Museum management

It’s been an incredibly tough time for museums – though one establishment has been celebrating its collection of rare foxes.

- RACHAEL CLEGG

MUSEUMS faced an existential crisis this summer as measures to control the coronavirus tore through civilised life as we know it. Social distancing, Covid-worthy cleaning requirements (not easy across hundreds of motorcycles), limits on numbers and – at one point – locked doors, has pushed the culture industry, in particular museums, to the brink.

But it’s not all bad: some motorcycle museums have pushed on with an attitude that’s as stoic and enduring as some of the lug and bolt-framed machines on display. One such place is the Lakeland Museum, whose staff have gone to extreme – and extremely creative – measures to deal with the ‘new normal.’

The museum, which has more than 100 motorcycles on display, shut its doors following the announcement of the first lockdown on March 20 and didn’t reopen until July 4. While the majority of the museum’s staff were furloughed, a handful continued to work on preparing the museum for a post lockdown world, while keeping up interest in the museum.

Lakeland Museum’s marketing director, Jennifer Cormack, explained: “Some of us continued to work to keep things going: the digital marketing team worked throughout, finding new ways to share our exhibits with the public. James, our head of marketing, went into the museum during lockdown and made a few fly-through videos and put them out on social media. The response was brilliant as at that point people were stuck at home.”