{"id":120067,"date":"2025-09-05T05:38:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T05:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/120067\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T05:38:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T05:38:12","slug":"why-the-national-gallery-is-creating-a-public-panel-to-help-shape-its-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/120067\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the National Gallery is creating a public panel to help shape its future"},"content":{"rendered":"

What do you expect to see when visiting the National Gallery<\/a> in London? A neatly curated collection of landscape painting? Or a selection of the gallery\u2019s must-see highlights \u2013 a veritable who\u2019s-who of art history? <\/p>\n

Both are reasonable expectations \u2013 but why? What does this tell us about the purpose and priorities of the National Gallery? This is a question underpinning NG Citizens<\/a>, a recently announced initiative which sees the National Gallery promising to put people from across the UK \u201cat the heart of its decision-making\u201d.<\/p>\n

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This article is part of our State of the Arts<\/a> series. These articles tackle the challenges of the arts and heritage industry \u2013 and celebrate the wins, too.<\/p>\n

Launching this autumn, NG Citizens will form a citizens\u2019 assembly of 50 participants chosen by a civic lottery. Building on the gallery\u2019s previous efforts<\/a> co-creating projects with its target audiences, NG Citizens is \u201ca culture-shaping step\u201d designed to ensure the gallery remains \u201crelevant, inclusive and genuinely reflective of the public we serve\u201d, according to Jane Knowles, the gallery\u2019s director of public engagement.<\/p>\n

So why now? The National Gallery is not struggling to attract people. Its latest figures show that last year, there were more than 4.7 million visitors<\/a> to the London gallery and its touring displays \u2013 an increase of almost 10% from 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Having recently celebrated its bicentenary, the National Gallery is keen to secure its position in the UK\u2019s cultural landscape for another 200 years. With this in mind, NG Citizens is central to the gallery\u2019s plans for the future<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

These emphasise the need to demonstrate that it is a \u201cnational institution at the heart of national life\u201d. This aspiration is supported by the creation of a new national learning service which aims to share the gallery\u2019s collection with as wide an audience as possible.<\/p>\n

Given the increasing international erosion of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)-related work, NG Citizens is a response to the UK museum sector\u2019s wider commitment to access and inclusion<\/a>. Museums and galleries are responding to this in several ways, from showcasing the work<\/a> of marginalised, often-overlooked communities to amplifying<\/a> the voices and experiences of staff, and publicising strategies<\/a> for accountability. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Vincent van Gogh is the most popular artist ever exhibited at the National Gallery.
\n The National Gallery London.<\/p>\n

Paving the way<\/p>\n

This, however, isn\u2019t the first time galleries and museums have sought public input \u2013 regional institutions have already been paving the way for NG Citizens.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Nottingham\u2019s New Art Exchange launched the Voice Assembly. Tasked with \u201cshaping the future of art and culture in a meaningful, citizen-led manner\u201d, Voice became the first initiative of its kind<\/a> in which a cultural institution integrated a citizen assembly as part of its permanent leadership.<\/p>\n

NG Citizens also draws inspiration from the timely work of Birmingham Museums Citizens\u2019 Jury<\/a>. Last year, this pioneering project saw Birmingham Museums invite 30 of the city\u2019s residents to engage directly with the decision-making processes that will help to reshape the future of the group\u2019s activities.<\/p>\n

Over a series of six sessions, participants worked together to reimagine how the city\u2019s cultural institutions can play a sustainable and meaningful role in public life. All those involved agreed that museums should provide experiences that are educational and improve knowledge. There was overwhelming agreement, too, that the city\u2019s museums should welcome and inspire people of all ages and backgrounds, not just be spaces for an educated elite.<\/p>\n

Yet these points have already raised concerns, including questions surrounding the intention of NG Citizens. While initially praising the scheme<\/a>, UK museums consultant Maurice Davies has questioned whether the gallery is actually changing the way things are run, or if NG Citizens is simply a more sophisticated form of audience research.<\/p>\n

Further concerns have been raised by critics worried over the extent to which the initiative will affect the content and purpose of the National Gallery\u2019s collections and displays. For example, Evening Standard columnist Melanie McDonagh has questioned<\/a> whether NG Citizens undermines the gallery\u2019s reputation, describing it as \u201can awful idea\u201d while arguing that \u201cthe point of the gallery is not to solicit the opinions of an uninformed public\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Banquet Still Life (1622), oil on wood by Floris van Dijck, was a recent gift to the National Gallery for the nation.
\n The National Gallery London<\/p>\n

Such concerns prompted swift responses<\/a> from the National Gallery, reassuring critics that NG Citizens will not be directly involved with the selection of artworks and curation of exhibitions.<\/p>\n

Why NG Citizens will be consulted on the gallery\u2019s future purpose but not involved in curatorial decisions remains unclear. Perhaps reimagining the curatorial model of \u201cexperts\u201d selecting works for public display, based on connoisseurship and notions of taste, will be the task for future groups of NG Citizens.<\/p>\n

Is it the case, then, that the National Gallery is playing catch-up with both regional museums and industry research? For those engaged with museum and heritage studies, the question of audience engagement and participation is nothing new.<\/p>\n

Research groups<\/a> and institutions<\/a> across the UK are continually exploring methods of collaboration to assess how co-production can improve public engagement.<\/p>\n

There is still work to be done to ensure that UK museums and galleries offer fair and equal access to all members of society. However, I believe NG Citizens presents an exciting opportunity to put the public at the centre of the National Gallery\u2019s approach to future working practices.<\/p>\n

The gallery\u2019s initial aim is to ask NG Citizens to reconsider its role in public life. Through opening this revered institution to more democratic modes of thinking and audience collaboration, perhaps soon a reasonable question to ask people will be: \u201cWhat would you like to see at the National Gallery?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What do you expect to see when visiting the National Gallery in London? A neatly curated collection of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":["post-120067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}