The Whitechapel Gallery, London

"Just what is it that makes today's institutions so different, so appealing?" is the question posed on the cover of A Manual for the 21st-Century Art Institution, a publication celebrating the recent opening of the expanded Whitechapel Gallery in London's East End.

As its director Iwona Blazwick points out in her introductory essay, there has been a radical transformation in museums over the last century. They have changed from elitist bastions of high art to multi-functional spaces that cater for a range of activities.

Following a two-year expansion costing £13.5m, can the gallery justifiably claim to provide "a template for a 21st-century contemporary art institution"?
Museums and galleries are not simply defined by their collections or by the exhibitions they host but are places of spectacle, education, leisure and shopping. To merit public funding, museums have to meet targets of widening access and participation and are expected to play a role in regeneration by attracting inward investment and increased tourism.

Entrepreneurial skills and the ability to generate revenue streams have become increasingly important within the context of a difficult economic climate. Marketing, management, finance and education are now among the skills needed for professional development qualifications run by organisations such as the Museums Association.

A gallery for the 21st century

So how does the new and improved Whitechapel Gallery address the challenges faced by museums in the 21st century?

In terms of marketing and public relations, it is exemplary. The gallery received widespread media coverage in national and local newspapers, on television and in the trade press before and after opening.

Goshka Macuga's site-specific installation, which includes the Guernica tapestry on loan from the United Nations, proved to be newsworthy in its own right, while the Whitechapel director became the subject of numerous media profiles, including in this magazine (see link below).

With the Tate widely regarded as the leading brand and hub in the UK's contemporary arts network, the Whitechapel has been forced to map out a unique territory for itself. It has achieved this by creating a distinctive identity that focuses on exhibitions of art produced outside the mainstream.

This includes international work that has not been previously shown and art that engages with politics or which is inspired by the history and communities of the East End. Current exhibitions such as the first major retrospective of German artist Isa Genzken, whose work is a critique of war and mass consumption, and the Whitechapel Boys, about a group of radical thinkers who used to meet in the Whitechapel Library, reflect this aim.

The refurbished building, while not spectacular in the manner of the Guggenheim Bilbao, has won acclaim for its architects, Robbrecht en Daem. Working in collaboration with artist Rachel Whiteread, they have created a cultural venue that caters for the needs of contemporary artists while preserving the historic character of the existing architecture.

The gallery's expansion was made possible by the purchase of the adjacent Passmore Edwards Library, which fell vacant when its contents were relocated to David Adjaye's Idea Store in 2005. The incorporation of the library into the gallery is particularly appropriate because of their inter-connected histories.

The Whitechapel Gallery was founded by Canon Samuel Barnett and his wife Henrietta in 1901 with a donation from philanthropist John Passmore Edwards. It was originally located next to the library because their social functions were seen to be compatible.

The first report of the Whitechapel trustees stated that the aim of the institution was "to open to the people of East London a larger world than that in which they usually work". Today the gallery continues to place an emphasis on its work with the local community through its exhibition and education programme.

Changing perspectives

Education has been central to the mission of the gallery from the outset. Initially it was a condition of London County Council funding, but today the improved educational facilities of the refurbished Whitechapel mirror a broader shift in the status of education within museums.

The 2008 Demos consultation paper Culture and Learning: Towards a New Agenda highlighted the benefits of cultural education in terms of widening access and training for the creative industries. At the Whitechapel the new education and research area - the Clore Creative Studios - has increased the space devoted to learning by 70 per cent.

The studios at the top of the building command spectacular views of the London skyline, although they are closed to the public except when events are underway.

Squash and a squeeze

The Whitechapel's expansion has not been matched by a corresponding increase in size in the bookshop and cafe/bar.

A Manual for the 21st Century Art Institution includes a chapter devoted to the cafe and one to the bookshop. Pro rata, this constitutes a larger percentage of space than has been allocated to their physical counterparts within the gallery.

On my visit the cafe/bar was mobbed, while the new Whitechapel Gallery Dining Room remained empty. And even getting into the bookshop proved challenging due to a narrow opening lined with people queuing to pay on one side and stacks of books on the other. This represents a missed opportunity because the selection of art books on display is terrific.

In terms of providing a blueprint for the 21st-century arts institution, the Whitechapel ticks most of the boxes: artist-friendly gallery spaces, thought-provoking exhibitions, strong marketing and branding, good links with the local community and improved outreach and education. However, the experience that museums offer visitors today is as much about entertainment and enjoyment as about art and culture.

According to Blazwick, the "social aspect is the connecting tissue that makes the art institution one of the vital organs of 21st-century society". Unfortunately, it is the Whitechapel's social spaces that fail to live up to expectations.

Nicky Ryan is the principal lecturer, cultural and critical studies, at the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London