Open-air museum of rebuilt historic buildings in UK turns into TikTok hit throughout lockdown

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The Black Country Living Museum, an open-air exhibition hall in a rebuilt historic building in the United Kingdom, was hit hard by the pandemic.

“We typically have 250,000 visitors a year,” said Carol King, the museum’s program director, the Guardian. “Last year it was 90,000 – and there was definitely a risk that we could have closed for good.”

The staff at the English landmark play canal painters, horse wrestlers and chimney sage, among other things, to teach children history and tradition.

To stay relevant, they got very creative.

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John Homer, as his character of a flat-capped grandfather from the 1920s holding fireside chats, became a TikTok star with more than 22 million views worldwide.

“Warro! Wait a minute. Homer said in a clip on TikTok. “I have something important to tell you. Now I know that some days are tough and I know that it will always go your way, believe me. But it’s okay to be sad and it’s okay to cry. That makes us all of ‘uman. Breathe, relax, and write it one day at a time. In the end it’ll be fine. And if it’s good, it’s the end, right? And with that he turned back to warm his hands by the fireplace.

Although the museum was actually closed, it was the right place in cyberspace: the arts center became the most visited museum in the world on TikTok.

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“I’d never heard of TikTok so it was amazing,” he told The Guardian. “But it was a great way to connect with children who may never have heard of the Black Country and the Industrial Revolution.”

Ninder Johal, a second-generation British Asian, said the museum connects his family from their past to the present, The Guardian reported.

His father’s saga is part of his story.

“He spent his working life in smoky and hot ovens,” Johal told the newspaper. “For my children and grandchildren, visiting the BCLM and seeing such industries will be a legacy that will enable them to understand who they are and the role their grandfather and great-grandfather played in the industrial landscape of the UK.”

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The museum opened in 1978, and future expansion is expected to double the number of visitors to 500,000 a year, according to the report.

“People are very proud to be from the Black Country,” King, a local, told The Guardian. “You see this museum as part of the community. I’m not sure many national museums have this. Everything we have is on display, most of it outdoors. Nothing is behind the scenes. We wear our hearts on our sleeves. “

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