Battle of the bums: Museums raise cheeky smile as they compete for title of the best behinds as visitor numbers plummet during pandemic
It's a museum publicity stunt that could prompt accusations of being a 'race to the bottom'.
Curators around the world are competing for the title of 'Best Museum Bum' as part of a social media challenge started by the Yorkshire Museum to provide some fun after visitor numbers plummeted during the pandemic.
Twitter has since been flooded with contributions from some of the world's greatest cultural institutions, from the Louvre's statue of the Greek God Hermaphroditos to an extra-large coat of armour that once housed Henry VIII's growing behind.
Curators around the world are competing for the title of 'Best Museum Bum' as part of a social media challenge started by the Yorkshire Museum. This statue of a sleeping Hermaphroditus was put forward by the Louvre Museum
The Ota Memorial Museum of Art in Tokoyo tweeted this illustration of a swaggering sumo wrestler, while the Two Rivers Gallery in Canada suggested a watercolour by Charles Binning
The Yorkshire Museum, which has been shut since March and is raising funds to ensure it can reopen, launched the initiative under the hashtag #BestMuseumBum, kicking off the contest with its own 'cracking statue of a Roman athlete'.
From the Ota Memorial Museum of Art in Tokoyo came a swaggering sumo wrestler, while the Museum of Oxford revealed a statue of a medieval woman whose rear had been flattened by centuries of touching.
The York Art Gallery had one more the more eclectic contributions, suggesting the rear end of a drunken fish made by the artist Pamela Mei Yee Leung, who created mythological creatures marrying animals and humans together. HARE THIS ARTICLE
Similarly wacky was the National Leather Museum's entry of a pair of 3,500-year-old Egyptian underpants.
An entry from the world of sport came from the World Rugby Museum at Twickenham Stadium, which suggested Ken Etheridge's 1959 painting entitled Rugby Changing Room.
Meanwhile, the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History suggested its pair of mastodon dinosaurs as having the 'biggest, boniest bums'.
The York Art Gallery had one more the more eclectic contributions, putting forward the rear end of a drunken fish made by the artist Pamela Mei Yee Leung. The Yorkshire Museum's own entry was a 'cracking statute of a Roman athlete'
The Museum of Oxford revealed a medieval wooden figure that had a flattened rear end thanks to hundreds of years of touching
The Royal Armouries revealed this image of Henry VIII's growing behind, from the 1520 when he was a young man to 1540 when he was increasingly obese
The Old Operating Theatre near London Bridge entered the contest with this anatomical figure from its collection
The Yorkshire Museum opened in 1830 and boasts one of Britons finest archaeological and science collections.
The Best Bum competition was the second of its #curatorbattle stunts, the first of which asked fellow museums to submit the creepiest objects in their collections.
This quickly led to a rush of bizarre objects, from a chilling plague mask to frostbitten fingertips.
Museums in Britain have been tentatively reopening in recent weeks after coronavirus restrictions were eased, with major institutions including the British Museum and Natural History Museum already welcoming visitors.
Struggling attractions will receive £100million of emergency funding as part of the Government's bailout package for arts and culture.
The Filoli Historic House & Garden in California put forward a nude by Bruce Porter while the Huddersfield Art Gallery suggested Blue Jacket by Henry Scott Tuke
The initiative attracted plenty of submissions from overseas, including this suggestive number from the Musee Des Arts Metiers in Paris +11
The initiative attracted plenty of submissions from overseas, including this suggestive number from the Musee Des Arts Metiers in Paris
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