Museums in the 21 st century

1. Museums in the 21st century Core Module – Seminar 5

2. Themes • Role of Museums • Traditional roles • Common misconceptions • Education • Museums in Guyana • Loans • Funding • Collections • Display • Sale • Looking to the future

3. Role of a Museum

4. Traditional roles • Museum culture has spread all over the world and today it is hard to find any country without museum. Implies that the concept of the museum has become global. • The traditional role of these museums is to collect objects and materials of cultural, religious and historical importance, preserve them, research into them and present them to the public for the purpose of education and enjoyment. • When museum were first introduced they had a very strict list of clientele. Museums such as the ones found at Portici and the Villa Borghesi were invite-only, and the guest list was strictly limited to well established academics, noblemen, and friends of the owners. The general public were unable to gain access to the treasures and artworks housed at these establishments.

5. Common misconceptions • Museums are seen sometimes as places where unwanted objects or materials are deposited; they are thought of as places where objects associated with ‘idolatry and fetish religions’ are kept. This negative interpretation of what museums mean has continued to inhibit their development in most countries, (especially in third world countries). • “museums must become agents of change and development: they must mirror events in society and become instruments of progress by calling attention to actions and events that will encourage development in the society.” – Arinze, 1998

6. Education • Education is probably the key objective for a museum • Therefor it is essential that the educational planners work closely with museum experts on how the available resources can be integrated into the curriculum and the learning process at all levels. • Educational visits to museums should be encouraged to cater for all interest groups. • Arinze, Presidentof the Commonwealth Association of Museums,suggested that special educational and cultural programs should be developed for children and they should be allowed to be involved in discussing programs that are made for them, as they do have ideas that will enhance such programs.

7. Museums in Guyana as a case study • Arinze suggested in 1998 that an effective way of ensuring the interests of children are given consideration is to establish a special program for Children in Guyana Museums (CGM), which will be operated by all the museums in Guyana. A “properly packaged cultural diplomacy program will promote the best of Guyana to the wider world and foster a free flow of knowledge and a wholesome exchange of cultural materials and ideas with other nations of the world.” • He wanted the program to create a sense of pride and purpose among the people of Guyana, who will better appreciate the fact that they too have a contribution to make to encourage peace, unity and understanding in the communities of the larger world.

8. Loans Loaning out pieces is key for the education of the public through ease of access. National portrait gallery used as a case study.

9. National Portrait Gallery • Loans-out from a national museum, particularly to organisations with which they have partnerships • 270 works out on long loan and 100 out for shorter periods, plus nearly 400 works on loan to their three country house partnerships. • Lends throughout the UK and Europe, though they can refuse to lend works abroad if they are not sure that the need for a particular portrait is justified. • The NPG has a primary collection of 10,000 portraits and 320,000 archive collection items. • 3 long-term partnerships with country houses: • Montacute House, Somerset (National Trust)- about 65 Tudor and Stuart portraits are on display in this Elizabethan building. • Beningbrough Hall, Yorkshire (National Trust)- about 150 works from the period 1688 - 1760 in richly decorated baroque interiors. • Bodelwyddan Castle, Denbighshire, North Wales (independent trust)- about 90 portraits from the nineteenth-century collection

10. Smarter Loans • This is a sector of the Museums Association • Examines the principles for lending and borrowing from UK museums • The old adage “neither a borrower nor a lender be” does not hold true for museums. Borrowing and lending are the lifeblood of our exhibition and outreach programmes, enabling museums to reinterpret collections and offer new perspectives on our world and its cultures. - Vanessa Trevelyan. President, Museums Association

11. Funding Brief look at various trusts etc. that provide funding for a whole range of enterprises and collections. Each adds a valuable insight to the working of the museums, the issues they face, and the ways in which these problems are being tackled and improved.

