OpenCulture

The sad news of the proposed closure of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), UK Film Council and Advisory Council on Libraries is the opening salvo in a battle that promises to be both bloody and strangely one-sided. The Treasury has brilliantly engineered public support for a Spending Review which will most likely change the entire landscape of museum, library and archive service provision and there is little hope looking either to the general public or to the media for support in the coming months.

Although many have expressed mixed feelings about the MLA and quangos in general, it is likely that people will really only see their true value when they are gone. While the worlds of strategy and policy may seem far removed from the realities of the daily grind, the world of politics has a direct impact on how much money there is flowing through the veins of our sector.

It is a tremendous irony that MLA has been most adept at playing the political game on behalf of museums in what seems likely to be its final year. There has always been a silent pact between MLA and the sector it represents - that MLA will represent and give focus to the voice of museums, but that because the vast majority of this work goes on behind the scenes and in private, it depends on the trust of the sector that its role is worthwhile. It is always important to remember that with MLA, we will also be losing a team of some of the most dedicated, passionate and committed professionals in our industry.

Although, as Roy Clare says, it is important not to count MLA out of the game - its current circumstances will inevitably undermine its ability to coordinate an effective defence against the impending public spending Ice Age. At a time when museums are caught in a particularly nasty crosswind - the backlash against what was perceived to be a New Labour protectorate meeting the increased public demand for meaningful cultural experiences - the departure of the MLA will leave us exposed and shivering without an effective line of defence.

Because it was not the last budget, nor the bonfire of the quangos that most threatens museums, archives and libraries. It is the chain reaction that will occur following savage cuts in local budgets that will enable anti-culture councillors throughout the country to do what they have been prevented from doing for a decade or more and withdrawing wholesale from cultural service provision. In the absence of a national strategic voice, of a positive economic case being made and re-made, of a behind-the-scenes lobby of the Local Government Association, every single individual museum in receipt of Local Authority money will be left to fend for itself.

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.

Secondly, and critically, there is noone but a loosely-defined group of sector organisations and networks to draw a line in the sand and to fight to defend it in the coming years. How many museums, libraries or archives will we lose? How many collections will be hurriedly and carelessly dispersed, or sold off in apologetic racks? How many will end up in boxes under the desk of the town clerk? How many will rush into trusts and public/private partnerships with their hands tied behind their backs? How far are we willing to let things slide, and how will we coordinate our voices and the various eddies of influence we each hold to ensure that the Government knows both that there is a limit and that we are not willing to let them exceed it?

Roy Clare, early in his tenure at MLA, said ‘we are the people we have been waiting for’. At the time it was a call to arms to the sector, to take ownership of its destiny and not always be looking to others to defend us, or to find the magic words to unlock the Treasury coffers. Now, in what promises to be a dark hour for culture, I think his words resonate more than ever. It will take a considerable time before the Arts Council can reorganise themselves to provide an effective strategic coordination for culture. Until then, we have the Museums Association, the Collections Trust, AIM and a number of important professional and thematic networks. In the coming months, we have to come together, set aside old differences and agree as a professional community exactly where we will put our line in the sand. We are the people we have been waiting for.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 at 8:36 am and is filed under General, Nick Poole. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.