Reopening our venues

With the museums, galleries, gardens and arts venues in Germany reopening to the public in early May, we wanted to learn from the experiences and challenges that were faced during a time when arts venues and organisations in England plan for reopening.

On Wednesday 27th May, Joanne Bushnell, Chair of CVAN South East and Director of Aspex, Portsmouth, hosted a Q&A with David Vuillaume, Director of the German Museums Association and Chair of the Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO) to discuss and share insights.

The conversation was an opportunity for leaders of our network partner organisations to discuss their preparations for restoring public access, including precautions for safe operation and social distancing. The session was originally set up for the network partners in the South East region but due to the overwhelming popularity, we were able open the session up to partners outside of region.

With participatory questions being put to David by attendees, there were also some prepared questions which included:

• What factors have informed the timing for a phased return of visitors to German institutions?
• Thinking about communications, what lessons do you have for us about their public messaging around this process, both online and on site?
• What safety precautions have German museums taken, particularly in bottlenecks such as entrances, lifts, stairways and toilets?
• Do you have any particular guidance to help us protect our staff and volunteers, whether front of house or in administrative and technical roles?
• What conclusions can we take from the German experience, regarding the resumption of live events, tours and educational workshops?
• Do you have advice on developing a template COVID-19 risk assessment for public museums and galleries?

We are really pleased to be able to share the session in full with you – click on the video below to watch:

With thanks to:

David Vuillaume, Director of the German Museums Association and Chair of the Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO)

Joanne Bushnell, CVAN South East Chair and Director of Aspex, Portsmouth

Oliver Sumner, CVAN South East Manager

CVAN South East network partners, attendees and contributors