One in eight museums worldwide could face permanent closure – UN

Museums are starting to reopen in some countries, but experts warn that one in eight sites worldwide could face permanent closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. Studies by UNESCO and the International Council of Museums show that 90 percent of the planet’s museums, some 85,000 institutions, have had to shut at least temporarily.

Museums that indicated they may not reopen “have been closed for months and they have no revenues, and they don’t know how they’re going to get their revenues,” Ernesto Ottone, assistant director general for culture at UNESCO, told AP on Tuesday.

Once they do reopen, Ottone said, they won’t have “the capacity to update their infrastructure” to conform with social distancing and other pandemic precautions.

In Europe, such re-openings provide some hope. Four museums and one special exhibition that reopened in Berlin had 10,000 visitors over the past week – around 43 percent of the level recorded for the same week last year.