PARIS.- He Louvre Museum prepare a new extension to end the agglomerations of tourists in front of the Mona Lisawhile other big museums of the world study reforms to respond to the challenge of excess tourism or climate change.
“Given the explosion of tourism, security problems, climate urgency and the digital revolution, our model is questioned. Everywhere, our international partners are rethinking their spaces,” summarizes Laurence Des Cars, chaired by the Louvre Museum.
It is the most visited museum in the world, with about 9 million people in 2024, of which 80% are foreign tourists, ahead of the British Museum, the Vatican and MET museums in New York.
The renewal plan foresees by 2031 a new entry to decongest the glass pyramid and an exhibition room dedicated exclusively to the Mona Lisawith an additional entrance ticket.
80% of the 30,000 daily visitors (limited by a capacity) come to see Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece and … take selfies
In Madrid, El Prado (3.5 million visitors in 2024) has found a solution opening every day to “better distribute the load of visitors” … and prohibit taking photos.
“If 8,500 people come to Prado every day, that means 8,500 photos in the same place, probably in front of Las Meninas from Velázquez or The Garden of Delights From HariOmus Bosch, “justifies his address.
“Sustainable Materials”
In the Louvre, which has 70,000 m2 of exposure surface, a completely renowned circulation plan has also been announced, in a building sanitized and equipped with new rooms for an estimated total cost between 700 and 800 million euros in ten years, or even “one billion,” according to unions.
The State has already announced that its participation will be minimal, 160 million euros in 15 years, according to the Ministry of Culture.
Consequently, the museum will have to get its own resources (box office, patronage, ABU Dhabi brand license) and also innovate with a more expensive entrance for visitors outside the EU (30 euros) from 2026.
In London, where access to the permanent collections of museums is free but temporary exhibitions are paid, the National Gallery has undertaken important works within the framework of its 200th anniversary.
Aim? The total review of its entrance to better host its visitors (more than 6 million a year before COVID and 4.2 million in 2023) and the creation of a space dedicated to research as well as an educational center.
This program, with a budget of 85 million pounds (101.6 million euros), aims to make the museum more efficient in terms of energy consumption and more: “resilient to the impacts of climate change,” according to its direction.
Efforts are being made to provide more natural light as well as natural ventilation where possible and to find sustainable materials.
New strategy
In New York, the Metropolitan Museum has been losing visitors since 2019.
To remedy it, it has completely renewed its wing dedicated to the masters of the fourteenth to the nineteenth century, one of the largest collections of the world of European paintings.
The Ceiling Clamp dated 1939 and the last time they were renewed was in the 1950s.
The works, with a total cost of 150 million dollars, have lasted five years. The collections have been chronologically reorganized, which have a new lighting thanks to the Claraboyas and the LED lights on the ceiling, in completely repaired rooms, according to its director, Max Hollein.
Like their counterparts who want to attract a younger and diverse audience, the MET has adopted a less focused approach to their collections, according to Hollein.
After several additional works of several million dollars, a wing will reopen in spring that houses all the arts of Africa as well as from Oceania and America before the European colonizations.
Last year he dedicated an unprecedented exhibition to Harlem rebirththe first international movement of modern art founded by African -American artists.
The Met has also opened in 2023 to the immersive, presenting a collection of dresses from its fashion department with synthesis images, sponsored by the social network Tiktok, for its spring exhibition that coincides with its gala where the stars congregate.
FOUNTAIN: AFP
