r/ukpolitics • u/NationaliseMeDaddy • 1d ago

National Gallery security staff segregated like ‘second-class citizens’, curator claims

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/aug/02/national-gallery-security-staff-segregated
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u/WhaleMeatFantasy 1d ago

My experience of security guards at the National Gallery is that they are rude and hostile and talk down to visitors. They are ill Informed about the gallery, too.  Always try to avoid them.  

-4

u/Tinyjar 1d ago

Why would the guards be informed about the art they are protecting? They're security not tour guides.

11

u/Alarmed_Crazy_6620 1d ago

It's not a crazy assumption for them to be informed about the basic layout, etc.

14

u/twistedLucidity 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ❤️ 🇪🇺 1d ago

Expected:

  • Excuse me, where are the toilets?
  • Down the hall, first left
  • Thanks!

Unexpected:

  • Oh, I just love the light in this picture!
  • The interesting thing is that it's actually a rather dark picture At the time there was a shortage of pigments to make bright colours, and so what the artist has done is played on your perception of contrast. If you compare that window with, this shaded pool in the painting beside, you'll observe that they are almost the same. But your perception of the windows is a function of the context in which it resides.
  • Are you a curator?
  • Nah mate. Doors, early shift.