Martin Roth, the director of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) since 2011, announced his resignation on 5 September. This came as a surprise, since it had been expected that he would carry on, possibly for another four years until he turns 65. When the news broke, Roth had no idea that just three days later Nicholas Serota would be announcing his departure from the Tate. Their resignations will have a fundamental change on London’s museum scene. In the week of Roth’s departure, he spoke to us very frankly about the ups and downs of his five years in London.
The Art Newspaper: Did you resign over Brexit?
Martin Roth: It was just an element, but definitely an element. Brexit was about telling people lies, Little England coming back, new nationalism returning to Europe, xenophobia, hate crimes. I had always thought about staying in London when I retired. But do I want to stay and then perhaps eventually have to apply for a visa?
Should UK museum directors have spoken out against Brexit before the referendum?
In hindsight, I think we should have done more together. We have to take greater responsibility politically, although not in a party political sense. It is part of our job to publicly defend a civil society and the values of the past. It is not just objects we have in our collection, but values.
We represent a history, and values represent the way we live together. One of the reasons why I am such a fan of the V&A is that Prince Albert and [the founding director] Henry Cole were outspoken in supporting education for the proletariat. They wanted to change society and education was a tool.
Museums are now supporting the mayor, Sadiq Khan, in his “London is Open” campaign.
It is a great slogan. But if it is a vision without being executed, then it is just hot air.
What are your other reasons for leaving the V&A?
I have been here for almost exactly five years. I came with a five-year plan of what I wanted to achieve. We now have record visitor figures. Galleries have been refurbished, most recently Europe 1600-1815. We have partnerships with new museums in Dundee and Shenzhen [China]. V&A East is being set up on the former Olympic site in East London. These achievements culminated with the Art Fund’s Museum of the Year award in July.
What more needs to be done?
On the curatorial side, we need to get more younger people on the staff. A lot of curators have been here for a very long time.
The most important reason why I wanted to join the V&A was its collection. But it is question of how you work with that collection. Our collection is a knowledge bank. We have to open it to the public, practitioners, the media, students—in both digital and physical ways.
Museums are completely changing right now. We should have the curated, exhibited collection and the accessible collection in storage, although I don’t like the word “storage”. That is what we will see in five to ten years from now. I was fighting very strongly in that direction. There are some in the museum who are more open to this idea than others, who are more conservative.
Did you find it more difficult or easier coming in as a European?
When I arrived I asked Mark Jones, my predecessor, for advice. He said “Don’t try to be British,” and that was the best advice. I had more freedom to be completely different.
When I came I didn’t know what the class system represented in Britain. It took me a long time to understand what it means in daily life.
I said at the beginning that we needed efficient and effective management. It was difficult for me, although there were a few trustees who really supported me extremely well. Sometimes people had a knife in my back, but overall I was well received. I soon felt at home.
The first year-and-a-half was really difficult for me personally because I had to make management changes. After that it was not exactly easy, but easier. When Tim Reeve arrived as deputy director he was an amazing help.
What are your plans?
I will be living in Berlin and Vancouver. I am not looking for another position as a museum director or consultancies but I am definitely going to be active in the future, partly serving on boards. I am on the boards of the Goethe-Institut and the Expo 2020 Dubai. From next June I will be chairing Germany’s Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations.
I want to be more engaged in a political sense. I am starting to work in Germany with an initiative called Offene Gesellschaft [Open Society].
How do feel about leaving London?
I love London and the V&A. I have spent 14 hours a day here or in economy [seats] in airplanes working for the museum. If I didn’t love the place, I wouldn’t have done that. It will be difficult to leave. I have never liked a city so much. For me, London is the cultural capital of the world, perhaps together with New York.
You leave in late October and your successor will not arrive until next spring? Why are you going so soon?
It’s like a love affair. Once you split, you don’t want to share the kitchen table.