Courtauld Gallery to reopen
Plus: Protests planned for Museum of the Home
Today’s edition is presented with The C Word: The Conservators’ Podcast
Happy Friday, and welcome to the 23 new subscribers since the last edition. If you’re new in this parish, Friday is when I send my curated round-up of the latest news from the world of museums, galleries and art. Each edition cuts through the noise, ensuring you busy readers are informed and inspired.
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This week’s top story
The Museum of the Home in East London reopens tomorrow after a 3-year, £18 million expansion. But the biggest talking point is the decision (which was actually made last year) not to remove a statue of slave-trade-profiteer Sir Robert Geffrye from the Museum’s façade. Instead, it’s been given a new label adding further context. But the Telegraph report - with quotes - that the Museum’s own staff wanted the statue placed in a less prominent position, but the government made it clear it would block such a move. The Museum’s director told the paper it was “a very challenging situation.” The Telegraph
Why it matters
This relatively modest museum has become a flashpoint in the wider cultural debate. 70% of respondents to a public consultation on what to do with the Geffrye statue wanted it removed (and the Museum of the Home has a very strong relationship with its local community). But with their main financial backer - the government - making their “retain and explain” policy clear, and, as the FT highlight, the Museum’s recent “striking” appointment of Mercy Muroki to its board (she’s a columnist for the Sun, a presenter on the new GB News channel, and says she’s worried about “mob rule” and “ultra-woke ideas.”) there is a clear divide amongst the Museum’s stakeholders. With a campaign group organising a protest at the Museum for tomorrow’s opening day, it’s unlikely this issue will be going away.
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This week’s other news
London’s Courtauld Gallery announced it will reopen in November after a four-year refurbishment. There’ll be new galleries, new sponsors and new commissions. A highlight will be the LVMH Great Room, named after the luxury French conglomerate, to house the Impressionist art collection. The Art Newspaper
Bristol’s M Shed museum were forced to change their ticket booking system to overcome an attempt by a campaign group to stop people from visiting the new display of Edward Colston’s toppled statue. Bristol Live
A crowdfunding campaign’s been launched to create London’s first permanent venue dedicated to LGBTQ+ artists. It’ll be located in the new Greenwich Peninsula Design District and is the brainwave of charity Queercircle which counts Russell Tovey as a trustee. Wallpaper*
Euro 2020 kicks off today! But the National Football Museum in Manchester are looking back at when football last came home in Euro 1996, with a new photo exhibition on the iconic tournament. (It was 25 YEARS AGO. Feel old yet?) BBC News
A museum in the US has decided to create an entire archive of….. TV game shows! It’s just been launched at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York and will start acquiring objects like scripts, set designs, props and more. Will I ever visit? If the price is right. Variety
Those of you that prefer your games more of the video variety (see what I did there), are in luck too as Nintendo is creating its own museum. They’ll convert one of their old factories in Japan into the new attraction. ART News
The new Oscars Museum (or the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures to give it its full title) revealed it has overhauled galleries ahead of September’s grand opening, so as to make sure it acknowledges the flawed history of film. It’s also made more room for women and people of colour. Actress and Museum trustee Laura Dern said it’s time “to tell the truth about the history.” New York Times
The Director of the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester has issued an apology after the gallery uploaded a “one-sided” statement expressing its stance on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The Telegraph
Even the pigeons are desperate to see the exquisite 500-year-old Raphael tapestries currently on show in Madrid. Unfortunately the risk of droppings means they’re having to be deterred. The Guardian
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