Museums in the UK Decide to Remain Open Despite the Rest of Europe’s Cultural Institutions Heading Into Lockdown

Museums in the UK are employing
a “keep calm and carry on” attitude amid the public health
emergency caused by the coronavirus. While museums across Europe
have battened down the hatches in line with their governments’
advice, London’s big museums are staying open in accordance with
the UK government’s increasingly controversial approach to delaying
the spread of the infection.

The UK has seen 590 confirmed
cases of the virus, and eight deaths, so far. The prime minister
Boris Johnson warned that “many more families are going to lose
loved ones before their time,” during a somber press conference
yesterday, March 12. He was speaking alongside the government’s
chief scientific advisor, who said as many as 10,000
people could already be infected with the virus.

Unlike the approach taken in other affected countries including
Italy, Germany, Austria, Poland, Spain, Denmark, and Ireland, the
UK government has not issued advice to close museums. Nor has it
stopped large-scale gatherings or moved to close schools or
universities. France’s museums remain open but President Macron is
shutting the nation’s schools and universities.

The UK government cites scientific evidence (which it has not
made public) that the appropriate strategy to delaying the expected
peak of the virus until the summer is to ask all those with
symptoms to self-isolate for seven days. England’s chief
scientific advisor has defended the decision to delay drastic
actions because it would create “herd immunity” among the
population. It would also reduce the strain on health
services.

As vulnerable members of the population are hit hardest by the
virus, how long that remains politically acceptable remains to be
seen.

Museums Are Open

Contacted by Artnet News, the
Victoria & Albert Museum said that it is staying open.
“We are following the
situation closely and continue to review our operations daily based
on advice from UK Government and Public Health England.”
Representatives from the British Museum, and the Tate took a
similar line.

Talks and private views will probably be the first things to be
called off. But a conversation about Andy Warhol with the artist’s
biographer Blake Gopnik went
ahead last night at Tate Modern, although a scheduled speaker
dropped out. It later emerged that an employee at Tate Modern had tested
positive for the virus
earlier this week. The world’s most popular museum of Modern and
contemporary art is remaining open after deep-cleaning the areas
impacted as well as briefing anyone who was in close contact with
the affected staff member, who only came into work for one
day. 

The National Gallery in London remains open and went ahead with
the launch of a major Titian exhibition earlier this week,
reuniting six paintings, which includes ones on loan from the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and the Museo del Prado
in Madrid. Both lending institutions are now closed.

The National Gallery is due to open its highly-anticipated
exhibition featuring 30 works by the early female Italian Baroque
painter Artemisia Gentileschi early next month. But 20 of the works
are due to come from Italy, including paintings from the now
shuttered Uffizi Galleries, and another from the Prado. Key works
are also due to be couriered from the National Gallery of Art in
Washington, DC, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York,
which are now closed, as well as the Wadsworth Atheneum, which
remains open but has put in place precautionary measures. A
spokeswoman for the National Gallery in London confirms that it is
talking to lenders but the exhibition is still due to open on April
4 at the time of writing. (The NGA and Wadsworth did not respond to
requests for comment about going head with the loans.)

Cancelled Events

While the government is advising
museums to remain open, and large-gatherings to go ahead, some
organizations are taking matters into their own hands. The English
Premier League has stopped all soccer matches this month. The
climate activist group Extinction Rebellion is postponing all of
its planned mass public gatherings until May 23, including in the
UK. A trickle of cancellations and postponements of smaller events
indicates a shift in direction, starting with smaller
organizations.

Pallant House Gallery in
Chichester in the South of England is following government advice
and remaining open to the public as usual, but its director Simon
Martin, tweeted that he was “very sad” to cancel the private
view of the gallery’s Spring exhibitions in light of the
coronavirus. Martin writes “real action is necessary to protect the
wellbeing of our own people, guests, and fellow citizens during
this time.”

Olivier Malingue is one of the
first commercial galleries in London to announce it is closing
until March 29. Elsewhere, the opening of the New York-based artist
Olivia Erlanger’s solo exhibition at London’s Soft Opening, slated
for April 2, has also been postponed. The gallery plans to continue
the run of its current exhibition as planned until March
22.

Lost Income

A statement on the UK Museums
Association website notes that the spread of the virus “has already
hit visitor numbers and income” both as a result of a drop in
visitors from overseas and at home. Artnet News understands that
institutions are in talks with the government about the possible
financial impact and cash-flow problems caused by the public health
emergency.

While members are already taking
the right precautionary measures to protect staff, volunteers and
visitors, Heal says that the bigger issue will be the longer term
impact if travel restrictions are applied, and bans on public
gatherings include museums. 

“Many museums operate with tight
financial margins and even a few weeks loss of income could
seriously undermine their business models,” Heal says. “We would
appeal to government and funders to provide financial support and
emergency funding for institutions that are affected by the
epidemic; and also ask funders to operate flexibility in terms of
delivery of currently funded projects.”

The post Museums in the UK Decide to Remain Open Despite the
Rest of Europe’s Cultural Institutions Heading Into Lockdown
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