The new culture secretary
Plus: Amy Winehouse exhibition coming to London
This newsletter was sent to subscribers on 17 September 2021
Happy Friday.
I’ve just about recovered from the excitement of the UK cabinet reshuffle. I can’t help but get absorbed in the machiavellian drama of it all. And with both a degree in museums and politics, I couldn’t not put the reshuffle’s impact on the culture brief as my top story this week. See below.
Next week is a big one in the museum world as on Tuesday the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021 is announced at London’s Science Museum. It’s the world’s largest museum prize. This year’s nominees are Centre for Contemporary Art Derry-Londonderry, Experience Barnsley, Firstsite in Colchester, Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds and Timespan in Helmsdale, Sutherland. Good luck to them all. You can watch the ceremony live on the BBC News Channel and iPlayer from 19:15.
Now read on for this week’s news!
Maxwell
Love art, museums and galleries? Then my newsletter is for you, keeping you up-to-date on what to read - and what to see. Subscribe below (it’s free!)
This week’s top story
The UK has a new - and controversial - culture secretary. Boris Johnson’s long-rumoured cabinet reshuffle finally took place on Wednesday, and it was bold and often brutal. But the biggest eyebrow raise of the whole thing was the appointment of Nadine Dorries as the new Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Former I’m a Celebrity… contestant and best-selling novelist, the Telegraph said “the residents of Whitehall gasped and stretched their eyes in disbelief” at her promotion.
She’s been Twitter-happy in the past, commenting on cancel culture and “Left wing snowflakes.” BBC News pointed out she’s “already expressed strong views” on the ‘contested heritage’ policies of her predecessor Oliver Dowden. But as Ayesha Hazarika makes clear in her column in the i, she is “unapologetically populist, patriotic, old-school, true-blue Brexit” - exactly the values of Boris Johnson’s Conservatives which the electorate propelled into government with a massive 80-seat majority.
To be frank, museums are unlikely to be her top priority, although her first engagement in the role was a visit to the Natural History Museum yesterday. The privatisation of Channel 4, the future of the BBC, gambling reform, the Online Harms Bill and more are likely to be higher up the in-tray. But as former UK culture minister Ed Vaizey tells this newsletter, he thinks “she will really help raise the profile of museums in Whitehall.” Speaking exclusively to maxwell museums he believes that museums need to “engage with her fully on the wider agenda - mental health, levelling-up and other issues” and that “they will have a brilliant advocate.” Only time will tell.
This week’s other stories
Ten years on from her death, a major new retrospective exhibition on the life of Amy Winehouse is to open at the Design Museum. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to view previously unseen personal items and a selection of Winehouse’s outfits and fashion accessories. To mark the announcement, the Museum unveiled a hand painted mural of the music icon on Camden High Street. NME
The biggest repair job on the ancient stones of Stonehenge in 60 years began this week. Strong winds have taken their toll on the monument, including the materials used to restore the horizontal stones in the 1950s, and visitors will be able to see the work in action. Mail Online
The ten-year lease of Manchester’s National Football Museum is about to expire - so the local council have extended it for another 25. It’ll also get more funding to secure it’s long-term future. A massive vote of confidence I’d say. Manchester Evening News
A museum dedicated to boats in the Lake District, and the monumental new bridge at English Heritage’s Tintagel Castle are both in the running to be awarded the 2021 RIBA Stirling Prize, the UK's most prestigious architecture award. Wallpaper*
Love this. Work has begun to rebuild an historic century-old pub from Wolverhampton, in a museum in the neighbouring city of Birmingham. The pub was unexpectedly demolished in 2001 but will see pints pulled in it once more when it’s completed at the Black Country Living Museum. BBC News
A previously unseen Vincent van Gogh drawing of an exhausted old man has been discovered, and went on display for the very first time yesterday. It can be seen at the Van Gough Museum in Amsterdam. But be quick: in January it’ll go back to the private collection it’s been held in and might not be seen again. BBC News
Paris’ Musée d’Orsay has a new leader, with Christophe Leribault being named as the president. This is significant, as he’ll oversee a major redevelopment of the Museum over the next decade, known as Orsay Grand Ouvert - or Orsay Wide Open (ahem). He also wants to “boost French [visitor] attendance.” Not a fan of his “Orsay can no longer be a tourist factory” comments though. The Art Newspaper
Elsewhere à Paris, the Times reports that there is growing anger among residents at the decision to posthumously allow the artist Christo to wrap the Arc de Triomphe in 25,000 sq metres of fabric. One journalist said it looked as though it had been covered in a “bin bag.” Spoilsports. The Times
Love art, museums and galleries? Then my newsletter is for you, keeping you up-to-date on what to read - and what to see. Subscribe below (it’s free!)