Stuck between generations’ differing perspectives, our cultural institutions are struggling to reflect the nation
The board meeting seems to have begun, as it does at grand
British institutions, in reliably stuffy
fashion.
One of the National Gallery’s trustees was worried about stray dollops of hand sanitiser upsetting the delicate chemical balance of the historic building. Another asked about umbrella covers, presumably to stop the punters shaking off raindrops on to the old masters. But then came a debate about the Black Lives Matter
protests unfolding literally on the gallery’s doorstep in Trafalgar Square, during which its director, Gabriele Finaldi, warned that “taking a neutral stance was no longer feasible”.