UK Museums & Galleries to Reopen on 17th May
February 22 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The UK Government has revealed its 'roadmap' for the lifting of the most recent lockdown. Their plans reveal that museums and libraries will be allowed to reopen from 17th May 2021. In contrast, commercial galleries will be able to open from 12th April as part of the second phase.
This means that many art galleries and museums across the country will have been closed for six months during this most recent lockdown. On the face of it, it seems rather ridiculous that gyms and swimming pools will be allowed to reopen before the vast galleries of the V&A and National Gallery will be hosting visitors.
In contrast to the increasingly loud noises made by the cultural institutions of France and Italy, it's rather striking that museum directors here don't seem to have made much of a fuss at all. Will this continue, I wonder?
Update - Thomas Marks has written an opinion piece for the Apollo Magazine on the UK government's curious rationale that museums are less safe than gyms.
Update 2 - Here's a link summarising the study made into the safety of visiting museums by the Hermann-Rietschel-Instituts of the Technische Universität Berlin. It claims that the R-rate concerning visitors to museums at 30% occupancy whilst wearing a mask is 0.5. In comparison, shopping with a mask at 10sqm / person is at 1.1, whilst gyms at 30% occupancy without masks is at 1.4.
