Secret Abu Dhabi museum uncovered
New museum solves mystery of world's most expensive fossil
Hello!
I hope all my UK readers have been enjoying the absolutely insane run of summer-like weather we’ve been having. Everything is just better in the sunshine isn’t it - it’s the tonic we all need so long may it continue.
The sun has got me thinking about my summer holiday plans. With international travel off limits for much of the past two years I have a ton of new museums I want to head out and see. The Humboldt Forum in Berlin is one of them, and thankfully I have a trip planned there in May. I also want to go and see the new Munch Museum in Oslo, and of course LA’s Academy Museum of Motion Pictures would be an absolute dream at some point. If you have any tips for brilliant new museums I should visit, hit reply to this email. I’d love to hear your recommendations.
Just before we get onto this week’s news, let me tell you that Jo Brand is on Grayson Perry’s Art Club on Channel 4 tonight. You’re welcome.
Maxwell
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This week’s top story
In October 2020 the most expensive fossil ever auctioned— the famed $31.8 million Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton known as Stan - disappeared. No one knew who bought it, or where it had been taken to.
That was until this week, when National Geographic uncovered that it will be the star attraction at a massive new museum of natural history being built in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Stan will go on show in the 377,000-square-foot museum which is under construction on Saadiyat Island, a high-profile cultural district in the city. The existence of this planned new global museum was unknown until now.
There had been fears that the secrecy over the buyer meant that this globally important specimen may have gone to a private collection, with access denied to the public and researchers. Those fears have now receded, and the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism confirmed that “future research will be a collaborative relationship between Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi experts and the external scientific community.” But of course, the massive museum construction on Saadiyat Island has not been straightforward, with many projects seeing years of delays. The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi has taken 20 years but is still not finished. The Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi is due to open in 2025. But with the project only uncovered due to some journalistic detective work, that really-not-very-long-away date might need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Want to take a deep dive into this story? Read the full National Geographic story here, and the article’s writer Michael Greshko’s excellent behind-the-scenes twitter thread on his investigation is well worth a view too.
This week’s other stories
A bronze sculpture of the merchant and slave trader Robert Milligan - which was removed from London’s West India Quay in June 2020 just days after Colston’s statue was toppled in Bristol - will now join the collection of the Museum of London Docklands. Although it was displayed just meters from the museum on the quay, it was actually the property of the landowners the Canal & River Trust. It’s not going on display yet though - the Museum says it needs more time to consult on exactly what to do with it. Evening Standard
TikTok has lifted its ban on searching for the Charles Dickens Museum on its app. The museum set up an account but attempts to search for it initially returned no results as his surname includes an aubergine emoji. Those restrictions have now been reversed with a TikTok spokesperson saying: “The Charles Dickens Museum can now be searched for and found on TikTok. We’re delighted to be able to bring the life and work of Mr Dickens to the TikTok community and have great expectations for the museum’s success on TikTok." (Badum tish - give that PR a payrise). Evening Standard
One of three portraits taken to celebrate the 40th birthday of HRH the Duchess of Cambridge has gone on display in her family's small village church in Berkshire. The photograph is a new commission from the National Portrait Gallery and it’s on show very near where the future queen was born. You can see it at the church until early April when it will move to the Reading Museum. BBC News
£2.5 million. That’s the size of the donation just been given to York’s National Railway Museum. It’s the largest single gift they’ve ever received. It will help fund a new interactive, family gallery called Wonderlab (yes there is a Wonderlab at the Science Museum in London, they are part of the same group). It’s due to open next year. York Press
The (wet) shirt worn by Colin Firth in BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is going on display at Jane Austen’s House in Hampshire from tomorrow. The famous scene where it was worn was once voted the most memorable moment in British TV drama. It’s on show as part of a new exhibition on under-clothing from Austen’s time. The Times
According to Ukrainian media, an airstrike in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol has destroyed a museum dedicated to the 19th-century artist Arkhip Kuindzhi, whom both Russians and Ukrainians regard as their own. Thankfully, the three original works by Kuindzhi in its collection had already been removed, but their whereabouts are unknown. The Art Newspaper
Norway’s new National Museum has been so delayed its Director has had to apologise for how long it’s taken to let the public see some of the world’s most famous art - including Edvard Munch’s the Scream. But the £500 million venue will finally open in June and will be the biggest museum in the Nordic region. Even more mind bogglingly, it’ll be bigger than Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum. One for your summer holidays. The Guardian
A Prince exhibition is opening in Chicago this summer. Ok, ok, it’s actually one of those immersive experiences (handily called Prince: The Immersive Experience to ensure no confusion) but it will offer 10 multidimensional spaces that take visitors through the icon’s life. It’s been created with the Prince Estate. Rolling Stone
And finally
A fascinating interview with Tate Director Maria Balshaw in the Financial Times this week. To mark her term as this year’s Slade professor at Cambridge, she insists that while museums are being battered from all sides right now, controversy has been a permanent condition of these institutions. And should be embraced. She also reiterates her call to end museum expansions and new buildings. Worth a read.
The popular BBC Two documentary going behind the scenes at the V&A - Secrets of the Museum - is back for a third series on 7 April. This time the cameras have been rolling beyond the South Kensington site, and will include a peek at the development of the new sites V&A East and Young V&A. Can’t wait.
The world just cannot get enough of Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms. More are just about to open in Washington DC.
Want to sponsor a future edition of this newsletter, and get your brand in front of hundreds of culture lovers and professionals? Respond to this email and let’s chat about options and my excellent rates.