Search Museum Next

Glasgow museums to close as world leaders attend COP26 climate meeting

Museums in Glasgow will close to support the delivery of the Conference of the Parties 26 (COP26) which takes place from 31 October to 12 November.

World leaders from the US, France, Turkey, Australia, Ghana and South Korea will be among more than 100 heads of state, or their representatives, meeting in the Scottish city to complete the Paris Agreement and tackle climate change.

It is not clear how the venues will be supporting the delivery of the high-profile event as Glasgow Life, the charitable organisation that runs the museums, and Glasgow Council could not elaborate further than the below statement and Police Scotland did not respond to questions.

Promote the city

“COP26 is the latest major event to be hosted in Glasgow and gives us an opportunity to once again promote our city, which has a proven track record as a world-class host of global sporting championships, cultural events and conferences, on the international stage,” a spokesperson for Glasgow Life, said.

“The significance of COP26, both in agreeing action to safeguard the future of the planet, and the profile of the attendees which includes world leaders and heads of state, means that, inevitably, there will be an impact on how the city operates during the event.

“In supporting the delivery of COP26 activity, a small number of Glasgow Life venues will be closed to the public, either for part of, or the duration of the conference. Across the wider venues we have reopened, it is our intention to minimise disruption and operate business as usual as far as possible.”

Museums and collections to close during COP26:

  • Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum: October 28 until November 14
  • Riverside Museum: October 22 to Tuesday 16 November.
  • Gallery of Modern Art: October 31 until November 14
  • Kelvin Hall: October 28 until November 1

Interested in how museums can respond to the climate crisis? Join us for the Green Museums Summit in March 2022.

About the author – Adrian Murphy

Adrian is the Editor of MuseumNext and has 20 years’ experience as a journalist, half of which has been writing for the cultural sector.

Related Content

Artist creates COP26 forest as world leaders pledge to end deforestation

Artist Es Devlin has fashioned a parallel conference at COP26 in Glasgow with a temporary forest of 197 trees to represent each of the parties...

Julie’s Bicycle publishes report on cultural response to climate crisis ahead of COP26

The report, Culture: The Missing Link to Climate Action is the culmination of research to determine how national entities responsible for cultural advancement, internationally, have responded to...

Natural History Museum Works With The New York Times Climate Hub at COP26

The Natural History Museum in London have announced a range of events that they’ll be involved with during the COP26 climate conference. In a statement,...

Subscribe to the latest museum thinking

Fresh ideas from museums around the globe in your inbox each week