All lovers of art, ancient or modern, all who seek knowledge, including such as were believed to have been lost with the passage of time, and all who want to just bask in the beauty of exquisite, overwhelming or mind-blowing works of art and cultures from across the world, must visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, United States of America (USA).
The imposing 154 year-old institution houses, at least, 1.5 million of some of the most enchanting objects that exist in one location anywhere in the world, and expectedly, the Museum has been experiencing a flood of visitors from all over the world.
The current Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the iconic Museum that is more fondly called The Met, art historian, Max Hollein, briefed some members of the New York Foreign Press Center on Wednesday, December 11, 2024, and confirmed that the privately funded institution, with about 5.5 million visitors per annum, is the most visited museum in the United States.
Hollein gave the visiting journalists an insight into the long and illustrious history of the massive museum, and his priorities as its 10th CEO, especially the institution’s $2 billion capital projects investment that would further transform its Modern & Contemporary Art wing into a global cultural hub.
The newly reimagined galleries for the Arts of Africa; the ancient Americas; and Oceania, housed in the completely transformed Michael C. Rockefeller Wing of the Museum, he also pointed out, will, in May next year, be reopened to the public, having been closed down since the summer of 2021.
The CEO confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the Museum negatively while it lasted, but that the institution has since bounced back fully with increased local and international visitors. He spoke about the major transformation projects going on in the Museum and his vision to make the institution the best Museum in the world and the preferred destination for all lovers of the arts and culture globally.
Hollein made it clear that though The Met is very much loved by New Yorkers, with about 40 per cent of the current visitors being locals, the fact remains that the huge Museum has become an international center where the arts and culture of different peoples of the world are housed and celebrated, a universally relevant place where cultures coalesce, and where people from across the world troop to, to immerse themselves in the indescribably beautiful and sometimes spiritual experience that comes with walking the literally hallowed halls and galleries of the imposing edifice.
The Director also used the opportunity of the interface to throw more light on the recently unveiled design for the new Modern and Contemporary Art Wing of the Museum, done by celebrated Mexican architect Frida Escobedo, the first woman to design a wing in the Museum’s 154-year history.
He equally highlighted The Met’s upcoming exhibition schedule, that includes the Caspar David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature exhibition (opening on February 8, 2025); as well as the highly anticipated official reopening, on May 31, 2025, of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing of the Museum that will be showcasing the Arts of Africa, the Ancient Americas, and Oceania.
After the extensive briefing by Hollein, the journalists were taken on a guided tour of The Met’s newly reimagined galleries for the Arts of Africa; the ancient Americas; and Oceania in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. Though the Wing is still undergoing a major renovation, it will be ready for the official reopening in May 2025.
Described as a global Cathedral of Culture and the Arts by an expert, WIKIPEDIA, says The Met, among others, “is an encyclopedic art museum” created to inspire and educate the public. It states that the Museum’s “permanent collection consists of works of art ranging from the ancient Near East and ancient Egypt, through classical antiquity to the contemporary world.
It said further that the collection also “includes paintings, sculptures, and graphic works from many European Old Masters, as well as an extensive collection of American, modern, and contemporary art,” noting that the The Met “also maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, and Islamic art,” and “is home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes, and decorative arts and textiles, as well as antique weapons and armor from around the world.”
Hollein, while briefing the journalists, had also made it clear that the iconic institution, which New York City Mayor Eric Adams describes as “one of the crown jewels of New York City,” has distinguished itself by operating ethically and on a moral high ground, noting that The Met has ensured that it restituted purloined objects.
It is expected that the traffic to The Metropolitan Museum at 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028, will greatly increase, especially in this season of festivities, and more so in the new year when the Museum will open its new look Michael C. Rockefeller Wing with its unique collections of the Arts of Africa, the Ancient Americas, and Oceania.
