Misbehaving at the British Museum

A pair of sniggering schoolboys grope the breasts of a 3,500-year-old bust of an Egyptian queen, while a sarcophagus dating from 1500BC is used as a makeshift rubbish bin and a climbing frame.

It sounds like a scene from Carry On Cleo, but it's just another day at the British Museum.

The boorishness and schoolboy antics frequently witnessed in the museum, have forced curators to put the bulk of their precious Egyptian collection behind glass. Documents reveal that staff fear deteriorating public behaviour is putting exhibits at risk.

The papers also show that curators have pleaded in vain with management to put "Do Not Touch" signs in Gallery 4, which houses much of the Egyptian collection.

In a letter in February, Jeffrey Spencer, the deputy keeper of the collection, sympathises with an outraged member of the public who witnessed 17 inappropriate incidents on a single visit.

This is completely consistent with what I've seen pretty much every time I visit the Egyptian galleries. That curators have been protesting so energetically yet to so little effect is disturbing, to say the least. The Telegraph article also notes that it isn't just the Egyptian collection:

Other papers reveal friction between staff members working in the neo-classical King's Library, at the museum. One female member of staff complained to a warder about people touching sculptures and other treasures but his reaction left her bemused and angry. According to an email she sent to a senior colleague last year, the warder "pretty much told me to bog off as [the visitors] were allowed to touch everything in the King's Library." Her colleague admits to being "a bit worried" by the warder's response.

Companion article with further descriptions of bad behavior here.

Posted by David on October 7, 2006 9:54 PM