The Bayeux Tapestry will be exhibited at the British Museum from September, on loan from France, in a major cultural exchange. 5 million visitors as the tapestry returns to UK soil for the first time in 1,000 years. He called it a defining piece of the nation's history and a once-in-a-lifetime experience, urging people to mark their calendars.
The exhibition is projected to run until July 2027, based on reports from major media outlets. Tickets for the exhibition will go on sale on July 1, with visitors aged 16 and under granted free entry, according to multiple reports. 2 million to transport the fragile tapestry, as reported by major media.
Next year we are expecting 7.5 million visitors. That's more than the entire 270-odd year history of the British Museum.
The tapestry will be moved via Eurostar train and road, accompanied by police escorts, and it will be housed in a specially designed crate and displayed in a custom case to ensure its protection during transit and exhibition. The exact date of transportation to London has not been disclosed, and the specific ticket prices for adult visitors remain unknown. The loan decision by French President Emmanuel Macron has faced criticism, with detractors citing concerns over the tapestry's fragility.
According to Sky News - Entertainment, Isabelle Attard, former director of the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, described the tapestry as extremely fragile and expressed surprise that British Museum curators might treat it like a normal item, emphasizing that it is irreplaceable. Similarly, according to Sky News - Entertainment, artist David Hockney described some things as too precious to take risks with. 2 million transport budget is unclear, and it is not known whether independent risk assessments have been conducted on moving the tapestry.
Shows that culture can bring people together.
In response, the British Museum insists it has experience in safely transporting fragile artefacts. According to Sky News - Entertainment, Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum, described the museum's primary concern as looking after objects in its care or on loan, noting that they send around 3,000 objects annually and have expert conservation staff. He acknowledged the tapestry's importance and fragility but stated that more fragile items travel regularly.
According to Sky News - Entertainment, Cullinan also described the loan as showing that culture can bring people together. The current confidential storage location of the tapestry in France has not been revealed.
I am not sure that everybody understands how fragile the tapestry is. Emmanuel Macron [has] never cared about the advice and the opinion of the people who specialise in textile preservation. You just don't play with this kind of masterpiece because it's not replaceable. What surprised me is that curators in the British Museum can just see [the tapestry] like a normal item. It's not the case.
Some things are too precious to take a risk with.
A museum's primary concern is to look after objects either in its care or on loan and we send around 3,000 objects every year. We have incredible conservation staff to do this every day. Of course, the tapestry is supremely important. There's a degree of fragility, but the reality is much more fragile things travel all the time.
This will be without doubt the biggest year in the museum’s history – as we expect 7.5 million people to visit as the Bayeux Tapestry returns to UK soil for the first time in 1,000 years. It is a defining piece of our nation’s history and a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. I hope people mark their calendars and seize the chance to see it when it arrives, in what promises to be an extraordinary moment for the country.