The British Museum has appointed Nicholas Cullinan as its new director, replacing Hartwig Fischer who resigned in August after the museum disclosed that more than 1,800 items were missing in an apparent case of insider theft. Acting director Mark Jones has been overseeing operations since then, but Cullinan will officially take over in the summer. Cullinan is currently the director of the National Portrait Gallery and has previous experience working at Tate Modern in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. His appointment was approved by the British Museum’s trustees and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The missing items at the British Museum were discovered to have been taken by a former curator, Paul Higgs, who has since been fired and is being sued by the museum at the High Court. Lawyers for the museum allege that Higgs stole ancient gems, gold jewelry, and other pieces from storerooms over the course of a decade. However, Higgs denies the allegations and intends to dispute the museum’s legal claim. Police are also investigating the case, but no charges have been filed as of yet. The museum is one of Britain’s biggest tourist attractions, welcoming 6 million visitors a year, who come to see a diverse collection that includes Egyptian mummies, ancient Greek statues, Viking hoards, Chinese poetry scrolls, and masks from Indigenous peoples of Canada.
The British Museum has come under increasing scrutiny for its collection, particularly items taken from other countries during the time of the British Empire. There is ongoing debate over the Parthenon Marbles, 2,500-year-old sculptures taken from Athens by British diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 19th century. Greece has long campaigned for the return of the marbles, but the British Museum is prohibited by law from giving them back. Efforts to reach a compromise, such as a long-term loan, have been discussed between British and Greek officials. However, these discussions faced a setback in November when a diplomatic dispute over the marbles led to a canceled meeting between Prime Minister Sunak and his Greek counterpart.
With Nicholas Cullinan’s appointment, the British Museum is embarking on what its Chairman George Osborne describes as a new chapter with confidence. Cullinan expressed his honor to become the director of one of the world’s greatest museums and looks forward to leading the institution through significant transformations, both architecturally and intellectually. He aims to maintain the British Museum as an engaged and collaborative institution. The museum’s leaders are working to address the challenges of the missing artifacts and the international debates surrounding the collection, as they strive to uphold the institution’s reputation and relevance in the evolving cultural landscape.
