Bayeux tapestry returns to Britain, but photography ban sparks debate

London’s British Museum has introduced a photography ban at its blockbuster exhibition of the Bayeux Tapestry, as officials seek to manage crowds drawn by the historic textile’s return to Britain after almost 1,000 years in France.

The exhibition opened on September 10, but the museum soon found that visitors stopping to take photographs were slowing the flow through the display. The ban was introduced as a crowd-control measure rather than primarily to protect the fragile embroidery from camera flashes, according to The New York Times.

“Our priority is to ensure that all visitors have the best experience possible,” the museum said in a September 21 statement, citing the “enormous interest.”

Visitors are also not allowed to sketch or draw the artwork. Those wanting photographs can instead visit the museum’s gift shop.

Babette Lucas-Marriott, a heritage professional and content creator from Cheshire, said she was initially disappointed by the photography restriction but changed her mind after visiting the exhibition.

“Once I was there, I found there was something special about experiencing the tapestry without everyone having their phones out,” she said.

The Bayeux Tapestry is actually an embroidery rather than a woven tapestry. Most likely made in Canterbury shortly after William the Conqueror’s invasion of England in 1066, it was later transported to northern France. It is now back in Britain on loan for the first time in almost a millennium.

The exhibition has attracted huge interest, with tickets sold out until next year. The museum has warned visitors that they will have about 40 minutes inside the exhibition, while audio announcements in English and French periodically encourage them to keep moving.

The 11th-century embroidery stretches about 220 feet (67 metres) and depicts 58 scenes. Animated images and text on screens explain the scenes, while an animated bird moves through the exhibition as a visual cue for visitors to continue.

Arts writer Maxwell Blowfield described the queue as calm and good-natured.

“The queuing is all really worth it when you do finally get to the tapestry, and you can spend your whole visit right next to it, getting so close to see every stitch.”

The long waits have themselves become part of the experience, reflecting Britain’s long tradition of queuing for major public events.

Some visitors have complained on social media that they were moved too quickly past the embroidery. British writer Barendina Smedley wrote that she was hurried along “rather more quickly than I might have liked”, but said she was not complaining about the crowds.

“Increasingly, our worlds narrowed to what was immediately ahead of us,” Smedley wrote. “For me, anyway, the experience would have been less powerful without it.”

By Sabina Mammadli