Neil MacGregor will stay on as director of the British Museum until at least 2012, it was announced last month.
There had been speculation that MacGregor, who has been at the museum for six years, would be tempted by the top job at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which will become vacant when the current director, Philippe de Montebello, retires at the end of this year.
MacGregor made the announcement at the launch of the museum's annual review, which revealed that it had been a record-breaking year.
As well as recording its busiest ever day (35,000 visitors attended the Chinese New Year celebrations in February), the museum attracted more than 6 million visitors in 2007/08, beating the visitor numbers for both Blackpool Pleasure Beach (5.5 million) and Tate Modern (5.23 million).
MacGregor was also keen to stress the national and international role of the museum, emphasising that there have been nearly 4,000 objects loaned to 268 venues worldwide.
He said that the museum would carry on with the loans programme in the forthcoming year, but that the volume of loans was placing an "enormous strain" on the museum.
A spokeswoman for the museum said it was hoped that the North West Development, a £130m plan to create 17,000 sq metres of temporary exhibition space, would ease some of the practical problems surrounding loans by creating a logistics area dedicated to loans going out and coming in.
As well as a temporary exhibition programme continuing the theme of empire and power that started with the First Emperor exhibition, the museum will also open four permanent galleries over the next six months.
In October a new gallery devoted to clocks and watches will open, followed by the Nebamun Gallery of Ancient Egyptian paintings in November. In spring next year, the Percival David collection of Chinese art, which was transferred to the museum in 2007, will be given a dedicated gallery; and a Medieval Gallery showcasing the Lewis Chessmen will open.
But it is not all good news; staff went on strike last month over the current pay offer (see link below).
There had been speculation that MacGregor, who has been at the museum for six years, would be tempted by the top job at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which will become vacant when the current director, Philippe de Montebello, retires at the end of this year.
MacGregor made the announcement at the launch of the museum's annual review, which revealed that it had been a record-breaking year.
As well as recording its busiest ever day (35,000 visitors attended the Chinese New Year celebrations in February), the museum attracted more than 6 million visitors in 2007/08, beating the visitor numbers for both Blackpool Pleasure Beach (5.5 million) and Tate Modern (5.23 million).
MacGregor was also keen to stress the national and international role of the museum, emphasising that there have been nearly 4,000 objects loaned to 268 venues worldwide.
He said that the museum would carry on with the loans programme in the forthcoming year, but that the volume of loans was placing an "enormous strain" on the museum.
A spokeswoman for the museum said it was hoped that the North West Development, a £130m plan to create 17,000 sq metres of temporary exhibition space, would ease some of the practical problems surrounding loans by creating a logistics area dedicated to loans going out and coming in.
As well as a temporary exhibition programme continuing the theme of empire and power that started with the First Emperor exhibition, the museum will also open four permanent galleries over the next six months.
In October a new gallery devoted to clocks and watches will open, followed by the Nebamun Gallery of Ancient Egyptian paintings in November. In spring next year, the Percival David collection of Chinese art, which was transferred to the museum in 2007, will be given a dedicated gallery; and a Medieval Gallery showcasing the Lewis Chessmen will open.
But it is not all good news; staff went on strike last month over the current pay offer (see link below).
Links
Staff strike over pay proposals, Museums Journal August 2008, p5
Staff strike over pay proposals, Museums Journal August 2008, p5
