Arts funding

Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art has announced that with “extreme sadness and sorrow”, it will close until October following its occupation by the student-led group Goldsmith’s for Palestine.

The activists have occupied various university buildings since February and last month “pressured” CCA to close on 31 May and for the remainder of its current exhibition in June as part of a widespread cultural strike in solidarity with Palestine.

Among its demands, Goldsmiths For Palestine (GFP) is asking the university to end its involvement with honourary fellow Candida Gertler and her husband Zak, who are “major benefactors” to CCA and have a gallery named after them. GFP claim the couple are closely linked with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and involved with supporting illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

On 11 June, CCA posted that “with regret,” the gallery would be closing its doors until October. The gallery's statement said: "We are closing because a student group has been occupying the space, which prevents us from operating properly as a public art gallery.

“We’re doing this because while the occupation continues, we are unable to fulfil the terms required by our insurers for keeping artworks safe and unable to maintain health and safety standards for visitors and staff.”

As a result, its upcoming exhibition, featuring the work of German artist Galli, has been rescheduled to early 2025, while its residents programme, which houses school groups, student groups, and artist and community groups, has been “paused for the time being.”

Artist Mark Corfield-Moore, who, along with Matt Connors, had his exhibition at CCA cut short after the gallery occupation in May, posted a message of support for the GFP on Instagram, saying that despite the premature closing, “some things are rightfully more important right now.”

GFP told The Arts Newspaper that after initial concession from the university’s senior management following earlier occupations, they had since missed two meetings with the group 

In a statement, the group said: “We reiterate that our action is a direct result of senior management's failures and any decisions made by CCA to close were entirely their decisions. The closure until October was neither a suggested nor intended part of our campaign.

"We were not told that this would be a possibility or outcome of our actions before it was publicly announced, and we had been attempting to negotiate with the CCA in good faith to navigate the de-installations/installations of exhibitions and with the knowledge of impacts on precarious workers at the CCA, namely the front of house staff who are mostly students like us.”

An out-of-hours, behind-the-scenes tour of the British Museum has launched for groups of up to eight at a cost of £79 per person.

Operated by Bloomsbury Hotel Montague on the Gardens and only available to its guests, the Conflict and Conservation tour focuses on the museum’s operation during World War Two. Attendees are granted access to the museum and some non-public areas with a guide for an hour before it opens to the general public.

The move is part of a broader trend for cultural sites to offer exclusive out-of-hours access for those willing to pay a premium. Often operated privately, the tours can provide a lucrative source of income, particularly to institutions like the British Museum, where access is usually free.

In April, the Greek Culture Ministry proposed introducing private visits to the Acropolis and the Parthenon two hours before and after regular opening hours.

Costing €5,000 for a group of five, the Hellenic Organisation of Cultural Resources Development estimated that the initiative could raise up to €40,000 a day to support and protect cultural sites.

Derbyshire County Council’s plan to sell the buildings that house Buxton Museum & Art Gallery have caused concern among local campaigners, who fear the institution will be scrapped entirely as the local authority attempts to plug a £33m budget deficit.

Located in the historic Peak Buildings complex since 1928, the council-run museum closed suddenly in June 2023 after structural issues related to dry rot were discovered.

The local authority co-funded a significant refurbishment of the building in 2017 along with the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, the Bingham Trust, the Wolfson Foundation, and the Paul Mellon Centre.

However, the council say the building is no longer viable due to “the potential costs and length of time which could be needed for us to bring the building back into use as a modern-day museum”.

Council Leader Barry Lewis said that the council had been left with “no choice” but to “reluctantly relocate” the museum and art gallery following ongoing building assessments, adding that work to move all artefacts would begin immediately, following which the building will be put up for sale.

“It would be far better for the building and town if the building was sold to a buyer who could invest in it and bring it back up to a high standard,” continued Lewis.

“This would be out of our reach as a local authority, and this way, we would be able to retain the sale price and re-invest in the museum when we find a new and appropriate location.”

He said the council remains “fully committed” to supporting the museum and its future in Buxton and that plans are being developed to display the collections locally in the interim period before a permanent home is found.

Despite Lewis’ assurance, residents have launched a campaign to save the museum. 

Supporters are concerned that the council has already cut or fully withdrawn funding to other heritage services to save money and are preparing to demonstrate outside the building on 8 June.

A statement from the campaigners to Museums Association said: “The lack of information has raised questions and fears that Buxton Museum & Art Gallery as we know it will be significantly reduced or scrapped altogether.

“This event [on 8 June] reflects concerns that the closure, coinciding with Derbyshire County Council's significant budget deficit and subsequent spending freeze in September 2023, will make it particularly challenging to resolve.

"The public event aims to highlight the scale of passion that the local community feel for Buxton Museum & Art Gallery and the valuable contribution that it has made to education, tourism, and cultural expression over the years.”