Sir Ian Blatchford, Science Museum director

About this episode

Sir Ian Blatchford discusses his role as the Director of the Science Museum and the challenges faced by cultural institutions today.

Sir Ian Blatchford has been the Director of the Science Museum in London for more than 15 years – the longest serving director in its history. He also oversees the National Railway Museum in York, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, Locomotion in County Durham, and the Science and Innovation Park in Wiltshire - all enjoyed by more than four million visitors last year. He was the first in his family to go to university and his early career was in banking, but his passion was for culture. He combined the two as Finance Director at the V+A, before crossing the road to lead the Science Museum. It’s currently a very challenging time for anyone running a museum, with hard questions about funding, sponsorship and exhibition content. His musical choices include Elgar, Monteverdi, Wagner and Sarah Vaughan. Producer: Katy Hickman

People in this episode

Host: Katy Hickman

Guest: Sir Ian Blatchford

Topics covered

• museum leadership
• cultural institutions
• funding challenges
• music choices
• personal journey

Keywords

• Science Museum
• Ian Blatchford
• museum funding
• cultural leadership
• music choices

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Science Museum, National Railway Museum, National Science and Media Museum, Science and Industry Museum

Places: London, York, Bradford, Manchester, County Durham, Wiltshire

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