Comments on: Sleepwalking into the Storm http://openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk/2009/09/27/sleepwalking-into-the-storm/ Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:46:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: OpenCulture » Blog Archive » A Line in the Sand http://openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk/2009/09/27/sleepwalking-into-the-storm/#comment-5183 OpenCulture » Blog Archive » A Line in the Sand Tue, 03 Aug 2010 08:36:17 +0000 http://openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk/?p=165#comment-5183 [...] It’s highly unlikely that the real motive behind the withdrawal of the quangos is economic - none of the announcements made so far have touched on the issue of how much money will be saved in the process. What it does is remove two important things, in the absence of which the cuts will be easier to make. The first is simply the removal of a standard around which people could organise themselves. If it is no-one’s job to hold a national overview of who is being cut, where and how much, then it is much harder to put up the kind of coordinated and strategic response for which I have argued before in this blog. [...] [...] It’s highly unlikely that the real motive behind the withdrawal of the quangos is economic - none of the announcements made so far have touched on the issue of how much money will be saved in the process. What it does is remove two important things, in the absence of which the cuts will be easier to make. The first is simply the removal of a standard around which people could organise themselves. If it is no-one’s job to hold a national overview of who is being cut, where and how much, then it is much harder to put up the kind of coordinated and strategic response for which I have argued before in this blog. [...]

]]> By: Charles Rignall http://openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk/2009/09/27/sleepwalking-into-the-storm/#comment-4205 Charles Rignall Tue, 06 Oct 2009 06:13:29 +0000 http://openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk/?p=165#comment-4205 For the most part, it is the artefacts in the collection of a Museum, which need to be saved - except when the structure itself is the 'artefact'. I support what is your 9 point plan, Nick however there must be a contigency which permits the 'export sale' of artefacts - perhaps even a list of those items for which an overseas transaction is acceptable - in the event that the doestic market is woefully short of the market value. God forbid that this occurs. I would add a 10th point (not just because its a biblical number) as the DIsaster Plan should include a strategic operating budget analysis of the entire Museum infrastructure - no mean feat. For the most part, it is the artefacts in the collection of a Museum, which need to be saved - except when the structure itself is the ‘artefact’.

I support what is your 9 point plan, Nick however there must be a contigency which permits the ‘export sale’ of artefacts - perhaps even a list of those items for which an overseas transaction is acceptable - in the event that the doestic market is woefully short of the market value. God forbid that this occurs.

I would add a 10th point (not just because its a biblical number) as the DIsaster Plan should include a strategic operating budget analysis of the entire Museum infrastructure - no mean feat.

]]> By: Paul Fraser Webb http://openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk/2009/09/27/sleepwalking-into-the-storm/#comment-4142 Paul Fraser Webb Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:30:12 +0000 http://openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk/?p=165#comment-4142 What concerns me most about this situation is whether we have the courage to say no when support is asked for. To say that we will not support a museum; to say that the community value of a museum is too low; that the collections are of low significance; that the governance of the museum is unsustainable and that we should not offer it further support and let it wind up. In these cases we will need to work with a museum to ensure that it winds up ethically and effectivly and that those items from the collection that are worth saving are saved, but we will have to say that the institutions as a whole are not worth saving and acknowledge that peoples jobs will be lost. Admittedly these museums are fairly few and far between, but the resources they can drag in can be disproportionate to their value. But it can be all too easy to not admit the hard truths that the museum is unsustainable and try to prop up a museum that is not worth saving, letting it pull in resources that are better used elsewhere. (I have written a polemic on this matter elsewhere - http://www.nwfed.org.uk/museums-at-risk-register-116.html) There is no automatic right for a museum to exist. Can we admit this to ourselves as a profession, and who will arbiter the choices? What concerns me most about this situation is whether we have the courage to say no when support is asked for. To say that we will not support a museum; to say that the community value of a museum is too low; that the collections are of low significance; that the governance of the museum is unsustainable and that we should not offer it further support and let it wind up. In these cases we will need to work with a museum to ensure that it winds up ethically and effectivly and that those items from the collection that are worth saving are saved, but we will have to say that the institutions as a whole are not worth saving and acknowledge that peoples jobs will be lost.

Admittedly these museums are fairly few and far between, but the resources they can drag in can be disproportionate to their value. But it can be all too easy to not admit the hard truths that the museum is unsustainable and try to prop up a museum that is not worth saving, letting it pull in resources that are better used elsewhere.

(I have written a polemic on this matter elsewhere - http://www.nwfed.org.uk/museums-at-risk-register-116.html)

There is no automatic right for a museum to exist. Can we admit this to ourselves as a profession, and who will arbiter the choices?

]]> By: Twitter Trackbacks for OpenCulture » Blog Archive » Sleepwalking into the Storm [collectionstrustblogs.org.uk] on Topsy.com http://openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk/2009/09/27/sleepwalking-into-the-storm/#comment-4131 Twitter Trackbacks for OpenCulture » Blog Archive » Sleepwalking into the Storm [collectionstrustblogs.org.uk] on Topsy.com Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:25:27 +0000 http://openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk/?p=165#comment-4131 [...] OpenCulture » Blog Archive » Sleepwalking into the Storm openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk/2009/09/27/sleepwalking-into-the-storm – view page – cached People talk a lot of rubbish about the Recession. From green shoots to Global deflation, it’s astonishing how many armchair pundits have arisen to take up the gauntlet of speculation and use it to... (Read more)People talk a lot of rubbish about the Recession. From green shoots to Global deflation, it’s astonishing how many armchair pundits have arisen to take up the gauntlet of speculation and use it to thrust into the public consciousness phrases like ‘double-dip’ and ‘fiscal stimulus’. The reality is that we don’t know - the Treasury doesn’t know, industry doesn’t know and the people in charge of funding museums don’t know. (Read less) — From the page [...] [...] OpenCulture » Blog Archive » Sleepwalking into the Storm openculture.collectionstrustblogs.org.uk/2009/09/27/sleepwalking-into-the-storm – view page – cached People talk a lot of rubbish about the Recession. From green shoots to Global deflation, it’s astonishing how many armchair pundits have arisen to take up the gauntlet of speculation and use it to… (Read more)People talk a lot of rubbish about the Recession. From green shoots to Global deflation, it’s astonishing how many armchair pundits have arisen to take up the gauntlet of speculation and use it to thrust into the public consciousness phrases like ‘double-dip’ and ‘fiscal stimulus’. The reality is that we don’t know - the Treasury doesn’t know, industry doesn’t know and the people in charge of funding museums don’t know. (Read less) — From the page [...]

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