You Mean Progressive Issues, Don't You?

Of course they do, reader, it's the 'Guardian' after all:

A lack of clear vision, low morale, dwindling popularity and financial shortfalls – this may sound like a description of the previous Labour government, but these are also criticisms levelled at the UK’s most powerful arts institution, Tate. Maria Balshaw’s tenure as the first female director of Tate – comprising Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives – lasted nine years and saw as many culture secretaries. One of Sir Keir Starmer’s last acts as prime minister was to approve the appointment of her successor, Jessica Morgan, a former curator at Tate and head of the Dia Art Foundation in New York.

With record-breaking Frida Kahlo and Tracey Emin shows currently at Tate Modern, suggestions that Ms Morgan is inheriting an institution in a state of “existential crisis” seem exaggerated.

But, there's this:  

Last year’s redundancies and staff strikes across the galleries showed an institution under pressure. It is a far cry from when Nicholas Serota spearheaded Tate Modern just over 25 years ago on the crest of Cool Britannia and the rise of the Young British Artists.

Looming external challenges include the National Gallery’s recent announcement of plans to ditch its 1900 cut-off, thereby encroaching on Tate Modern’s territory, and the possibility of an end to free museum access in the UK.

Oh, no. How will nuseums cope if people stop coming? Are their other funding avenues they could tap? 

Then there is the increasingly problematic issue of funding. Ms Balshaw was right to take a stand against arts donations from fossil fuel companies.

Really? 

Like the new prime minister, Ms Morgan has been hailed as “an agent of change”. How to make lasting change, without alienating core supporters, while inspiring confidence at home and abroad – all when budgets are tight – is the momentous task facing both.

I think there are more momentous tasks facing people in Btitain today.  

Must Be A Small Exhibit...

...they can call it 'Clutching At Straws, Fabulous Straws!'

The Imperial War Museum has been accused of 'reframing history' to give it 'woke appeal' in a new tour featuring trans people in conflict.

When are they not in conflict, you might ask, Reader?  

Created to mark the 25th anniversary since the Government lifted its ban on gay people serving in the Armed Forces, the new digital tour tells ‘personal stories from the LGBTQ+ community’ in times of war. But alongside stories documenting the struggles of gay and lesbian service personnel, more than a third of all the exhibits are about transgenderism.

And they've achieved this by making unlikely historical links and references that would make Erich von Däniken blush with shame. 

Examples include a dress worn by a man for a ‘show’ in a deadly Japanese prisoner of war camp during the 1940s, as well as a Land Army girl who liked to be called ‘John’.

Tour curators also claimed reconstructive surgeries for injured soldiers in World Wars I and II ‘laid the foundation for the future of transgender medicine’.

The guide says that one such worker was Enid Mary Barraud, who ‘challenged gender norms’. It notes: ‘Enid preferred to identify as male, known to friends as “John”, and she lived with her female partner “Bunty”.

So, soldiers doing whatever they can to make captivity less horrific, a lesbian Land Girl and the fact that advances in medical procedure might have helped create transgender operations after the war... somewhat pathetic, wouldn't you say, Reader?   

What Took So Long?

The National Gallery has announced a raft of increased security measures after protesters attacked paintings including Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, John Constable’s The Hay Wain and Diego Velázquez’s The Rokeby Venus. From Friday morning there will be a ban on bringing into the London gallery any liquids except for baby formula, expressed milk or prescription medicines. All doors into the gallery will have walk-through metal detectors, bags and rucksacks will be inspected, and visitors have been asked to bring as few items as possible, and no large bags.

Rather 'shutting the stable door after the horse is well over the horizon' but I guess better late than never.

Also banned from the gallery premises are “displayed or wearable paraphernalia deemed as offensive or affiliated to organisations that pose a physical threat to the collection”, as well as the distribution of any campaign materials.

Should probably add 'multi-hued dyed hair' to that... 

The gallery said it was sorry that visitors were “not going to receive the welcome we would very much like to extend to them, but we hope that they understand why it is necessary for us to do this”.

Anyone who doesn'tmust surely have been living under a rock... 

In response to the letter, a spokesperson for Just Stop Oil told the Art Newspaper: “If the NMDC believes the biggest threat they face is nonviolent protest, they should speak to the staff that are now sleeping in Florida’s Salvador Dalí museum after their houses were destroyed by a supercharged hurricane.”

Just Stop Oil and Youth Demand have since proposed a meeting with the National Gallery’s director, and promised to “leave the soup at home”.

Let me plan the meeting! No tea and coffee, no biscuits, and their chairs poised to drop them into a tank of hungry sharks!  

I Think Someone Would Notice, Surely..?

I mean, you can't really slip them into a pocket and waltz out the door, can you?

The losses took place over several years with a £50,000 jewel – which was advertised on eBay for £40 – listed for sale as long ago as 2016.

Just look for 'buyer must collect' on any eBay ads.

The museum has not specified how many items have been stolen or detailed what the missing items are, saying only that they were “small pieces” including “gold jewellery and gems of semi-precious stones and glass dating from the 15th century BC to the 19th century AD”.

Yeah, 50ft marble friezes are safe.