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Date: Friday, April 29, 2005 15:15 +0100
From: Tiffany Jenkins <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Debate: should we junk collections?
As part of Museums and Galleries Month 2005
Debate: Should we junk collections?
Date: May 16, 2005
Time: 6.30pm
Tickets: Standard: í7 waged / í5 concessions
Venue: The Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, London W1
Booking: call 020 7269 9220 or email [log in to unmask]
Panel:
Andrew Burnett, deputy director, the British Museum
Maurice Davies, deputy director, Museums Association
James Fenton, poet and essayist
Anna Somers Cocks, general editorial director and group newspapers editor,
Umberto Allemandi & Co. Chair: Tiffany Jenkins, Institute of Ideas
What is the future for museum and gallery collections? For some time,
cultural institutions have been criticised for neglecting their treasure
troves of objects, instead concentrating on developing audiences, access
and inclusion. Recently, however, there has been a renewed focus on
questions of what we should collect and why. There is the familiar argument
about whether museum collections need to grow, when so many works that are
seldom displayed. But today’s debates about deaccession and acquisition
seem driven less by pragmatic considerations of space, and more by
political considerations relating to cultural ownership, repatriation and
social relevance.
As museums reposition themselves as agents of social change, new criteria
are being developed for what should be collected. Communities are asked to
donate everyday objects of local relevance as an exercise in enhancing
community coherence; young people are recruited to curate exhibitions of
objects meaningful to their lives; cultural and ethic groups are consulted
as to how certain collections are to be displayed and interpreted.
Are we in danger of sacrificing artistic and curatorial judgement in
decisions about what to collect in the face of political considerations?
How should we decide what we keep and collect?
This event is part of Museums and Galleries Month 2005, organised by the
Campaign for Museums. Specialist museum and gallery insurance brokers
Blackwall and Green are kindly sponsoring the drinks for the evening.
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Dr A A Piccini
Department of Drama: Theatre, Film, Television
University of Bristol
Cantocks Close, Woodland Road
Bristol BS8 1UP
T: +44 0117 954 5472
E: [log in to unmask]
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