 17th Century slave merchant was thrown into the harbour on 7 June in the wake of George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis, and can now be seen on its side and still covered in graffiti in Bristol’s M Shed museum. BBC News
Why it matters
The scenes of the statue being toppled became one of the most potent symbols of the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020. Since then, debate has been heated about what to do with Colston’s legacy, and other areas of contested heritage. (‘Heated’ is perhaps a massive understatement). The arguments aren’t going to go away anytime soon, but the statue’s new temporary display does seem to have struck the right tone, and is genuinely opening up a calm debate with the city’s residents over what to do with it in the long term. One writer in the Telegraph today proclaimed that “Bristol Museums have got it right”. Expect M Shed’s example to strengthen calls for museums to be at the heart of taking these debates over public statues forward.
All the content in this newsletter is provided to you for free. Why not buy me a digital coffee if you enjoyed it?
This week’s other news
The Centre Pompidou is heading stateside! The Parisian art institution today announced its first outpost in the USA which will open in Jersey City. France 24
Yet in Barcelona, the city’s council firmly rejected a proposal to build an outpost of St Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum in its port area. They said the scheme will provide little value to local residents. The Guardian
The Times this week reported that the British Museum’s new Thomas Becket exhibition has (rather fittingly) become a new destination for pilgrims - and they’ve allegedly been planting kisses on the glass cases of the most revered objects. The Times
A forest of 400 trees has been unveiled at the courtyard of Somerset House for this year’s London Design Biennale. The ‘Forest for Change’ is the work of brilliant artist Es Devlin and it hopes to encourage debate around themes of climate change, inequality and post-pandemic recovery. Wallpaper*
Missed out on tickets to Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms at Tate Modern? Don’t worry! You can now experience a Kusama-themed afternoon tea at the plush Rosewood London instead! The menu fuses Japanese flavours with traditional French pastry and patisserie, and is held in - wait for it - the hotel’s Mirror Room! Time Out London
Anish Kapoor, Tilda Swinton and, er, Mick Jagger have signed an open letter urging authorities to protect the city of Venice from the blight of massive cruise ships. The appeal was triggered after it was learned that the first post-lockdown cruise ship, MSC Orchestra, would sail past St Mark’s Square on Saturday, despite an announcement by the government in late March banning cruise ships from the historic centre. The Guardian
A seascape that raised the renown of JMW Turner as a great maritime artist goes on public display in New York today for the first time in more than 75 years. The Times
It’s been a busy few days for Tate Collective, the young people’s membership group from Tate. Last week they unveiled five stunning new artworks made by five emerging London artists to the streets around Tate Modern (in partnership with Better Bankside). And yesterday they collaborated with Brit Award-winning star Celeste for a new music video inspired by Salvador Dalí’s Metamorphasis of Narcissus. It’s a shame I’m far too old to join. FAD Magazine Watch the video below.
All the content in this newsletter is provided to you for free. Why not buy me a digital coffee if you enjoyed it?