The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has been closed since March this year to avoid social gathering, announced via Vogue on Tuesday that it is cancelling the star-studded event by Costume Institute. This year’s gala held special significance for the year 2020 being the 150th year of the museum, about which the institution is planning to have a “belated celebration” in 2021.
In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, the Met said the much-awaited gala which is typically held on the first Monday in May has been cancelled “due to the global health crisis.”
However, the museum will be opening later this year, and the 2020 Met Gala’s corresponding exhibition “About Time: Fashion and Duration” will be put on display. This year’s exhibition tracing a century and a half of fashion—from 1870 to the present will open on October 29, and run through February 7, 2021.
Clothes from the Costume Institute’s collection including major gifts from designers as part of the Met’s 2020 Collections Initiative will be shown in the exhibition.
The museum also updated the public about its plans for reopening and said it would take in mid-August “or perhaps a few weeks later.”
Daniel H. Weiss, president of the museum, said in a statement: “The Met has endured much in its 150 years and today continues as a beacon of hope for the future…As we endure these challenging and uncertain times, we are encouraged by looking forward to the day when we can once again welcome all to enjoy the Met’s collection and exhibitions.”
According to the report in Vogue, the visiting days and hours at the Met will be reduced at first, and tours, talks, concerts, or events will not be held this year to follow social distancing measures.
First held in 1948 as a benefit dinner, the Met Gala is widely celebrated as the fashion industry’s biggest annual event. It has been cancelled thrice since then — in 1963 following the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy, in 2002 following the 9/11 attacks, and in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis.