{"id":390845,"date":"2026-03-18T04:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T04:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/390845\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T04:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T04:44:12","slug":"i-dont-like-that-idea-outgoing-tate-director-maria-balshaw-enters-debate-on-museum-admission-charges-the-art-newspaper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/390845\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I don\u2019t like that idea\u2019: outgoing Tate director Maria Balshaw enters debate on museum admission charges – The Art Newspaper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maria Balshaw, the outgoing director of Tate, has waded into the debate about introducing admission charges at UK national museums for overseas visitors. \u201cThe British Museum and the V&A, in particular, hold the best of many other nations\u2019 art and culture,\u201d Balshaw told The Financial Times<\/a>.\u2009\u201cWhat does it say to people from the rest of the world if we say, \u2018We\u2019ve got your stuff, but we\u2019re going to charge you to come in\u2019? I don\u2019t like that idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea of charging admission <\/a>at the UK\u2019s leading museums was mooted by the ex-interim director of the British Museum, Mark Jones, in 2024, a suggestion that was met with scepticism by many museum professionals including Tristram Hunt of the Victoria and Albert Museum. In 2024 a report\u00a0published by the Cultural Policy Unit\u2014an independent UK think tank\u2014sa<\/a>id that introducing admission charges for international visitors at national museums would be \u201clogistically complex as well as ideologically at odds with the global collections that the UK has accumulated\u201d.<\/p>\n

The report pointed out that if charges were to be introduced, the British Museum, for instance, would be placed in the unenviable position of having to charge Nigerian tourists to see the Benin Bronzes, or Egyptians to view the Rosetta Stone.<\/p>\n

But other commentators and politicians are advocating for charging overseas visitors. In a recent review <\/a>of Arts Council England, the Labour peer Margaret Hodge said the UK government should consider introducing admission charges for international visitors to museums and galleries via an ID card system.<\/p>\n

At least 80% of revenue raised from a proposed \u201ctourist tax\u201d<\/a> should be ring-fenced for the culture sector, Balshaw added, helping to maintain free admission for museums in London and the regions.<\/p>\n

In the interview, she also urged the UK government to help cash-strapped institutions by offering tax breaks to donors which could in turn boost museum endowment funds. \u201cA modest tax incentive for endowment giving would not be unaffordable, and it would be transformational,\u201d she said. The Tate\u2019s Future Fund endowment, worth \u00a343m at its launch last year, now stands at \u00a355m and has a target of \u00a3150m by 2030. <\/p>\n

Balshaw steps down this month after nine years in post and her successor will be announced this summer, adds The\u00a0Financial Times. Candidates in the running include Jessica Morgan, the director of the Dia Art Foundation in New York, and Karin Hindsbo, Tate\u2019s interim director who was formerly director of Tate Modern.<\/p>\n

The successful candidate will have to demonstrate that they are \u201cvery close to artists and very close to donors\u201d and \u201cconstantly plan for shocks and disappointments while planning to thrill and educate\u201d, said a source close to Tate trustees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maria Balshaw, the outgoing director of Tate, has waded into the debate about introducing admission charges at UK…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[267],"tags":[9349,365,362,363,364,366,18,117,19,17,4504,14816],"class_list":["post-390845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-accessibility","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-museums","tag-tate"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116248357276415913","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}