Science Museum signs with Saudi Arabia
New partnership will see 'Museum Hub' created in Riyadh
This edition features TEN YEARS of maxwell museums | National Museums Liverpool | British Museum | Portland Museum of Art | Tate Modern | Arts Council England | Edward Colston | Royal Ontario Museum | UNESCO | Belvedere Museum
Happy Friday!
I first came up with the name maxwell museums exactly a decade ago. (And yes, the lower case is BRANDING BABY).
While my first email under this moniker was sent in September 2018, my first piece of ‘content’ was a Tweet in my bright shiny new Twitter account in February 2014. Following that I created my Instagram (do follow! [at]maxwellmuseums), then this newsletter and then my website maxwellmuseums.com last year.
It made me realise that actually many of you might not actually know that much about me. So I thought I’d start today’s newsletter with a brief (re)introduction.
So I’m maxwell, and so no, it didn’t take me long to come up with the name.
I’ve worked in museums since my first volunteer position at London’s Museum of Brands in 2009. Since then I’ve done a huge variety of roles in a variety of institutions — from the National Portrait Gallery to the Science Museum — and I managed to get an MA in Museum Studies from UCL alongside all that to boot. I also was lucky enough to get to write about museums for a few publications including National Geographic Traveller UK.
Next month marks a decade since I began specialising in museum communications, specifically media relations and PR. I did five years in the press team at the British Museum and I suspect many of you reading this will have read/watched/heard media coverage for exhibitions that I worked on/made happen — shows on Edvard Munch, Thomas Becket and Stonehenge especially.
I still have a full-time day job in museum PR in London. So this newsletter is a 100% solo endeavour, produced in addition to my 9-5. I write 6 editions a month for you, from these Friday news digests to editions with interviews and personal recommendations.
I, of course, love it.
If you’ve been following me since those heady days of Twitter in 2014 then: thank you! But if you’ve only recently joined this journey then I still thank you. Because for all of you — and me — there are still so many exciting things to come.
Oh and of course, if you have enjoyed any of the content I produce over the past TEN YEARS, then do please consider donating. You can give either a one-off gift, or set up a monthly donation. It helps me keep writing, so you can keep reading.
Here’s to another ten years!
Now let’s get into the news!
— maxwell
Need To Know
Recovered gems shine again
Ten glass gems — recovered after being stolen as part of the British Museum’s ‘inside job’ thefts — have been been put on display in a new exhibition. Rediscovering Gems shows 10 of the previously stolen items along with other classical Greek and Roman artefacts of the same type that were used for sealing documents and decoration.
The museum has revealed that 356 of the 1,600 stolen items have been recovered s far, from six different sources. Tom Harrison, Keeper of the British Museum’s department of Greece and Rome said getting these back has been “very, very painstaking” work and “much more complicated than we possibly could have imagined.” Many were now, he said, “very widely scattered” all over the world.
Sir Mark Jones, the interim director, told BBC News he expected it to take "at least a couple of years" to recover more of the stolen items. But he said the institution “will certainly recover from it… I feel certain of that". (Read more)
Protests at global museums
A number of global museums experienced Pro-Palestine demonstrations this week.
Protesters staged a sit-in demonstration inside the British Museum on Sunday demanding that museum sponsor BP stops drilling for oil off the Gaza coast. In footage on social media, activists shouted: “Your profits are covered in Palestinian blood”. Entry to the museum had to be temporarily halted. Protestors also disrupted an opening event of Yoko Ono’s new exhibition at Tate Modern.
Meanwhile there was a closure of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York after demonstrators infiltrated the building, chanting “Free Palestine” and unfurling banners in the museum’s atrium bearing messages such as “MoMA Trustees Fund Genocide.” Concurrent action saw 300 protesters gather at the Brooklyn Museum.
In Berlin, a marathon reading by Cuban artist Tania Bruguera was shut down early after disruptions. German Culture Minister Claudia Roth condemned the "vile" protest, which she described as an anti-Semitic attack. She said "This vile anti-Semitism and racism was obviously aimed directly at a Jewish cultural worker, the Cuban artist and a director of the Hamburger Bahnhof." The reading they shut down was of The Origins of Totalitarianism.
Strike closes Liverpool’s museums
Workers at National Museums Liverpool (NML) begin their eight-week strike tomorrow, and the museum group has admitted it will be forced to close nearly all of its venues — including the International Slavery Museum, Maritime Museum, Museum of Liverpool — for an “extended period” as a result.
The strike is over what unions say is NML’s refusal to pay staff a £1,500 one-off cost of living payment that the UK government agreed should be paid to all civil servants last year.
