From red / dpa August 28, 2020 – 8:57 am
“Dream Together” – Yoko Ono’s motto for the new start of the Metropolitan Museum
Photo: dpa / Christina Horsten
Dream together: With a work by Yoko Ono on the facade, the New York Metropolitan Museum is back in the Corona crisis after being closed for almost six months.
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From red / dpa
08/28/2020 – 8:57 am
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Stuttgart – With a work by Yoko Ono on the facade and a wall installation on the roof, the New York Metropolitan Museum is back after almost six months of closure in the Corona crisis. With hygiene, distance and mask rules as well as greatly reduced capacity, the renowned museum in New York’s Central Park plans to reopen its doors to visitors on Saturday, August 29th. “We look forward to the reopening with great hope and anticipation,” said Austrian-born director Max Hollein.
Journalists and members of the Metropolitan Museum’s Friends’ Association were allowed to visit the exhibition rooms in the days before, and long queues formed in front of the building. In addition to the permanent exhibits, there are some new shows whose openings have been postponed due to the corona pandemic. One shows the history of the museum, which turned 150 years old in April and actually wanted to celebrate this anniversary in a big way.
Big financial losses
There is also a new work by artist Yoko Ono on the facade: “Dream Together” is written in black on two large white posters. A new installation by the Mexican artist Héctor Zamora is on the roof terrace of the museum. “Lattice Detour” is a wall made of clay stones, which are, however, hollow and allow views of the Manhattan skyline.
So far, the museum has almost never been closed for more than three days in its history, said managing director Dan Weiss. “Now we were closed for almost six months, and during that time the world has changed forever.” The museum had to accept huge financial losses, but he was confident that it would survive the crisis.
The museums in New York, almost all of which had closed since March, have been officially allowed to reopen under strict conditions since Monday, but are only doing so gradually. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) opened its doors again on Thursday, the Whitney Museum for American Art plans to follow suit on September 3, and the Guggenheim Museum on October 3. The corona crisis has been hitting the city’s cultural industry, which was one of the global epicentres of the coronavirus epidemic in spring, hard for months.
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