MA talks disposal
Geraldine Kendall, 09.07.2010
MA's Maurice Davies talks to Newsnight about challenges faced by museums in the move towards responsible disposal
Maurice Davies, head of policy and communication at the MA, spoke to the BBC’s Newsnight yesterday about the difficulties museums face in disposing of unwanted items from their collections.
Davies said: “Museums have been quite frightened of disposal and of the reaction to it, both from other museums and the public and media more widely.”
Davies said that it was important for museums to be upfront to the public about disposal. Referring to the outcry that followed Southampton council’s proposal last year - later abandoned - to sell a Rodin sculpture from its collecton, Davies said: “I think the lesson is really that the more open you are and the more transparent you are the better.”
Davies was interviewed for a Newsnight segment on Horsham Museum’s successful disposal policy.
During the programme, curator Jeremy Knight explained how the Sussex museum had revitalised its collection over 20 years by selling off items with no local connection. Knight told viewers: “I take the view that objects have to work and earn their living by making them relevant to the people.”
MA collections coordinator Sally Cross welcomed the BBC’s coverage of the issue, saying: “Each time we run Responsible Disposal training sessions, questions about timescales, the difficulty of letting go of collections, and how to deal with the media are just the sort of things that we talk through.
"Coverage like this should give people in museums confidence in the thoughtful way that they approach disposal.”
Davies said: “Museums have been quite frightened of disposal and of the reaction to it, both from other museums and the public and media more widely.”
Davies said that it was important for museums to be upfront to the public about disposal. Referring to the outcry that followed Southampton council’s proposal last year - later abandoned - to sell a Rodin sculpture from its collecton, Davies said: “I think the lesson is really that the more open you are and the more transparent you are the better.”
Davies was interviewed for a Newsnight segment on Horsham Museum’s successful disposal policy.
During the programme, curator Jeremy Knight explained how the Sussex museum had revitalised its collection over 20 years by selling off items with no local connection. Knight told viewers: “I take the view that objects have to work and earn their living by making them relevant to the people.”
MA collections coordinator Sally Cross welcomed the BBC’s coverage of the issue, saying: “Each time we run Responsible Disposal training sessions, questions about timescales, the difficulty of letting go of collections, and how to deal with the media are just the sort of things that we talk through.
"Coverage like this should give people in museums confidence in the thoughtful way that they approach disposal.”
