Democratising collections

As part of a series of blog posts about the new Code of Ethics, David Gelsthorpe, chief executive of the Collections Trust, discusses how collections hold the key to museums’ power to change conversations and lives.

Every so often it’s useful to sit back and think about what we are doing, who is it for and is it the right thing to do? Documentation and ethics can sometimes be left behind in the everyday work of running museums and galleries.

Ultimately the collections we look after, and the stories and information with them, belong to everyone. We forget this at our peril. They can provide the key to unlocking some of the defining issues of our generation, such as social justice and climate and biodiversity change.

This guidance reminds us that to enable collections to be truly valued by and useful to society, we need to think differently. We need to democratise collections and transform access.

Collections Trust are supporting and encouraging museums to shift the dial and gain new momentum. We need to empower museums to actively manage collections for the long term through disposals, acquisitions and ensuring collections are relevant and information is shared.

We can be more accountable for what we have and better demonstrate the impact collections have on people and society.

We do world-leading collections work in the UK, transforming people’s lives and our understanding of the world, but we could do so much more. The new ethical guidance is a reminder we need to lead the world in collections access too.

MA individual members and representatives for institutional members will have the opportunity to vote on the new Code of Ethics as part of the AGM agenda that will be distributed to members from 19 September. Voting will take place through an independent online voting provider.