On Thursday 28 March the announcement of the the appointment of a new Director for the British Museum.This followed on from Wednesday's news that on Tuesday, London's High Court ordered former curator at the British Museum, Peter Higgs accused of stealing hundreds of artefacts to provide the museum with a list of all items he is suspected of taking and to return those still in his possession.
Over 1,800 items were stolen from the British Museum and so far 356 have been returned.
Interim Director Sir Mark Joneswas appointed last September in the wake of the crisis over thefts from the institution's collection. He set a target of five years for the BM’s complete collection, eight million objects, to be catalogued online, each with an image. With 60% of the BM's objects already digitalised, this target will be met.
To read the press release from the British Museum on the appointment of Dr Cullinan, follow the link here.
Dame Janet Suzman, Chair of BCRPM and Paul Cartledge, Vice-Chair of BCRPM and the IARPS welcomed the appointment of Mark Jones last year and following on from yesterday's announcement, a letter to welcome Dr Cullinan. Paul remembered Dr Cullinan giving him "a most gracious tour of an NPG exhibition." Janet is looking forward to the reimaging of the British Museum as it remains out of step with the cultural changes evolving in the rest of the museum world. "Of course the Parthenon Marbles case is unique, and we realise that Dr Cullinan will have a multitude of other issues to contend with and BCRPM wish him every success."
In the Times, George Osborne said Nicholas Cullinan had been chosen because of his “proven leadership today and great potential for tomorrow,” adding that the new director would help put the museum “back on the front foot.”
“He has shown his capacity as director of the National Portrait Gallery to oversee both a major physical renovation and a compelling renewal of purpose in a way that doesn’t take sides, but brings people together — and won universal acclaim. We believe he can achieve this, and more, on the bigger scale of the British Museum as we undertake a once-in-a-generation redevelopment.”
The Guardian describes Dr Cullinan as an energetic leader tasked with the British Museum overhaul. The profile article by David Batty highlights Cullinan's new role as needing "to draw on his fundraising skills to oversee its ambitious masterplan, a 10-year project, estimated to cost £1bn, to modernise its building in Bloomsbury, central London, and redisplay the entire collection." And mention of Dr Cullinan's friendship with Courtney Love, plus his favourite piece of music Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Tristes apprêts, from his 1737 opera Castor et Pollux, his love for Michael Jackson’s debut solo album, Off the Wall, and the American teen comedy Mean Girls.
In the New York Times, Alex Marshall writes that Cullinan is looking forward to taking the British Museum “into a new chapter.” Under his leadership, he expects the museum to undergo “significant transformations, both architectural and intellectual,” he added. “I can’t imagine a better challenge or opportunity to build on that than collectively reimagining the British Museum for the widest possible audience,” he said.
On the Museums Association article Cullinan said of the BM:“One of the greatest museums in the world, it is an honour to become the next director of the British Museum. I look forward to joining its wonderful and dedicated staff and to work with its hugely impressive board in leading it into a new chapter."
“I want to pay tribute to my predecessors, most recently Sir Mark Jones, and look forward to building on their extraordinary achievements. Leading the remarkable transformation of the National Portrait Gallery over the last decade with its wonderful trustees, staff and supporters has been the honour of a lifetime and I can’t imagine a better challenge or opportunity to build on that than collectively reimagining the British Museum for the widest possible audience and future generations.”
Geraldine Kendall Adams in this artcle adds a section at the end aptly entitled: What’s on the agenda for the new director? There are four headings: theft scandal, masterplan, sponsorship and protest, repatriation.
Under Repatriation, Geraldine writes: Cullinan’s tenure at the British Museum could see significant developments in some of the UK’s longest-running repatriation disputes. Despite several setbacks, there is hope that the museum is close to reaching a “mutually beneficial” deal with the Greek authorities that would see the Parthenon sculptures return to Athens in exchange for rolling loans of other treasures from Ancient Greece.
The museum also recently announced plans to loan Asante royal regalia back to Ghana and is involved in projects to return other disputed artefacts on loan, including its Benin bronzeholdings to Nigeria. Other high-profile repatriation cases include Rapa Nui’s demand for the return of two moai statues, Ethiopia’s bid to repatriate the Maqdala collection, and the Aboriginal Australian campaign for the return of the Gweagal Shield.
There are calls for a change in legislation to allow the British Museum and other nationals to fully repatriate objects rather than simply loaning them. This debate is likely to intensify in the coming years.
The campaign for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles continues, and with that in mind, a reminder of what Richard Morrison wrote in The Times, last summer (11 August 2023)
"So the new director [of the British Musem] needs to be someone with acute diplomatic skills, excellent connections with whoever governs Britain after 2024, brilliant fundraising capabilities and a bold, inspiring vision for museums in the 21st century. I can think of only one person in Britain who has all of that, plus youth and energy. That’s Nicholas Cullinan, the director of the National Portrait Gallery, who has just finished supervising an intelligent and beautiful restoration of the NPG — on time, within budget and with a deftness that won praise from people on all sides of the cultural and political divides."
Image of Dr Nicholas Cullinan by Zoë Law, 2018 © Zoë Law
