Mould Of The Art? Malta’s Newest Museum Forced To Move Collection And Slash Prices After Infestation
MUŻA, the highly anticipated new museum in Valletta built at the cost of €10 million, has a mould infestation.
Over 60 artworks have had to be temporarily removed from the national museum, which opened last December, to protect them from the “very serious” spread of fungus throughout parts of the museum.
“We would like to inform our esteemed public that a considerable number of artworks have been removed from the MUŻA galleries as a temporary preventive conservation measure,” MUŻA said in a statement on Friday. “This is dictated by the fact that this is the collection’s first cycle in the new environment of a different building which has gone through a major overhaul.”
Aside from removing the artworks, the museum has also cut its prices.
“For this reason, we have reduced the admission to the MUŻA galleries. We apologize for the inconvenience being caused and will provide updates from time to time.”
Mould can infest buildings that are dimly lit, high in temperature and feature insufficient air circulation
Mould can be devastating to museums, severely damaging precious artworks, and there are now fears that the mould may already have affected up to 75% of Malta’s national collection.
While it is as yet unconfirmed, it is being reported that humidity levels may be to blame in MUŻA’s case, and questions have now been raised about the daily maintenance of the newly-inaugurated national museum, which is ostensibly meant to focus on contemporary art.
“It’s a shame. The display is already way too crowded, labels are missing and now this. The focus seems to have been more on the building’s restoration (and the restaurant) rather than the display of artwork” – a Facebook commentator reacting to the announcement
“This fungi business is a further cut into an already existing wound, evidence of carelessness”
One Maltese art expert who spoke to Lovin Malta on condition of anonymity said they were saddened by this new development – but not surprised.
‘This is very sad. That collection belongs to the nation, and this mould problem is evidence of carelessness,” they said.
While the museum has already faced controversies in the past – it was meant to be a major part of the Valletta 2018 European Capital of Culture celebrations, but was only opened right at the end of the year, and is still yet to be fully completed – this mould outbreak indicates major issues in the day-to-day running of the building that had raised the hopes of so many local art-lovers.
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