Editorial
Object transfer shows northern exposure
The recent announcement that 400,000 objects from the Science Museum Group’s (SMG) 3-million-strong photography collection, held at Bradford’s National Media Museum, will be transferred to London has been met with a degree of animosity.
Comments such as “an atrocious act of cultural theft”, “insulting and patronising”, and “one more kick in the teeth” give a flavour of some of the responses.
The objects, which include the Royal Photographic Society collection, will be combined with the Victoria and Albert Museum’s (V&A) collection of 500,000 images to create an International Photography Resource Centre. The SMG says the move is in line with an increasing emphasis on science, technology engineering and maths (Stem) at the media museum. The SMG argues that this focus has “strong local backing”, but many people in Bradford are anxious about the future of the media museum.
“I have huge concerns about the way in which the museum has conducted itself and its direction of travel,” says Bradford MP Judith Cummins. “There has been a complete lack of transparency and consultation, both with local MPs and the Bradford community at large.”
Jo Quinton-Tulloch, the director of the Bradford museum, wrote in a blog that it was difficult to hear some of the criticism of the decision. She explained the two motives for the transfer: firstly, the need to focus the museum’s activities on areas of its collection that best help it explore the science and technology of light and sound; and secondly, to ensure that collections that do not help achieve this find a home where they can be accessed more widely.
The SMG might well have a compelling strategy for the future of the National Media Museum. But a lack of consultation, coupled with a feeling that this is another case of London consuming more resources, have made the plans difficult to accept for many. The fact that the museum was threatened with closure in 2013 has added to people’s worries. The government’s so-called northern powerhouse feels a long way from reality when decisions like this are taken. And with no national strategy for how museum resources are distributed across England it is difficult to see much changing.
Comments such as “an atrocious act of cultural theft”, “insulting and patronising”, and “one more kick in the teeth” give a flavour of some of the responses.
The objects, which include the Royal Photographic Society collection, will be combined with the Victoria and Albert Museum’s (V&A) collection of 500,000 images to create an International Photography Resource Centre. The SMG says the move is in line with an increasing emphasis on science, technology engineering and maths (Stem) at the media museum. The SMG argues that this focus has “strong local backing”, but many people in Bradford are anxious about the future of the media museum.
“I have huge concerns about the way in which the museum has conducted itself and its direction of travel,” says Bradford MP Judith Cummins. “There has been a complete lack of transparency and consultation, both with local MPs and the Bradford community at large.”
Jo Quinton-Tulloch, the director of the Bradford museum, wrote in a blog that it was difficult to hear some of the criticism of the decision. She explained the two motives for the transfer: firstly, the need to focus the museum’s activities on areas of its collection that best help it explore the science and technology of light and sound; and secondly, to ensure that collections that do not help achieve this find a home where they can be accessed more widely.
The SMG might well have a compelling strategy for the future of the National Media Museum. But a lack of consultation, coupled with a feeling that this is another case of London consuming more resources, have made the plans difficult to accept for many. The fact that the museum was threatened with closure in 2013 has added to people’s worries. The government’s so-called northern powerhouse feels a long way from reality when decisions like this are taken. And with no national strategy for how museum resources are distributed across England it is difficult to see much changing.