Slavery Museum Outcry
Exhibition pulled from International Slavery Museum due to backlash
Well that was short-lived. London’s museums were barely open two weeks before they shuttered again due to increasing coronavirus restrictions in the capital. In a slightly baffling but not unwelcome quirk of the rules, commercial galleries are allowed to stay open. Make of that what you will.
Fewer and fewer museums across the UK are allowed to open due to the tightening rules. Museums in Wales are closed until further notice, and poor Northern Ireland will be going into a six week lockdown from Boxing Day. Let’s hope 2021 can turn this around as soon as possible.
There’s no friday briefing next week as it’s Christmas Day. But you will get a news round up from me on New Year’s Day. And on Tuesday, my final maxwell museums magazine of the year drops in your inbox. In the meantime, happy reading.
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BREAKING OVERNIGHT. The International Slavery Museum in Liverpool has pulled an exhibition on human trafficking in the porn industry after an outcry. There was backlash over the "dehumanising" artwork and the involvement of a U.S. lobby group criticised for its hardline stance on the sex industry. Thomson Reuters Foundation
Upcoming blockbuster. This is going to be so good! The V&A have released details of their upcoming Epic Iran exhibition, covering 5,000 years of art, design and culture. Belfast Telegraph
“Arts philanthropist-in-chief.” Sir Leonard Blavatnik has donated a whopping £10 million to the revamp of London’s Courtauld Gallery. The newly-named centrepiece, the Blavatnik Fine Rooms, will up unveiled in 2021. The Times
Anticlimactic. 18 (!) years after its initial conception, the £600 million Humboldt Forum in Berlin - Europe’s largest cultural project - finally opened this week. Sort of. New York Times
Covid collecting. An inspired acquisition from the Science Museum, as they collect the vial and syringe of the vaccine given to 90-year-old Margaret Keenan, the first ever Covid-19 vaccination administered in the UK. Mail Online
Shackleton’s sledge saved. A sledge and flag that shine light on one of Britain’s greatest adventure stories - Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod expedition to the south pole - have been saved thanks to the National Heritage Memorial Fund. The Guardian
Passed by Parliament. French MPs have approved a plan to return 27 historical artefacts to Benin and Senegal from the collection of the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac. Yahoo News
Penthouse painting. Barbra Streisand has bought a $4.5 million Van Gough painting, previously owned by the founder of adult magazine Penthouse. As you do. The Art Newspaper
and a bonus read
The ‘world-first’ TV takeover of channel Sky Arts by Marina Abramović was not well-received by the Guardian’s art critic. Which is an understatement. He called it “a sorely testing five hours” as well as “embarrassing,” “boring” and “heroically egotistical.” Have a read - you know you want to.
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