Suzanne,
I will not even try to approach the completeness of Shirley's answer, but
in support of all our collections...
I have been asked similar questions many times in the past. I have never
actually been asked to justify the existence of my collections. I have
however been asked to justify the cost of caring for said collections. That
usually just takes showing the questioning body the cost of
losing/conserving the collection, and they quiet right down.
Most people asking such questions simply do not understand that there is a
purpose to museums beyond exhibitions. My answer to their poor
understanding, which varies from time to time, always revolves around the
nature of what a museum is and its purpose.
I tell them(and I paraphrase)...A museum's publicly visible purpose is to
show objects and interpret them for visitors, but that is a relatively
small part of what we do. We do research, conservation, all manner of
education, etc , but most importantly we protect and preserve objects of
artistic, historical, and scientific importance for future generations.
Since the best way to preserve said objects(according to contemporary
museum theory) is to store them in proper conditions and not show them(too
often), the majority of what any museum has will be in storage.
In my personal and very biased opinion, a good collection of
historically/artistically/scientifically significant objects justifies
itself. Its very existence is the reason to allocate money to care for it,
and occasionally show it to others. I do however realize other people do
not necessarily feel the same.
Good luck.
Mark Janzen
Registrar/Collections Manager
Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art
Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection
Wichita State University
(316)978-5850
"S.Keene"
<suzanne.keene@UC
L.AC.UK> To
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SE.LSOFT.COM> Subject
Non-displayed collections: is this
an issue?
11/30/2004 11:27
AM
Please respond to
Museum discussion
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<[log in to unmask]
SE.LSOFT.COM>
[Apologies to INTERCOM members who have previously had this message]
Dear colleagues,
I would like to ask your assistance. I am researching and writing a book on
the usefulness and justification for museum collections that are not on
display.
This is seen as a problem in the UK at government level, and in the
Netherlands, too. It is felt that museums have too much stuff in store that
they don't use.
In other countries it seems that many people feel uneasy about how to
justify the collections. For example, it is difficult to convince local
legislaters that there needs to be proper funding for storing collections.
But it is not an issue at government level.
In your experience, are you expected to justify the existence of the
collections, or is it accepted that they stay in store?
I would welcome any information you can give me.
Best wishes
Suzanne Keene
EVA London conference July 2005: Call for Papers
The Foremost European Electronic Imaging Events in the Visual Arts
http://www.eva-conferences.com/eva/london/london2005/
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Dr Suzanne Keene
Culture Heritage
University College London Institute of Archaeology
31-34 Gordon Square
London WC1H OPY
Tel: 020 7679 4935
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology
http://www.suzannekeene.info
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