Dubbed London’s version of the Met Gala, the British Museum’s inaugural ball raised more than £2.5 million ($3.3 million), with proceeds “for [our] international partnership,” the museum said in a statement.
On Saturday, a £2,000 ($2,700) fundraiser featured a silent auction and was attended by celebrities including Mick Jagger, Janet Jackson, Tracey Emin, James Norton and Naomi Campbell. Guests can bid on Emin’s pet portraits, behind-the-scenes tours of the museum’s science research laboratories, a special preview of the Bayeux Tapestry on loan for next year, and a private dinner with the institution’s director, Nicholas Cullinan.
That evening, the museum announced a pledge of £10.3 million ($13.7 million) from the Garfield Weston Foundation. “This significant contribution will allow the museum to advance our visitor welcome plan, which includes new visitor welcome pavilions at the north and south entrances. The plan will create a world-class visitor welcome experience through cutting-edge design, landscaping and a reimagining of the museum’s famous forecourt.”
The star-studded event was not without controversy, however, as an unnamed woman entered the museum’s large courtyard dressed as a waitress. In a video posted online by the UK-based Palestinian Energy Embargo group, she can be seen standing on stage next to George Osborne, chairman of the museum’s board of directors, holding a sign that read “Abandon BP now.” Protesters on the night claimed the British Museum had been criticized for accepting £50m ($67m) sponsorship from an oil and gas giant that was “causing climate breakdown” and “actively contributing to genocide in Gaza”.
Not only that, after the ball, Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni criticized the British Museum for allowing around 800 guests to play around the Elgin Marbles. She said the museum had shown “provocative indifference” to its collection of ancient Greek sculptures from the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis, entertaining them next to them. Mendoni denounced the use of the marbles as mere “decorative elements,” saying such activities disrespected the sculptures’ cultural significance and jeopardized their preservation.
