Re expansion in Uk museums - as usual the Economist is living in the
wrong century (or at least the wrong decade).

Yes, there are new openings still in the UK - though at only about a
quarter of the level of 15 years ago.  Even more telling, the Museums
Association's monitoring for the Museums Yearbook indicates that for past
3/4 years new openings have been fully offset - at least in number terms
- by closures.

I am just back from Scotland where a massive reorganisation of local
government by central government (forced through without any consultation
on the say-so of the Secretary of State for Scotland) coupled with at
least a 10% under-funding of the new system is threatening the survival
of literally hundreds of local authority and grant-aided cultural
institutions including museums as from the reorganisation date of 1 April
1996, and similar reorgansiations are to take place on the same
date in Wales, and progressively (totally wrong word, I know) from April
1996 and the two subsequent years over large areas of England.

Patrick Boylan

============================

On Sun, 11 Feb 1996, MR wrote:

> Museums are covered often enough in the form of exhibit reviews, but
> otherwise the coverage IN THE GENERAL PRESS seems to be predicated on
> contretemps like the Enola Gay or the sacking of administrators or the
> looting of collections.  How welcome then to see a page-long overview of
> new British museums in the Economist:  "British Museums: Superabundant,"
> issue of Feb. 10 - 16, 1996, page 86.  Or is it?
>
> The article observes that 120 (!) new museums have opened in the past five
> years. ....[MAJOR CUT HERE] ...

> And what about this efflorescence of new museums?  Any comment as to the
> premises or wisdom of this expansion, or the long-term chances of success
> (i.e., an evolving program in a context of solvency)?
>
>
> Matt Roth
> Santa Monica, CA
> [log in to unmask]
>