Auckland Museum Announces Cancellation of Vatican Exhibition

Auckland Museum today cancelled its upcoming exhibition about the Vatican after key artworks promised as part of the travelling exhibit were withdrawn.

Dr Vanda Vitali today announced that she was not satisfied with the amended contents of the exhibit and on behalf of New Zealanders would not settle for a less significant line-up. “I could not in good conscience present an exhibition that did not live up to what was promised and what we believe our visitors expect from this Museum,” said Dr. Vitali.

In a decision made jointly with the Australian Museum, who were to be the next recipients of the show, the Museums informed their agent in Rome that the artworks scheduled for delivery were substantially different from the original exhibition that was offered.

The director expressed keen disappointment on behalf of the schools, churches and art lovers who were looking forward to the exhibition. “It breaks my heart not to be able to offer this to individuals and groups who had already made plans around its exhibition dates. We know there was excitement and anticipation about this show.”

“However, Auckland Museum is a world-class institution and if we tried to mount a less significant exhibit we would be doing a disservice to everyone. Our commitment to Auckland is to inspire and delight, and you can’t achieve either without offering the best work available,” added Dr. Vitali.

The Museum will be announcing a new exhibition to occupy a similar timeframe as the Vatican would have. “We’ve got some brilliant ideas and I’ll be working with the curators and programming staff directly to create something wonderful for all of our visitors,” finished Dr. Vitali.

ENDS

www.aucklandmuseum.com

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