After 18 months of consultation, the Museums Association (MA) hopes its new Smarter Loans guidelines – to be released in the coming weeks – will go some way towards addressing how museums can create a more level playing field for loans.
Sharing collections has long been recognised as a core part of museum work, with significant benefits for lender and borrower. Recent high-profile initiatives, including strands of the MA’s Effective Collections programme, have been rolled out to boost loans between all types of museums.
As programmes were developed, it became clear that loans needed a standard set of ethical principles. Work with different types of museums highlighted that, while many had satisfactory loans services, discrepancies in policy were hindering potential partnerships.
Unnecessary costs
A key problem was that some institutions were taking a risk-averse, one-size-fits-all approach to loans standards that unnecessarily inflated costs, putting borrowing out of the reach of the very museums where loans could have the biggest impact.
An example is the common requirement for a courier to be sent with objects, which creates extra costs. Museums also often impose blanket standards of security and environmental care, even for robust items, thereby excluding any institution that lacks the appropriate facilities.
The Smarter Loans guidelines aim to challenge that culture by asking museums to be flexible in weighing up the risks against the public benefit offered by the loan, with more weight given to the latter. The document also emphasises the extensive benefits that sharing brings to lenders, such as new audiences and enriched collections knowledge.
The guidelines urge strong communication between lender and borrower, and advocate minimising the environmental impact of loans through measures such as sharing transportation. All principles adhere to Accreditation and Government Indemnity Scheme requirements.
The guidelines draw on research and practice from across the sector. After publishing an initial draft last year, the MA established a working group of UK-wide representatives from all types of museums, as well as the Association of Independent Museums and Arts Council England. The group held public consultations at various stages of the project.
“We aimed to get everyone around the table. All of us were coming from the same place – wishing to create a culture where sharing is the norm,” said project coordinator Caitlin Griffiths.
But it proved difficult to achieve consensus on some issues. A key point included in the document’s earliest draft was that lenders should not financially benefit from loans to non-commercial organisations, above the costs incurred.
“If it were up to me, museums wouldn’t charge, but we couldn’t get people to sign up to that,” said MA collections coordinator Sally Colvin. Some institutions, particularly nationals, argue that charging for loans fulfils their public benefit test by enabling them to improve their own offer. The final document still asks museums not to use loans to generate income, but the language has been toned down.
Smarter Loans will be the final major piece of research funded through the MA’s partnership with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, and the association hopes it will become the go-to document for the entire sector. Griffiths says the MA also hopes it will act as an advocacy tool to help museums protect budgets and staff capacity for loans from cuts.
High impact loans
Recent imaginative models of partnership have shown the impact loans can have when sent to the right place. Last year the British Museum (BM) used the MA’s Find an Object database to invite museums of all sizes to apply for its blockbuster Pharaoh: King of Egypt exhibition, after a touring partner dropped out at short notice.
The successful applicant, Dorset County Museum, which is one of the smallest institutions the BM has ever partnered, has enjoyed a 400% rise in visitor figures since the exhibition opened.
More than 90% of professionals questioned say they will sign up to the Smarter Loans guidelines. But success is not guaranteed; according to Griffiths, museums have welcomed loan initiatives in the past but have then been slow to apply new practices to their day-to-day work.
The success of Smarter Loans relies on museums’ willingness to implement its recommendations.
For more and to download the document, click here
Sharing collections has long been recognised as a core part of museum work, with significant benefits for lender and borrower. Recent high-profile initiatives, including strands of the MA’s Effective Collections programme, have been rolled out to boost loans between all types of museums.
As programmes were developed, it became clear that loans needed a standard set of ethical principles. Work with different types of museums highlighted that, while many had satisfactory loans services, discrepancies in policy were hindering potential partnerships.
Unnecessary costs
A key problem was that some institutions were taking a risk-averse, one-size-fits-all approach to loans standards that unnecessarily inflated costs, putting borrowing out of the reach of the very museums where loans could have the biggest impact.
An example is the common requirement for a courier to be sent with objects, which creates extra costs. Museums also often impose blanket standards of security and environmental care, even for robust items, thereby excluding any institution that lacks the appropriate facilities.
The Smarter Loans guidelines aim to challenge that culture by asking museums to be flexible in weighing up the risks against the public benefit offered by the loan, with more weight given to the latter. The document also emphasises the extensive benefits that sharing brings to lenders, such as new audiences and enriched collections knowledge.
The guidelines urge strong communication between lender and borrower, and advocate minimising the environmental impact of loans through measures such as sharing transportation. All principles adhere to Accreditation and Government Indemnity Scheme requirements.
The guidelines draw on research and practice from across the sector. After publishing an initial draft last year, the MA established a working group of UK-wide representatives from all types of museums, as well as the Association of Independent Museums and Arts Council England. The group held public consultations at various stages of the project.
“We aimed to get everyone around the table. All of us were coming from the same place – wishing to create a culture where sharing is the norm,” said project coordinator Caitlin Griffiths.
But it proved difficult to achieve consensus on some issues. A key point included in the document’s earliest draft was that lenders should not financially benefit from loans to non-commercial organisations, above the costs incurred.
“If it were up to me, museums wouldn’t charge, but we couldn’t get people to sign up to that,” said MA collections coordinator Sally Colvin. Some institutions, particularly nationals, argue that charging for loans fulfils their public benefit test by enabling them to improve their own offer. The final document still asks museums not to use loans to generate income, but the language has been toned down.
Smarter Loans will be the final major piece of research funded through the MA’s partnership with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, and the association hopes it will become the go-to document for the entire sector. Griffiths says the MA also hopes it will act as an advocacy tool to help museums protect budgets and staff capacity for loans from cuts.
High impact loans
Recent imaginative models of partnership have shown the impact loans can have when sent to the right place. Last year the British Museum (BM) used the MA’s Find an Object database to invite museums of all sizes to apply for its blockbuster Pharaoh: King of Egypt exhibition, after a touring partner dropped out at short notice.
The successful applicant, Dorset County Museum, which is one of the smallest institutions the BM has ever partnered, has enjoyed a 400% rise in visitor figures since the exhibition opened.
More than 90% of professionals questioned say they will sign up to the Smarter Loans guidelines. But success is not guaranteed; according to Griffiths, museums have welcomed loan initiatives in the past but have then been slow to apply new practices to their day-to-day work.
The success of Smarter Loans relies on museums’ willingness to implement its recommendations.
For more and to download the document, click here
