UK Museum Visitor Numbers Up

The Guardian lists the visitor numbers for the UK’s museum with the news that numbers are up. 

The economy has gone south, high street names have gone bust, but next year could still be a good time for culture vultures. Some of Britain’s leading museums, galleries and heritage sites, many of which have free entry, are cheerier than most when it comes to predictions for the rest of this year.

It sounds so positive. The British Museum pulled in nearly six million visits, a 9.5% increase from last year. I think we can put that down to the Terracotta Army exhibition. The seven national museums in Liverpool experienced huge increases because of the European Capital of Culture programme.

But some realism needs to be added here. The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum lost a third of its visitor yet remained the top attraction outside of London? Notice something about the top ten? All London museums and all nationals. For Non-UK readers who don’t know, this means they take the money straight from the government and charge no entrance fee. Except maybe St. Paul’s Cathedral. I don’t know what their financial status would be.

How much was spent on Liverpool’s museums? To then see that the entire city’s seven museums attracted the same as the Science Museum shows the imbalance of culture in the UK. It’s fine to say that numbers are up and museums are going to be fine, but it’s really just the biggest museums getting bigger. I’m reading news every day of another UK museum struggling to survive. I find it irresponsible for The Guardian to say museums (especially ones who charge no fee and get money provided for AND have blockbuster exhibitions) are going to be alright when the evidence shows that the vast majority really aren’t.

Also, massive drops in visitor numbers in the Tate Modern and the V&A. Is this people getting sick of contemporary art that they struggle to relate to?