Museums around the world in the face of COVID-19 2021

The cultural sector has been severely and persistently affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with museums particularly hard hit: the 2020 UNESCO report estimated that nearly 90%, or an estimated 85,000 institutions, had been closed for varying lengths of time. The role of museums in society is essential, as they are responsible not only for preserving heritage for future generations but also as central actors for promoting lifelong learning and equal access to culture and the dissemination of values on which humanity is based. In this particularly difficult context, UNESCO has launched a 2021 study to reassess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on museum attendance, budgets and activities in order to analyze the threats to the sector and its evolution in the next few years.