London: British Museum gets new director after series of thefts under Hartwig Fischer

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The Greek Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum

Photo: David Cliff / ZUMA Wire / IMAGO

After a series of thefts, the British Museum in London gets a new director. As the museum announced on Thursday, 46-year-old Nicholas Cullinan had been recruited for the position. He has headed the National Portrait Gallery in the British capital since 2015. Cullinan thus succeeds the German art historian Hartwig Fischer. He resigned last August because of the thefts. Since then, the museum has only had one acting director.

Cullinan, who is also an art historian and has worked as a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Tate Modern in London, called it "an honor" to lead one of the "greatest museums in the world." Board of Trustees Chairman George Osborne said Cullinan had demonstrated "leadership" in his previous roles, including the successful renovation of the National Portrait Gallery.

Cullinan faces enormous tasks. His predecessor, Mark Jones, described the job this way: “Some days are terrible, others not too bad.” Now, on the one hand, Cullinan has to secure financing for the museum. There was recently strong criticism for a sponsorship deal with the oil company BP. This provided the museum with almost 60 million euros. Linked to this is the plan to completely renew the museum over the next ten years. An architectural competition for renovation work is to be announced this spring.

There is also a debate about colonialism. Bronze figures from Benin are on display in the British Museum. Likewise the Parthenon sculptures from Greece. There are still demands from their country of origin to return the sculptures. At the same time, he has to regain the trust he lost after the series of thefts.

In August it became known that around 2,000 smaller objects had been stolen from the museum's depot. British police launched an investigation and an employee of the museum was fired.

Before joining the British Museum, Cullinan restored the National Portrait Gallery for around 48 billion euros, demonstrating leadership and implementing a vision of what museums can look like in the 21st century.

Founded in 1753, the British Museum is one of the most renowned museums in the world. His collection includes around eight million objects, including Egyptian mummies, parts of the marble frieze from the Parthenon in Athens and the famous Rosetta Stone, which was used to decipher the hieroglyphs.

lpz/AFP