London’s big public museums and galleries are in crisis. Caught between the aftershocks of the pandemic, the effects of inflation, the cost-of-living crisis and falls in the number of foreign visitors, the capital’s big arts institutions are facing serious financial challenges. In the past two months, the Tate and the Royal Academy have announced serious deficits for their last financial years, of £11 million and £2 million respectively. Insiders are blaming a change in priorities.
Since the pandemic, museum programmes have been characterised by exhibitions that were led by particular social and political agendas. But the question is, are we, the gallery-going public, still interested?
