As Vicky Richardson argues in this talk, cultural institutions today stand at a crossroads. Once dedicated to excellence, artistic achievement, and the preservation of tradition, they are now paralysed by fear. Leadership teams are more concerned with ideological positioning than curatorial expertise, and in their attempts to reframe institutions as platforms for political debate, they risk alienating both their audiences and their own staff. This talk explores the roots of the crisis facing our museums and galleries. Institutions must be held to higher standards—before they destroy themselves.