The Tate galleries have suffered a staggering loss of 2.2 million visitors over the past five years – a decline of over 20 per cent from pre-pandemic levels. Once a thriving beacon of British cultural life, the institution now finds itself in discussions with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport regarding its financial health, with trustees openly admitting to “uncertainty” over its long-term viability.
Rather than use this moment as a wake-up call, the conversation within Tate – and the wider UK gallery ecosystem – seems increasingly introspective. The focus has shifted away from audience engagement and into ideological territory, where curatorial decisions appear to prioritise activism over art.
This isn’t an isolated issue. Across the country, museums such as the Kelvingrove in Glasgow and the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge have taken a similar turn. Labels accompanying artworks now often highlight racism, colonialism, classism and gender inequities – worthy topics to be sure, but frequently presented without nuance. The infamous 2021 Tate Britain exhibition Hogarth and Europe included a label suggesting a chair in a self-portrait symbolised the “unnamed black and brown people enabling the society that supports his vigorous creativity.” Such assertions come off as overly simplistic, and at times, absurd.
Critics have not held back. The Financial Times’ Jackie Wullschlager bemoaned the Tate’s refusal to put a painting on the exhibition catalogue cover, calling it an act of censorship. The Telegraph’s Melanie McDonagh labelled the curation “asinine wokery.” On social media, many expressed frustration: “art as a guilt trip,” “patronising,” and “preachy” were just a few of the milder critiques.
Of course, museums must evolve, and broadening historical perspectives is part of that. But when curators deliver moral lectures rather than present history, they risk alienating the very audiences they hope to enlighten. Visitors come for art, not for guilt-tripping sermons.
Meanwhile, the Royal Academy of Arts finds itself in a similarly precarious financial position. Visitor numbers are half what they were before the pandemic – down to 622,000 in 2024 from 1.25 million. With costs rising and income falling, it faces a £7 million black hole. Unlike the Tate, it receives no government support. Jobs are on the chopping block, with up to 60 staff facing redundancy.
Contrast this with the British Museum, which is enjoying a healthy bounce-back. Visitor numbers reached 6.48 million in 2024, an 11 per cent increase from the previous year. It’s not quite back to its pre-Covid peak of 6.7 million, but the trajectory is encouraging.
The broader problem is that museums have become battlegrounds in the culture wars. The industry’s ideological turn is no longer subtle. The Museums Association has openly pushed for decolonisation, and university policies – like Leicester’s trans-inclusive guidance – are shaping curatorial decisions. These moves, however well-intentioned, often come at the cost of alienating mainstream audiences.
Politicians are starting to take note. Baroness Margaret Hodge is currently reviewing Arts Council England. At Freedom in the Arts, we welcome this review – and hope it will scrutinise the increasingly politicised nature of the arts sector.
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What’s truly worrying is not just declining visitor numbers, but the growing public perception that these institutions are out of touch. The arts depend on goodwill, public interest, and funding. If they continue down this path, they risk losing all three.
The warning signs were there long before Covid. Brexit should have prompted soul-searching, but instead, the arts establishment doubled down on its sense of moral superiority. The pandemic merely accelerated a shift: galleries, relieved of daily visitors, grew more insular. Now, the public is being treated not as guests to be welcomed, but as backward pupils to be corrected.
That’s a mistake. Art should provoke, challenge, inspire – not preach. If galleries forget that, audiences won’t write complaint letters. They’ll simply stay away. And when enough of them do, the real damage begins.
