Subscriptions for museums
Latest news: Netflix-style subscription for Birmingham Museums, plus top online artworks revealed
maxwell museums friday briefing - 5 February 2021
I’m trying out a new thing in this week’s friday briefing, your weekly round up of the latest museum news. I’ve now highlighted the top story of the week, and have added a short explanation as to why this news matters. The aim is to add additional context - succinctly - to a big story, so that you get even more value from this newsletter. It’ll help you instantly see what you need to know. Do let me know if you find it useful: either reply to this email with your comments or tweet me at @maxwellmuseums.
Did you manage to catch my latest interview from earlier this week? I spoke to Caroline Campbell, Director of Collections and Research at the National Gallery and you can catch up here.
Happy reading!
All the content in this newsletter is provided to you for free. Why not buy me a digital coffee if you enjoyed it?
The week’s top story
Birmingham Museums, one of England’s biggest regional museum groups, is getting into the subscription business. For £20 each month, people will get access to exclusive digital content including talks and lectures. Museums and Heritage Advisor
Why it matters
Paying for digital content via subscription is now the norm, from Netflix and Spotify, to the New York Times and Substack (of which this newsletter is part, although it remains free). Even the National Theatre has launched a subscription on demand service. We’re almost certainly going to see more museums follow Birmingham’s lead as they look to build more revenue. People are willing to pay for quality content, so subscription can be a very steady (if not game-changing) income stream, and can foster deeper relationships with audiences. This will be a good thing.
Heading north. A huge coup for the city of Newcastle as one of England’s most famous historical objects, the Lindisfarne Gospels, are to go on loan from the British Library to the city’s Laing Art Gallery. The Northern Echo
Debate still raging. The controversy over a planned new military museum in Cardiff rumbles on. This week an attempt to stop the city council giving land over to the museum in Cardiff Bay failed. Wales Online
Virtual viewing. What does a portrait of Elizabeth I, a film of David Hockney and van Eyck’s the Arnolfini Portrait have in common? They’ve all been revealed as the most popular online artworks in lockdown from some of the UK’s biggest museums. The Times
Shuttered since March. More than one hundred directors of French art museums have signed an open letter to the French minister of culture imploring her to allow cultural institutions to reopen. They include the leaders of the Palais de Tokyo and Centre Pompidou-Metz. Art Forum
Treasures from the Wreck. Damien Hirst’s *ahem* divisive “shipwreck” works from the 2017 Venice Biennale are to reappear in Italy, this time juxtaposed alongside Caravaggio, Titian and Bernini in Rome. The Art Newspaper
Lighting up London. The Illuminated River project will light up five more of London’s bridges this spring, joining the four completed in 2019. Blackfriars, Waterloo, Westminster, Golden Jubilee Footbridges and Lambeth Bridge will be lit up with colourful installations for the next 10 years. Design Week
Don’t call it Brexfest. Some still decry it as the Festival of Brexit, but cultural institutions are lining up to take part in 2022’s year-long celebration of British creativity. It’s chief has said the festival’s critics “disappoint him” and of creating a “Trumpian place where people are talking about something that doesn’t exist”. The Sunday Times
Influencers tricked. A San Francisco artist has fooled hundreds of people into applying for Twitter ‘blue tick’ badges for their homes. Danielle Baskin went viral with a tweet that informed influencers in the Bay Area that they could now get a "verified badge crest" to adorn their homes' facades. People
Let it snow. They’ve seen Rocky Balboa climb them, and this week plenty of people descend them. The famous steps outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art saw sledders take over after snow blanketed the city. Yahoo News.
All the content in this newsletter is provided to you for free. Why not buy me a digital coffee if you enjoyed it?