Museum of London: From the Great Fire to the Black Death, the City has always carved out a bright future
Last week, I cycled into work for my first day in the office since December. I had the galleries and all of the glorious parts of our collections all to myself. A treat, some might say. But as Museum Director, what makes my life in my little corner of the City of London meaningful are the people who visit. As we plough ahead with plans to relax the lockdown, there is nothing more exciting than the prospect of a London filled with people once more, when we can get on with the business of being London’s Museum once again.
The pandemic and the plethora of devastating consequences has been undeniably hard for museums and galleries. We have only been open for 13 weeks since March 2020. During those meagre 13 weeks extraordinarily we managed to open two new exhibitions. Throughout the year we have thrown our energies at connecting with the world with exciting digital projects, even while our doors have been closed. However, writing this a year since we first closed, it’s clear we’ve been away far too long and people really need us.
As a society it has never been more obvious how necessary culture is to our lives and how much museums matter. Some of us are desperate to visit, it’s fundamental to our wellbeing, it’s part of who we are, it’s how we connect with friends, it’s about sharing ideas, it’s about time with the family, it’s a great cup of coffee and it’s about recognising what we have in common with cultures across the globe.
For me the light on the horizon is burning brightly as the vaccination programme storms ahead.
Mindful of this on my way into work I took a detour down Farringdon Road so that I could cycle past West Smithfield, the glorious set of market buildings, just past the Holburn Viaduct, that’s set to be our new home in a few years from now. A historic set of derelict market buildings have been transformed into a museum and a beacon of hope for the City of London’s post-pandemic recovery.
The new museum will breathe new life into this area of the City, attracting over two million visitors annually and bringing back the buzz to the Square Mile. We plan to reach every London schoolchild, ensuring they can visit our unique collection and learn about the incredible history of the greatest city in the world.
It is not only visitors to the capital and schoolchildren who will benefit from Europe’s biggest museum building project. The new museum in the City’s Culture Mile will support a whole ecosystem of small businesses – which we know have suffered terribly due to the pandemic. The museum will be wrapped in a high street – all local businesses – shops and cafes – which will provide a real boost for the local economy.
As we look forward to reopening at our current site in May, I want to reassure all those worried about the future of the City. As we know from our collection, London has endured many challenges – from the Great Fire to the Black Death – and every time, we’ve proven our resilience and bounced back. Here’s to a brighter future for the Square Mile, one with culture and history at its heart.