Neil MacGregor announced in an emotional meeting with staff on 8 April that he will retire as director of the British Museum at the end of December. The museum’s trustees have already started what will be an international search for his successor. On his retirement, MacGregor plans to work on three projects, two of which are abroad.
He will be a tough act to follow after 13 successful years at the helm. Attendance has risen to 6.7 million in 2014. Eight million visitors a year are expected by 2020. Whoever takes over will also inherit pressing issues, including the need to reinvigorate outdated displays and make the best use of the building in Bloomsbury, central London.
One of the first major tasks for the new director will be how to use the round Reading Room, a historic space at the heart of the museum. Various options are being considered: one strong possibility is for the room to provide an introduction to the museum and its collection. As the Reading Room is a listed structure, permission for any changes to the library desks will require approval from the local authority, Camden Council, which may prove tricky.
While MacGregor oversaw the opening of the Enlightenment Gallery and Wellcome Gallery, many of the other galleries around the Great Court are in need of upgrading. Some collections deserve more space. One example is Islamic artefacts, and in March the museum announced that they would be moved to more spacious galleries on the main visitor circuit on the upper floor. Funded by the Malaysian businessman Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, the new Islamic galleries are due to open in 2018.
International vision
Behind the scenes, new storage facilities need to be brought into use. The museum’s massive north-west extension, which opened in 2014, has three underground floors for storage that are now being filled, a lengthy process that may not be completed until 2020.
Arguably the main challenge for MacGregor’s successor will be dealing with the impact of a series of cuts by the outgoing Conservative-led coalition. The museum’s latest accounts record a fall in government grants totalling 30% in real terms (after inflation) from 2010 to 2016. The incoming director may well face further cuts in the coming years.
MacGregor’s directorship will perhaps be best remembered for its internationalism, such as the loan of the Cyrus Cylinder to Tehran in 2010. But even his considerable diplomatic skills failed to defuse the row over the Parthenon Marbles, a dispute that has plagued successive directors for decades. The recent loan of the statue of Ilissos, from the west pediment of the Parthenon, to the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg was an attempt to change the situation, by emphasising the British Museum’s willingness to lend individual pieces on a short-term basis. However, the loan to Russia only angered the Greeks and the stalemate appears intractable. In March, the UK government rejected Unesco’s mediation offer.
MacGregor has played a key role in supporting Iraq’s museums since the lootings that followed the 2003 invasion. Under his leadership, the British Museum has also become more entrepreneurial, for example its consultancy work on the Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi, scheduled to open in 2016. The London museum is being paid for its technical assistance and for its loans—an arrangement that is bringing in a hefty fee.Berlin and Mumbai beckon Neil MacGregor will be busy after leaving the British Museum. His most prestigious project will be in Berlin, chairing an advisory board to make recommendations to the German minister of culture, Monika Grütters, on how the Humboldt-Forum should present world cultures. Located in a partial reconstruction of the Stadtschloss, the 18th-century Prussian royal palace, the forum will house the Berlin museums’ collection of world art, as well as library and university facilities.
Last year MacGregor was apparently approached about being the forum’s director, but declined and is now joining in an advisory role. The €590m building is due to open in 2019.
MacGregor will also be advising on interpreting world cultures at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya Museum in Mumbai. He describes the museum, which is devoted to art and history, as “one of the finest and most active in South/Southeast Asia”.
His third project will be to present a BBC Radio 4 series on faith and society. He has also been mentioned as a possible presenter of a new version of the BBC’s 1969 television series Civilisation, although no appointment has yet been made.