Millions pledged to save museums
Relief as "lifeline" from UK government announced
— In partnership with ATS
Friday 21 February 2025 | news from museums, galleries, heritage and art, including:
Major row over Arts Council Ireland
Free entry banished from Coventry museum
Netherlands will return over 100 Benin Bronzes
Happy Friday.
On Monday, a brand new museum will open in Prague. I was lucky enough to visit for a preview last month.
The museum is dedicated to the work and life of Alphonse Mucha, who was one of the most prominent artists of the Art Nouveau movement but an artist whose renown has waxed and waned in both life and death.
Mucha’s story is intertwined with the history of 20th century Europe. That his legacy — and his artwork — survived fascism and communism is remarkable. But the new museum and the foundation that runs it want to make the global art world discover him afresh. Mucha was, after all, called “the greatest decorative artist in the world” in 1904.
The new museum is modest in size. This isn’t like near-namesake Edvard Munch and his 13 storey venue in Oslo. There are 90 original works across three galleries here.
At least for now. Because the museum sits in a restored wing of the Savarin Palace complex, which is undergoing massive redevelopment. British architect Thomas Heatherwick is transforming the whole site (at a cost of €400 million), and the ambition is to create a new underground gallery to house Mucha’s most famous masterpiece, the 20-canvas The Slav Epic (1912-26). It can currently seen in nearby Moravia, but the saga of trying to get it to Prague is a 100-year epic in itself.
While the new museum is interesting, for me it came second to another experience on my trip: a visit to the Mucha family’s private home. One word: wow.
On a tour with John Mucha, Alphonse’s Grandson, I was genuinely overwhelmed with awe. Packed with Mucha’s paintings and belongings — a sculpture by friend Rodin, a vanity desk once owned by Mozart, a bed where the supreme commander of the Catholic armies in the Thirty Years War was assassinated (!) — it was a window into Czech history. It was where Mucha — and what he means to the Czech people — really came to life.
Pointing to a full set of some of the world’s first encyclopedias (again: wow), John casually recalled how he’d looked up entries for American cities with President George W Bush and Laura Bush on their own tour of the house. As the volumes predated the founding of the USA, unsurprisingly there was very little. Apparently ‘Dubya’ was mesmerised.
A confession: I wasn’t familiar with Mucha when I first headed to Heathrow. But when I returned, my eyes had been opened. That’s the power of objects, museums, sites of history, and a good tour guide I guess (which I coincidently began last week’s newsletter delving into too). They can open all our eyes in wonder — from Presidents to lowly peeps like me. And that’s why we love them, right?
— maxwell
— In partnership with ATS
Visitor guides with royal approval
Some news: ATS have been granted a Royal Warrant by The King.
That means that if you visit any of the Royal Households and use the multimedia guides, they’re brought to you by appointment of His Majesty.
ATS have supplied the Royal Household with innovative and engaging digital guide services for two decades. And these services have been used by millions, because Britain’s royal venues are some of the nation’s most renowned visitor attractions.
Spencer Clark, ATS Managing Director, told me it’s “incredibly hard to put into words for your readers how proud we are with this honour.”
He praised his entire team and said it was “a real seal of approval for the huge passion we bring to every project — from royal palaces, to museums, galleries and more beyond.”
Top stories 🚨
Huge cash injection for UK museums
A massive range of new museum funding announced by the UK government has been met with relief across the sector.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy announced a £270m cash injection for culture yesterday. This includes £120m to England’s national museums for essential works to their estates, plus a 5% uplift in their state funding. £25m will go to support non-national museums to undertake vital infrastructure projects and tackle urgent maintenance backlogs. Conservation of local heritage sites will be supported by £15m.
But the loudest cheer was for £20m in emergency funding for local and civic museums, those at most risk of closing due to financial hardship. Jenny Waldman, Director of Art Fund, said it was “a vital lifeline” although caveated that it was only a “first step to ensuring financial resilience.” Tate Director Maria Balshaw said she was “heartened that Government has listened to calls to protect [civic museums].”
In her speech announcing the funding, Nandy criticised “virtue signalling” campaigns against certain corporate sponsors, and said that a “moral puritanism…is killing off our arts and culture.” She also ruled out the introduction of museum entry charges for foreign visitors despite increasing support from the certain figures in the sector. (Read more)
But, “funding hokey cokey” slammed
The UK government also this week confirmed that it would support £67m in funding for major cultural capital projects, despite previously saying it was “minded to withdraw funding” from the schemes because of a “need to make savings”. This meant venues had been in limbo for nearly four months.
The U-turn on the funding cancellation means the National Railway Museum in York will receive £15 million for its expansion, National Museums Liverpool will get £10 million for overhauls of the International Slavery Museum and the Maritime Museum (which is lucky as the work had already begun) and the V&A Dundee will receive £2.6 million to revamp its permanent galleries.
But opposition councillors in York slammed the way this funding has been handled. The Liberal Democrat opposition leader said “this re-commitment is just a cynical attempt to get credit for re-announcing funding that had already been promised.” While a Tory representative branded it “funding hokey cokey.”
Yet, six other locations that had been promised a total of £30m for culture projects by the previous government, will now not receive that money. (Read more)
Major row over Arts Council Ireland
There’s turmoil in Ireland’s arts sector as the fallout from a botched IT project by the country’s Arts Council threatens to take in other state-funded arts institutions.
