Latest news: RA row, new British Museum chair
Plus: Gaudí's masterpiece on Airbnb
Today's edition is presented with Rebuilding Heritage
Hello all. Apologies for the lack of Friday news update last week. I was taking a much-needed break on the Kent coast and was already on my second cold beer by the sea by lunchtime. It was excellent. But normal service now resumes!
This week I was luckily enough to be invited to have a morning view of the excellent Museum of Brands in west London (full disclosure: I used to work there). They’ve moved to a shiny new home since I last visited, and it was great to see the much-expanded displays on the history consumer culture: i.e. the stuff we’ve thrown away for the past 200 years. I recommend a visit if you’re looking for a hit of nostalgia this weekend.
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It's been a tough year, including for those of you working for a museum or heritage site. Are you asking yourself how your organisation can even fundraise in this climate? Or how to begin to talk to your audiences again, or make a plan on the ground when 'digital is not the answer?' Maybe you just generally want to unfrazzle yourself after the toll of the pandemic? If so, the Rebuilding Heritage programme is for you. This summer it's offering advice from cultural sector specialists - including the Clore, Media Trust, the Chartered Institute of Fundraising and Creative United - in eight jam packed, AND FREE, online events. Individuals and organisations of all sizes, from tiny to national, are warmly welcomed. Come and hear how others are doing and get good advice to shape your plans.
Former UK Chancellor George Osborne has been announced as the new Chair of the British Museum. He was unanimously elected by the Museum’s Trustees and takes up the post in October. BBC News
It’s been a very long week for the the Royal Academy. A transphobia row has engulfed the Mayfair gallery since it withdrew the work of an artist from its gift shop after she was accused of expressing transphobic views in a 2019 blog. The story generated huge amounts of column inches - both news and comment - and on Wednesday the RA issued an apology to the artist, saying it had mishandled the situation and the initial decision was a “betrayal” of its commitment to freedom of speech. There’s not much sign of the story going away though, as last night the RA Schools issued a statement of dismay at the apology saying “the Royal Academy has chosen to give legitimacy to transphobia.” The Guardian
The Science Museum has given a first look inside the MASSIVE new £40m collection centre which will eventually house 300,000 objects from its collection. The preview coincides with the first pieces being moved from London to the new site in Wiltshire. Swindon Advertiser
Skyscrapers aren’t just blighting the London skyline in the UK. Unesco has recommended Liverpool waterfront be stripped of its world heritage status after a “failure to protect” it from the development of tall buildings. The Guardian
This art is balls. No, it’s not my review of Hockney’s iPad drawings (although it could be) but it’s a very literal description of the first exhibition at the OOF Gallery, a new permanent space dedicated to the meeting point of art and football. Located in the grounds of Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium, the inaugural exhibition will be of sculptures of footballs (what else?). The Art Newspaper
Windsor Castle yesterday opened a new exhibition commemorating the life and legacy of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh. Highlights of the 120 objects on show include the robe and coronet he wore for the Queen’s Coronation in 1953. ITV News
In order for it to appear in Instagram posts for at least the next 25 years, Guggenheim Bilbao wants to raise €100,000 to restore Jeff Koons’ giant puppy sculpture made of flowers which has sat outside the museum’s entrance since 1997. Museums + Heritage Advisor
An art gallery in Shanghai has removed from display a video in which an artist filmed thousands of women on a university campus and ranked them from “prettiest to ugliest”. The Independent
Antoni Gaudí’s first-ever house is available to rent on Airbnb - for one night only. The lucky guest of the stunning property (which he built in Barcelona in the 1880s and is a now a museum) will also enjoy a Michelin star menu in its dining room. PICK ME PLEASE! Livingetc
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