The British Museum’s former interim director Mark Jones says tourists should be charged £20 to visit the London institution.
Jones’ comments come after the British Museum launched a design competition to find a team to transform more than a third of its gallery space.
Despite opposition from climate campaigners, the British Museum made a £50 million deal with energy giant BP to help fund the renovation project, which is estimated to cost between £400m and £500m.
Jones told the Times: “The money has to come from somewhere, either a major part of the funding has to be found out of taxation, which is difficult as the public finances are very stressed, or we need to reasonably charge [tourists].
“Why is it more equitable that all of the money should come from British taxpayers, when actually the benefit is enjoyed equally by overseas visitors?”
Currently, the museum’s permanent collections are free to visitors. Jones suggests foreign visitors pay £20 for entry. The Louvre in Paris, for example, charges €22 per adult. Jones added that entry for under 25s and British guests should remain free.
“The British put a very high value on free entry to museums – that is our tradition,” he told the publication. “People who support museums as taxpayers shouldn’t also have to pay to visit them.”
Parthenon marbles should be shared
Jones also called for the Parthenon marbles to be shared with Greece, but said a partnership would need to be funded.
“The way we are going to benefit from, rather than falling out, over the different claims to different objects is by creating partnerships around them, instead of creating conflicts around them,” he said.
“That’s expensive. At the moment, that work is entirely funded by private philanthropy, but in the long run, it would make more sense to use some of the funding that would come in from charging overseas visitors to create a better-funded system of global partnerships.”
Images courtesy of the British Museum
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