Not a well week for Wellcome
Huge controversy over decision to close Wellcome Collection's Medicine Man gallery
Also in this issue:
Last ditch intervention fails to stop National Gallery plans
Grayson Perry’s biggest ever exhibition revealed
‘Climate killer’ new museum in Berlin
Happy Friday.
It’s the end of an era this weekend as the Museum of London closes its London Wall home, which it’s been in for the past half-century. At 5pm on Sunday the doors will shut for good, and work starts on relocating the museum to nearby Smithfield. It’s a move that will cost £340 million. It will reopen as the newly named London Museum in 2026.
It’s been a fantastic museum, one that was truly able to bring history to life for all ages. (And NGL, I’m a sucker for life-size recreation, and the museum’s Victorian Arcade was really brilliant.) If you want to experience it all one final time then don’t worry there’s still time — it will be staying open 24 hours from tomorrow. So if you fancy learning the story of the Great Fire of London at 3am (who doesn’t), then you can.
Farewell then Museum of London, at least for a while. Your move is just another chapter in the story of this city that you tell so well.
Maxwell
News from the UK
Wellcome’s Week. There’s been days of furore since the Wellcome Collection posted a Twitter thread about their decision to close their Medicine Man gallery last week. It’s put them and the whole museum sector under a level of scrutiny rarely seen before.
Let’s recap. The Wellcome Collection — a free museum of health and science in central London that is funded by the Wellcome Trust, the UK’s wealthiest charity — put out an 11-tweet thread headlined “What’s the point of museums?” last Friday. It outlined the reasons they were shutting a display dedicated to their founder which they said “perpetuates a version of medical history that is based on racist, sexist and ableist theories.” It would shut for good two days later it said. Cue a Twitter storm, and an onslaught of accusations of cultural vandalism.
“The Wellcome Collection has made itself look ridiculous” said the Telegraph. Closing the display “erases knowledge” said the Times. “The new vandals” said the Spectator. From what I can see, no one has written an op-ed in defence. There are defenders on Twitter, although most are from the museum world.
So what actually is Wellcome’s plan? A press statement issued in response to the criticism said they will consider “how we will use this space in future.” Rumours have circulated it will become an events space. In a slightly faltering performance on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row by the Wellcome’s Director on Tuesday, it was confirmed that the objects were all going into storage. Make of that what you will.
It was the New Statesman that probably offered the most measured response to the whole affair this week: museums must evolve, but context is key they said. The public, the very people museums are here to serve, deserve nuance and clear communication. Not “euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness.” If they don’t get that — and look again at the tweets that set this all off — then Wellcome’s right, what is the point of museums?
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Despite a last ditch intervention by the building’s original architect, plans for the revamp of the National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing have been approved by the local planning committee. In a public letter ahead of the decision, Denise Scott Brown, described the plans as “destructive” and “meaningless” and she urged the new design practice, Selldorf Architects, to “try and understand what they stood for.” But despite her pleas, Westminster Council’s four-person panel green lit the proposals, saying that that any harm to “heritage assets ... is outweighed by public benefits.”
Ownership of all the Benin Bronzes in the collection of the Horniman Museum in London have been transferred to Nigeria. At a signing ceremony this week, all 72 objects were unconditionally signed over — and six were physically handed over too, to return to Africa immediately. The rest will stay on display at the museum on loan for at least 12 months. The move is the first time a UK government-funded institution has agreed to hand back treasures looted by British forces from Benin kingdom in 1897.
Grayson Perry has unveiled his first ever permanent sculpture in London, calling it “a small monument to social housing.” Inspiration Lives Here is a two-metre-wide lamp in the shape of a row of semi-detached houses in Barking town centre in the east of the capital. It’s inspired by the Becontree Estate in Dagenham – the UK’s largest housing estate built between 1921 and 1935. It was commissioned by Create London and funded by Art Fund (and I really like it!)
Speaking of Grayson, the BIGGEST ever exhibition of his work is to open at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh next year. The major retrospective will span the Turner Prize winner’s 40-year career and will explore his work across pottery, prints, sculptures and tapestries. It’s the highlight of the 2023 exhibitions at the National Galleries of Scotland which will also see shows by Do Ho Suh and Alberta Whittle.
A totem pole allegedly stolen a century ago from a First Nation village in what is now British Columbia is to be returned. It’s been on display at the National Museum of Scotland but will now become only the second totem pole to be repatriated from a European museum to Canada after the Scottish Government agreed to a formal request. The move comes after the museum hosted talks on the artefact with a delegation of Nisga’a Nation leaders.
News from around the world
Criticism is mounting over a ‘climate killer’ modern art museum being built in Berlin. The Museum of the 20th Century, designed by the Swiss star architects Herzog and de Meuron, is being blasted for its main construction material, concrete – one of the highest contributors to carbon dioxide emissions. It’s also under fire for its open and transparent internal structure, which will require a highly sophisticated ventilation system to maintain temperature and humidity levels. The estimated cost of the building had already prompted controversy, having already doubled from €179m (£155m) to €450m.
It's been 10 years and AUS$344 million dollars in the making, but tomorrow the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) will finally open the doors of its highly anticipated new building. It’s the centrepiece of AGNSW's Sydney Modern Project and it nearly doubles the gallery's architectural footprint and exhibition space. "Make no mistake, this is the most significant cultural build since the [Sydney] Opera House” said the New South Wales Premier at the press launch. On display will be work by more than 900 Australian and international artists.
And finally
The Wall Street Journal have published an editorial saying that the best home for the Rosetta Stone is the British Museum.
Dolly Parton is working on plans for a new museum in Nashville. (Will it be open 9-5?)
Arts Council England and the V&A have £725,000 to dish out to help museums in England and Wales acquire objects for their collections. The Purchase Grant Fund has given hundreds of institutions the opportunity to expand their collections, and they are still accepting applications for this year. If you work in a museum (and I know many of you do!) then find out if yours is eligible for a grant here.
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