Museums and heritage

Residents local to a museum in Suffolk say changing its name may lead to a loss of local heritage.

Stowmarket’s Museum of East Anglian Life is rebranding to the Food Museum. 

Matthew Attwood, creator of a petition against the rebrand that received over 1,000 signatures online, says changing the name and ethos of the museum would mean the loss of the only local institution dedicated to its culture, heritage and history.

The museum has defended its decision, saying the change reflects a consultation that found most of its collections related to food, and that many people were unsure what the museum offered.

A spokesperson said preserving local heritage remains a “real priority”.

“We’re changing our name but keeping our collections which do tell the story of food and farming in East Anglia. We’re just trying to make it more appealing to bring more people in, that’s the key.”

Bristol's RWA art gallery is crowdfunding the final £100,000 of its redevelopment project.

The gallery is slated to reopen in May following a £4.1m refurbishment that it says is "the most significant on a Grade II listed building in over a century".

Works included repairs, accessiblity improvements and the development of free to access galleries across three floors as well as an outdoor events space for sculpture and public arts.

The gallery says it needs half of its crowdfunding target in public donations, as a family trust is willing to match donations of up to £50,000.

RWA Director Alison Bevan says the gallery will be able to welcome 40% more visitors annually once it reopens.

"It will also enable us to extend our community and wellbeing programmes, so that more people from under-represented communities across Bristol have the opportunity to engage in art and creativity."

Manchester Museum's reopening has been delayed due to "the challenges of the pandemic".

Initially slated for the end of 2022, delays in the construction supply chain mean the institution now plans to reopen to the public in February 2023 following an "ambitious and complex" £15m transformation project.

The building will be 25% larger once construction completes, and include four new galleries: a South Asia gallery, the Lee Kai Hung Chinese Culture Gallery, a "Belonging Gallery" and an exhibition hall hosting Egyptian mummies.

The South Asia gallery will be the first of its kind in the UK, created in partnership with the British Museum.

"Our team and partners have never lost faith in our vision for a reimagined Manchester Museum that is more caring, inclusive and imaginative," Director Esme Ward said.

The British Museum plans to renew its controversial sponsorship deal with BP, according to internal emails.

Documents obtained by Culture Unstained show museum director Hartwig Fischer met with the oil giant last year to discuss continuing the partnership beyond spring 2023.

BP or not BP, a separate activist group, staged a protest over the weekend in which they pretended to be British Museum staff presenting fake plans to drill for oil at Stonehenge, in reference to the institution's new BP-funded exhibition about the site.

Last year, the museum publicly claimed “no decision as to a future potential renewal is currently under consideration, nor is it likely to be relevant for some time”.

Culture Unstained said sponsorship renewal would be a “reckless move”.

“It would give further legitimacy to an oil and gas company that has made a massive contribution to climate breakdown and is raking in huge profits from an energy price crisis that’s causing financial hardship for millions.”

Stoke-on-Trent City Council's planned cut to museum funding will have an “immediate, significant and long-lasting adverse impact”, according to The Heritage Network.

The council has paused proposals to cut £560,000 funding and merge the teams at Gladstone Pottery Museum and the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery and says it will present a new business model in a month or two.

If plans go ahead, Gladstone will be closed to the public for five months each year so it can be used as a film set and events venue.

On Tuesday (February 15), the council announced it would extend Gladstone's opening hours to Tuesday through Sunday, reserving the first day of its week as a "special day for schools".

"If we do not take steps to develop Gladstone’s offer, the museum will not sustain and rare crafts could wither and die. We are not prepared for that to happen," Councillor Abi Brown said.

The Heritage Network Chair Danny Callaghan believes the plans will damage Stoke’s “distinctive reputation as a ceramic city of culture”.

“[It will] diminish our ability to build on existing strengths and hamper efforts to develop a truly world class cultural offer, putting years of hard work and planning at risk.”

The Museum of London’s main site is closing at the end of year as it prepares for relocation.

The museum is moving to West Smithfield’s General Market, within the city’s Culture Mile, where it will occupy market buildings that have been empty for more than 30 years.

Its reopening in 2025 will be marked with a festival and a rebrand to The London Museum.

The Museum of London Docklands will remain open throughout but will undergo a name change to become The London Museum Docklands next January.

Museum of London Director Sharon Ament said the venue will become “more than a museum”.

“It will be a new civic space for millions of visitors to enjoy, 24 hours a day… It will bring a new economy and foster a new relationship between people and the place in which they live, work or are visiting.”