12. The Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund • Run by the Museums Association, • For time-limited collections work outside the core resources. • Awards c.£800,000 per year to museums, galleries and heritage organisations with two grant rounds per year.  • Like the Museum and Heritage Collections strandthey fund projects in early development where guaranteeing outcomes is hard. The fund wants organisationsto become part of a network to develop ideas, share knowledge and build a legacy. • Projects eligible to apply to the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund include: research into collections, conservation, collections review and initiatives to develop the use of collections

13. The Trevor Walden Trust • ‘...to advance the education and training of museum and gallery personnel...’ • Amount available to members changes annually • For members undertaking activities to support continuing professional development leading to the Associateship of the Museums Association (AMA) • Grants may cover costs for travel and accommodation for visits to specific collections and curators, and to buy study materials.

14. The Daphne Bullard Trust • Grants up to £1,000 for textile conservation and display • '… to promote the conservation of dress and textiles of all periods and their display....’ • The trust accepts applications from students, or those generally engaged in the conservation and study of dress and textiles of any period, and their subsequent display. • It therefore encourages the next generation to get involved in the management of collections etc. • This is a key issue which the museums are constantly trying to face. Especially when the economy is down, people are more reluctant to get involved in such organisations.

15. The BeecroftBequest • Up to £5,000 for acquisition of pre-18th century works • '…for the purchase of pictures and works of art (furniture or textiles can be considered) not later than the 18th century in date...' • Formed by the will of Walter G Beecroft, who left his estate to the `Museums Association for this purpose. • The income from the bequest must be distributed as grant-in-aid to art galleries and museums in the British, so that they may buy paintings and works of art. This helps maintain a source of knew information for the public, and now evidence for scholars and artists etc. to draw from.

16. The Kathy Callow Trust • Grants of up to £1,000 for social history conservation • '… to provide awards with a long-term benefit for the conservation of social history artifacts and evidence in small museums....' • Founded in 1994 from part of the estate of the Kathy Callow. • Awards small museums for assisting with the costs of conservation projects, including: an exhibition, improving stored collections or running workshops for people “working” with museums • Aid for smaller galleries or museums with an annual gross revenue expenditure of less than £600,000; key for those institutions that may otherwise be forgotten about, or who would greatly suffer from negative economic influences.

17. Collections

18. Display • Mark Walhimir split the museum exhibition design process into five distinct phases: • Concept Development, Schematic Design, Design Development, Final Design, Construction Documents • The display of exhibitions and collections is key to the way in which the audience will receive the information. The displays must be conducted in such a way as to give the maximum amount of information, with the highest form of simplicity so that the audience isn’t overwhelmed. This is why many items on display have only a name and date alongside them. • The displays need to be accessible for people with disabilities (wheelchair access, braille etc.)

19. Sale of collections • The Museums Association has guidelines to help museums behave ethically • Needed because in 2007 they amended their Code of Ethics to accept financially motivated disposal, so long as: • It will improve the long-term public benefit • It is used as a last resort after other sources of funding have been explored • It is not to generate short-term revenue • The item is not part of the core collection • Money raised must be restricted to the long-term sustainability, use and development of the collection.

20. Looking to the future

21. Reasons for improvement • “Although some new museums are trying to develop a role for them selves which is future-oriented and promotes innovation, the past is still the main concern” – Lumley, 1990 • By 2015, city officials have calculatedthat African, Caribbean, Asian and other minority ethnic groupswill account for 80 percent of the increase in the working-age population of London. Questions of history and heritage are interwoven with those of identity. • The British Museum and the V&A boast remarkable collections of African and Asian art, however much of these were actually gained from the colonial era. Today, these two museums go out of their way to link their collections and exhibitions with the relevant minorities living in Britain.

22. Ways to improve • Better and more loans • Encouraging collection reviews from the public • Making finding objects easier • Both on the museum floor, and in its stores • promote exhibitions that are topical and challenging • Broaden collections • Museums must be proactive in their approach to the execution of their mandate; it is important that they clearly explain their vision and mission