Has the drop in visitors changed museums

After a year that has seen a dramatic drop in visitors and revenue, have museums as we know them changed forever? Image: National Galleries of Scotland; Photo by Stuart Armitt.

Has the drop in visitors changed museums forever?, The Art Newspaper, 2 April 2021

Exhibitions editor José da Silva breaks down the results from our Visitor Figures 2020 survey and digital expert Chris Unitt explains how museums have pivoted to digital

Hosted by Ben Luke and Aimee Dawson. Produced by Julia Michalska and David Clack with Henrietta Bentall. Sponsored by Christie’s.

After a year that has seen a dramatic drop in visitors and revenue, have museums as we know them changed forever? Image: National Galleries of Scotland; Photo by Stuart Armitt

The Art Newspaper’s annual survey of museum attendance is out: just how many visitors and how much money have museums lost in the pandemic? And how have digital initiatives helped?

José da Silva, the exhibitions editor at The Art Newspaper and one of the editors of our annual visitor figures survey, talks about the 77% global fall in visitor numbers and the huge losses in self-generated income in museums. And we talk to Chris Unitt, the founder of One Further, a digital consultancy for the arts industry, about museums’ work in the digital field, how effective it has been and how it might be used in the future.

And, in excerpts from our sister podcast, A brush with… we hear Michael Armitage and Julie Mehretu discussing Titian and Velázquez.

The Week in Art podcast by The Art Newspaper is available every Friday on our website and all the usual places where you find podcasts. This podcast is sponsored by Christie’s.