Cats and the Festival of Brexit: your latest museum news
plus: Paris' Musée d'Orsay says sorry
Here’s your maxwell museums Friday briefing
Hello again! It’s been a hugely exciting week for me as you’ll find out at the very end of this email. But this week has also marked a wonderful milestone for this newsletter and the maxwell museums community: we’ve sailed past 500 subscribers! HURRAH! I am grateful to each and everyone of you for being here and I’m delighted at the speed at which we are growing as a museum-loving group. Please keep continuing to spread the word and let’s get the next 500 in!
This is your Friday briefing of all the latest museum news so get clicking below - some very bizarre stories this week. And keep an eye out for next week’s bumper edition of the newsletter as I have an interview you are absolutely going to love.
Speak again soon!
Incroyable. Paris' Musée d'Orsay says sorry for barring visitor in low-cut dress. BBC News
Pandemic Problems. Capital museum projects - brand new museums or those being redeveloped - are being majorly delayed across the UK because of coronavirus. And there’s a lot of them. Museums Association
Brexit Bids. The Festival of Brexit, er i mean, Festival UK 2022 (catchy), has revealed some early details by putting out a call for “daring, new and popular” ideas to bring us all together. this will either be ground-breaking, or naff as anything. BBC News
??? Mystery surrounds another new statue which has appeared overnight in Bristol city centre. Bristol Live
Let the memories live again. The royalties from Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Cats has been donated to save the Brontë sisters museum in Yorkshire. Something good’s come from it then. New York Times
Looking Ahead. The hugely anticipated Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in LA has announced its inaugural temporary exhibition will be a retrospective on Spirited Away animator Hayao Miyazaki. Variety
Some welcome cheer. A 2m-wide Cold War Steve collage celebrating the UK’s second biggest city can be seen for the first time next month as Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery reopens to the public. Express & Star
Even more welcome cheer. You can finally buy tickets to the British Museum’s big autumn shows on Tantra and Arctic. Time Out London
Here’s one for the millennial Brits reading (*waves*). Neil Buchanan, of Art Attack-fame, is forced to deny being Banksy. The Independent
Cold War Steve’s Benny’s Babbies goes on show in Birmingham from 7 October
and a bonus read
I love museums and I love travel and I’m all about bringing them together (including in this newsletter). So I’m DELIGHTED that I was able to do just that this week for National Geographic Traveller UK, an iconic brand and one of my favourite travel publications. Read my article for them on six of London’s best small museums and why you should visit them now.
i’ve been running this newsletter for nearly 2 years. if you’ve been enjoying what you read, why not buy me a digital coffee as a thank you? ☕️