In a blog post, NML Director Laura Pye defended the group’s refusal to give the one-off payment, saying doing so “would threaten the long-term sustainability” of the organisation. “We greatly value our dedicated staff” the statement says, but it “is simply unaffordable.” NML is already forecasting a £2m deficit this year.
Details of the closures look likely to be revealed on a weekly basis. In this first week of strike action, only one venue — the Museum of Liverpool — will open, for only one day. (Read more)
— Read Laura Pye’s full statement here
News from the UK
Turbine Hall 2024 | South Korean sculptor Mire Lee will be the next artist to take on the annual Hyundai Commission in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. The 35-year-old’s kinetic sculptures have appeared in major global shows in recent years, but this’ll be her first work in the UK. Karin Hindsbo, Director of Tate Modern, said: “Lee produces powerful sculptures, and we look forward to seeing how she transforms the iconic Turbine Hall with her subversive, multi-sensory forms.” (Read more)
Science in Saudi | The Science Museum Group (SMG) has signed a major partnership with Saudi Arabia. The collaboration will see the Group establish a ‘Museums Hub’ in the Saudi capital Riyadh. Details on what that actually means are lacking. But a press release stated it will enable the SMG to “work closely with museum professionals…to create a centre of excellence for science and culture.” SMG Director Ian Blatchford said “through this agreement we can help support positive change in Saudi Arabia.” (Read more)
Colston acquisition imminent | It’s expected that the toppled statue of transatlantic slave trader Edward Colston will be formally acquired by Bristol’s M Shed museum in the coming weeks. The city’s local council will vote on ‘de-listing’ the sculpture next week. A recent city-wide survey found that 80% of Bristolians agreed with the statue being placed in a museum. If approval is given, it will go back on display as part of a new exhibition on protest. (Read more)
Arts clarification incoming | Arts Council England (ACE) — who distribute public arts funding in the UK — has said it will “publish an updated version” of recent guidance that warned of the reputational risk of “political statements” by individuals connected to funded organisations. There was swift backlash to the original guidance, with many high-profile figures fearing it amounted to censorship. In response, ACE affirmed that they believe “in the freedom of expression of all artists” and that they will be “looking again at some of the language” originally used. (Read more)
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News from around the world
Canada 🇨🇦 | A £77 million (CA$130m) revamp of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto has been announced. It will see a redesign of its first floor, an expansion of its galleries, and the ground spaces will become free to access. The three-year project will be funded entirely by private philanthropy, including $50 million from the Hennick Family Foundation, the largest donation in the museum’s history. (Read more)
Ukraine 🇺🇦 | UNESCO has said the total cost of destruction to the country’s sites due to Russias’s invasion is nearly $3.5 billion. They added that the country's interlinked culture and tourism sector have lost over $19 billion in revenue during the two-year war. Fighting has damaged 341 cultural sites across Ukraine, including in the capital, Kyiv UNESCO said. (Read more)
Italy 🇮🇹 | Luca Dell'Atti, the president of the Museum of Pre-classical Civilisations of Southern Murgia in southern Italy has resigned after posting an inverted image on Instagram of the country’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The post has drawn comparisons to images of Benito Mussolini's execution. The backlash came from the ruling Brothers of Italy party, including a regional councillor who called it “a shameful gesture.” (Read more)
USA 🇺🇸 | The Portland Museum of Art is preparing for its $100m expansion…by axing 13 staff owing to the financial hardships brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. The museum’s director is also taking a voluntary 20% reduction in his annual salary of more than $500,000. A spokesperson said the “expansion is needed due to our collection growing and limitations of our ageing facilities” but that nearly 70% of the museum's operating budget goes toward wages. (Read more)
Best of the rest
Gas lamps saved | Four 114-year-old gas lamps in London’s Covent Garden have been given listed status to protect their future. The listing was hailed as a “milestone” and was in response to Westminster Council’s plans to convert many to LED. (More)
Unexpected delivery | An artist in Grimsby has been sent a box of clay penises — but doesn’t know why. Dale Wells did have a statue shown in a local gallery, and its penis was stolen repeatedly. But he doesn’t think these are the missing members. (More)
Closure after a century | A Yorkshire federation which has been supporting museum professionals in the region for nearly a century is to be dissolved. It says it can no longer recruit enough board members to carry out its operations. (More)
NFTs in NYC | NFT interest has cooled, but not for Vienna’s Belvedere. To mark a special NFT presentation in NYC this Valentine’s day, the museum’s Chief Financial Officer wrote exclusively for maxwellmuseums.com on why they’re sticking with them. (More)
Digital Works Conference | The 150-year old Financial Times has hit 1 MILLION paying digital subscribers. Museums can learn valuable lessons from this — and they can do it at a special session at this exciting new conference for cultural professionals. (Book your place)*