Ministers were warned last week there was "serious trouble brewing" over the operation of the Art Council of Ireland, as an external review of governance and culture was ordered by the government. It came after it was revealed €7 million in public funds was spent by the body on an IT upgrade that had to be abandoned. Minister for Arts, Patrick O'Donovan, said he was "very angry" at the overspend. Ireland’s Prime Minister said it was “very serious".
An immediate review is now also under way of all bodies that come under the minister for arts — including state-funded institutions such as the National Museum of Ireland, the Crawford Art Gallery and the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
Senior figures in the Arts Council are facing huge scrutiny in the press, as revelations of the body’s ballooning budget and headcount in recent years is criticised. (Read more)
UK news 🇬🇧
EVEN MORE FUNDING NEWS!!💰
Slightly lost in all this week’s funding news was the announcement of the recipients of a previous round of government cash for local museums. 29 venues are sharing £25m in project development funding, led by £2.6m going to the London Museum of Water and Steam. Norfolk’s Sainsbury Centre is getting £1.3m, Bletchley Park £2.5m and Tamworth Caste and Wolverhampton Art Gallery get £1.7m each. (Read more)
“Standout” architect will transform British Museum 🏛️
Rising-star Lina Ghotmeh has beaten more established rivals to be selected to redevelop a third of the British Museum’s galleries as part of their billion-pound renovations. Lina designed the 2023 Serpentine Pavilion and the Estonian National Museum. Chair George Osborne hailed her as “the standout winner” of the contest, and “a voice for the future.” (Read more)
Free entry banished from Coventry 💸
Coventry's Herbert Art Gallery & Museum is abolishing free entry due to "challenging financial times." Entry for most adults will now be £4.50, with £3 for concessions. Children will remain free. Steve Wiles, chief operating officer the group that runs the Herbert, said “the decision hadn't been taken lightly” but that it was “essential to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the museum.” (Read more)
UK’s oldest photos saved by Historic England 📸
Some of the oldest landscape photographs ever taken in Britain have been acquired by Historic England. Janette Rosing built up a pioneering trove of 8,000 images over her lifetime, which Historic England has praised for its “scale and rarity.” The earliest photographs in the collection were taken in the mid-1830s. The collection has been acquired as part of the government’s acquisition in lieu scheme. (Read more)
Duff duff duff 📺
East London’s Museum of the Home marked Eastenders’ 40th anniversary this week with a new modest display celebrating the iconic soap’s fashion. Eight original costumes will be shown, rotating two a month. The museum’s Director Sonia Solicari told this newsletter she’s most looking forward to showing “Mick Carter's pink dressing gown. Watching Danny Dyer threaten to punch Lee from Blue for wearing his robe is definitely one of the recent highlights!” (Read more)
Global news 🌎
Egypt 🇪🇬
Egyptologists have discovered the first tomb of a pharaoh since Tutankhamun's was uncovered over a century ago. King Thutmose II's tomb was the final undiscovered royal tomb of the 18th Egyptian dynasty, but the “remarkable” find has now been located near the city of Luxor. The field director of the mission said he “burst into tears” after he emerged from his first venture inside. (Read more)
Netherlands 🇳🇱
Over 100 Benin Bronzes will be returned to Nigeria, the Dutch government has announced. At a ceremony at the Wereldmuseum (World Museum) in Leiden, the Dutch minister of culture legally transferred ownership of 113 bronzes, plus six owned by the city of Rotterdam. Once the objects are physically returned, the Nigerian government will decide where and how to display them, Wereldmuseum’s communications director told The Art Newspaper. (Read more)
Poland 🇵🇱
After twenty years with no permanent home, the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw has finally fully opened its doors, and revealed its inaugural exhibition — the biggest its ever hosted. The Impermanent: Four Takes on the Collection draws 150 works — half of which were created by women artists — from their holdings, and examines developments in Post-War and contemporary art. (Read more)
News in brief
Heritage cannot be sold for cash
30 more English councils have been handed government bailouts to stop them going bankrupt. But for the first time, this emergency cash now comes with the stipulation they must not sell heritage assets or art collections to raise future funds. (More)
Disraeli ditched by Reeves
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has revamped No 11 Downing Street’s artwork. Out are portraits of James I and Benjamin Disraeli. In is Gillian Wearing’s maquette for her Millicent Fawcett sculpture, and prints by Barbara Hepworth. (More)
Colorado to open da Vinci museum
Permission has been granted for North America’s only Leonardo da Vinci museum. It’ll open in Pueblo, Colorado’s ninth most-populous city. It’ll be run by the same company that operates da Vinci ‘museums’ in Italy, France, South Korea, Australia and Brazil. (More)
Hunt hopes for tourist tax
V&A Director Tristram Hunt has reiterated his call for foreign tourists to be taxed on their UK hotel stays in order to raise money for museums and galleries. He says £1bn a year can be raised and that its “perverse” it’s not been enacted already. (More)
👀 Last week’s most clicked news story
— Science Museum to dismantle its Space gallery, and open three new galleries by 2030
📊 Last week’s poll results | Should objects and artworks be the main focus in museum exhibitions?
— Yes. Play to strengths! 79%
— No. Boring. Immerse me in AV! 0%
— It depends. It's case-by-case 21%
📊 This week’s poll
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