The Applied Arts Museum at Bergen, Norway, has a wonderful collection
bequeathed in I think the 1940s by an American-born artist resident for many
years in Norway who basically HATED traditional art museum practice and
what he saw as its associated excessive reverence towards the objects.

He therefore imposed an irrevokable condition on the bequest that the
City of Bergen museums could only retain the collection so long as
everything in the bequest continued to be used from time to time for its
original purpose: if they failed to do so then the collection had to be
sold and the money was to be given to some other (non-museum) charitable
purposes.

I vivdly remember the details of this because my 1981 birthday was used by
the Museum as an excuse for one of its statutory "use everything"
evenings - so the ICOM Training Committee sat in the splendid 18th
century dining room setting in the museum with its period table and
chairs, fine antique porcelain plates, 17th and 18th century wine glasses
and with the 6 different herring dishes, smoked reindeer and salads being
served from early Ming bowls and platters!

Though obviously the dish-washers have to be very careful, I was told
that in fact the Museum had had virtually nothing damaged in over 30
years of such meals held to meet the requirements of the bequest.


Patrick Boylan