The British Museum may have expected about a million people to visit its landmark Bayeux Tapestry exhibition. But it is struggling to route all of the ticket holders through the space — despite limiting the text to read, having audio announcements urging people to move along, and even banning photography inside the gallery.
So on Monday, the museum said it was extending the exhibition’s opening hours, although it did not disclose what the new hours would be or exactly how they would align with the strict lighting and environmental exposure limits stipulated in the tapestry loan agreement with the French government.
A museum spokeswoman simply said in an emailed statement that it “has a careful plan for light hour allocations — agreed in partnership with colleagues in France.” The public response to the exhibition, the spokeswoman added, has been “extraordinary.”
The French Culture Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Given the long wait times for ticket holders, some of whom have reported standing in line for up to two hours to gain entry, the museum said it was taking that into consideration as it prepares to release the next allocation of tickets for the display, which runs through July 11.
The exhibition has faced logistical hurdles just weeks into its 10-month run as crowds gather to view the 220-foot-long embroidered cloth that depicts the events surrounding the 1066 Norman Conquest of England. It is the first time the tapestry, which has spent most of its life in France, has been displayed in England — where historians believe it was originally crafted.
Before the tapestry’s arrival at the British Museum, there were concerns about the viability of transporting such a fragile textile. But an intricate plan was put together for its safe travel, and the British Museum has taken steps to conserve it during its time in London, including shutting off the gallery lighting at scheduled intervals to protect the tapestry from light degradation.
Now, the public is venting about other concerns including the wait times. A handful of ticket holders have been turned away because of the backlogs; the museum said those ticket holders had received refunds and priority booking slots for another time.
There was also scrutiny over accessibility. After Yusuf Ali Osman, a blind man from south London, filed a legal complaint accusing the museum of breaching the Equality Act 2010 by not providing audio-described tours for blind and partly sighted visitors, the museum announced that it was adding an “in-person audio-described tour.”
The museum also said on Monday that it would provide seating for visitors waiting in line.
The anticipation surrounding the display has been intense. When the first round of tickets went on sale in July, the museum said it had recorded its highest single-day ticket sales in history, generating more than 2.5 million pounds (about $3.4 million). King Charles III attended a private preview a week before the Sept. 10 public opening.
At the time, Mary Beard, the classicist and British Museum trustee, said that Britain had been swept up in “Bayeux fever,” in part because the tapestry depicts foundational national history.
This week, she told The Guardian: “We had to expect some teething troubles — this isn’t like an ordinary exhibition, everyone has come to see the same one object! The important thing is to put those teething troubles right.”
Described by the museum as “one of the wonders of the medieval world,” the artifact illustrates the events surrounding the Battle of Hastings — a date ingrained in British schoolchildren as the last successful foreign invasion of England and the origin of the modern monarchy.
Tickets are sold out through the end of the year, but additional batches are scheduled to be released this month and in January.
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