Ethical debate: Access
At the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, three 17th-century Chinese Qing dynasty vases have been restored after a collision with a visitor.
They have returned to open display — but with a protective barrier. In a bid to give today’s public as much access as possible to objects, are we putting collections at risk for future generations?
The polarisation of access and conservation has become an emotive issue, and the two are often perceived as being incompatible. This is far from the truth. In forward-thinking museums access and conservation aren’t enemies, but go hand in hand. Greater access leads to greater public and political support, which leads to greater funding and care for the collections.
The Museums Association’s Collections for the Future report is now placing access firmly on the agenda. Yet it is still very easy as a museum professional to be sucked into the trap of making value judgements on who deserves access and who doesn’t.
How would the press have reacted if a small child, rather than an adult, had damaged the vases at the Fitzwilliam? Then, the burning question wouldn’t be about raising barriers to protect displays, but whether children should be allowed in at all. Young visitors are still on probation in many museums - a situation the Kids in Museums campaign highlights and constructively counters.
Despite the national publicity over the breaking of these vases, accidents by visitors are very rare and the insurance world generally considers museums as low-risk. It is a fact that the highest museum risk in terms of value is from theft (both external and internal) followed by transport and handling (exhibitions, crowded stores etc).
I asked Robert Hepburne-Scott of Blackwall Green, a firm involved in
museum insurance, what the risks of object damage were from families and he replied: ‘Families and children don’t even appear as a risk on the radar. They are not an issue.’
A distinction needs to be made between accessioned museum objects and temporary design props. A popular design prop may well wear out during the course of an exhibition. The inexperienced will interpret this as wilful damage. However, the skilled museum professional will be delighted at its popularity and have plans and budgets in place for its repair or renewal.
An enlightened, dynamic museum will develop a range of skills to improve access to and care of the collection.
It will be familiar with tracking methods to predict dangerous public areas in much the same way that shipping charts do. It will be knowledgeable in the flow of people, disability needs, heights of buggies and be aware that under-fives seldom read notices. It will use skilful means to reduce risk.
Brian Stewart, director, Falmouth Art Gallery
They have returned to open display — but with a protective barrier. In a bid to give today’s public as much access as possible to objects, are we putting collections at risk for future generations?
The polarisation of access and conservation has become an emotive issue, and the two are often perceived as being incompatible. This is far from the truth. In forward-thinking museums access and conservation aren’t enemies, but go hand in hand. Greater access leads to greater public and political support, which leads to greater funding and care for the collections.
The Museums Association’s Collections for the Future report is now placing access firmly on the agenda. Yet it is still very easy as a museum professional to be sucked into the trap of making value judgements on who deserves access and who doesn’t.
How would the press have reacted if a small child, rather than an adult, had damaged the vases at the Fitzwilliam? Then, the burning question wouldn’t be about raising barriers to protect displays, but whether children should be allowed in at all. Young visitors are still on probation in many museums - a situation the Kids in Museums campaign highlights and constructively counters.
Despite the national publicity over the breaking of these vases, accidents by visitors are very rare and the insurance world generally considers museums as low-risk. It is a fact that the highest museum risk in terms of value is from theft (both external and internal) followed by transport and handling (exhibitions, crowded stores etc).
I asked Robert Hepburne-Scott of Blackwall Green, a firm involved in
museum insurance, what the risks of object damage were from families and he replied: ‘Families and children don’t even appear as a risk on the radar. They are not an issue.’
A distinction needs to be made between accessioned museum objects and temporary design props. A popular design prop may well wear out during the course of an exhibition. The inexperienced will interpret this as wilful damage. However, the skilled museum professional will be delighted at its popularity and have plans and budgets in place for its repair or renewal.
An enlightened, dynamic museum will develop a range of skills to improve access to and care of the collection.
It will be familiar with tracking methods to predict dangerous public areas in much the same way that shipping charts do. It will be knowledgeable in the flow of people, disability needs, heights of buggies and be aware that under-fives seldom read notices. It will use skilful means to reduce risk.
Brian Stewart, director, Falmouth Art Gallery
