Marketing is not evil commercialism
I was disgusted by the article Market Forces by Corinna Lotz (Museums Journal August 2005, p16-17). Lotz obviously has no idea what marketing involves. The article was entirely derogatory and seemed to assume that those of us that work in museum marketing have no regard for the museums and collections that we care for.
She says we have two options: 'spending yet more money to raise revenue by marketing and going in to partnerships with the private sector; or to increase funding and use what there is to promote and encourage the special role played by those who create, curate and present cultural heritage.'
Where does Lotz think this extra funding will come from if not marketing? If we are not involving the public (and that is what marketing is, involving the public in our endeavours) then what is it exactly that we are creating, curating and presenting cultural heritage for? I would even go a step further; that if we do not involve the public then cultural heritage is meaningless.
Marketing is not evil commercialism. Marketing is income-generating, yes. But it generates income by involving the public. And the public is what museums are supposed to be there for. Perhaps Lotz should remember that.
Jen Hall, Wiltshire
Hi-tech, but still human
Vicki Wood is quite right to congratulate Big Pit on its recent Gulbenkian Prize (Museums Journal September 2005, p10), but I'm not sure that she should worry that the new National Waterfront Museum in Swansea will not be able to engage its visitors on an emotional and personal level.
Although extensive leading-edge technology has been used to tell the story of industry and innovation in Wales over the past three centuries, the key focus of the museum is on the people of Wales and how their lives were changed for both good and bad by industrialisation.
Indeed the intelligent use of IT has allowed a multi-layered approach to interpretation, where spoken testimony, historic film and other archival sources can be accessed by the visitor while engaging with the museum's collections.
Furthermore, all our front-line staff are being trained to provide not only excellent customer care but also assist in the interpretation of our collections. Here the key task will be engaging with visitors through explaining technicalities in human terms and fostering intergenerational reminiscence.
The use of hi-tech methods of display does not preclude the 'personal' touch. In fact such multimedia exhibits can provide not only a human-focused but also a subversive museology, suggesting to our visitors that what is on display is not the whole story and helping them to come to some contrasting interpretations.
Steph Mastoris, head of the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea
An open and shut case… or is it?
I much enjoyed reading Moira Simpson's article Standing on Ceremony (Museums Journal October 2005, p14-15).
Naturally curators must be sensitive to the display of sacred objects. But what if the adherents to a religious object or text disagree on how it should be displayed? When I came to the Manchester Museum in the late 1980s there was a closed Koran from Pakistan on display in the Ethnology Gallery.
Then I thought it should remain closed because of high light levels, which were later reduced. In the early 1990s I opened the Koran so that visitors could see the Arabic calligraphy. I showed it to a visiting Egyptian curator who was, I was reliably informed, a fundamentalist Muslim. He was delighted to see the open Koran and read aloud some of its contents in Arabic.
Sometime later I began receiving anonymous notes saying that the Koran should not be open, though none of the authors explained to me why it should not be open. It has been off-display since about 1994 in a drawer by itself in the store.
When I went round the Turks display at the Royal Academy in March 2004 I saw there were two open Korans on display. I am reliably informed that in Turkish museums Korans are open so visitors can admire their calligraphy.
George Bankes, honorary research associate in anthropology, Manchester Museum
Cardiff museum is full steam ahead
Although I was pleased to see that the profile of museums of cities is being raised (Museum Journal October 2005, p22-25), I want to correct the article with reference to Cardiff.
The feasibility study that Chadwick Jones Associates prepared for a museum about Cardiff was passed by Cardiff Council in February 2004, and contrary to the project being put on hold, I have been in post since March 2004, charged with taking forward the proposals.
Currently it is hoped that a city museum about Cardiff will proceed as a legacy of 2005, when Cardiff celebrates 100 years of being a city and 50 years as capital of Wales.
Anna Smith, museum project officer, Cardiff Council
Whitby Museum is fine just as it is
May I suggest that Sharon Heal has rather missed the point about the Whitby Museum in her quasi-sympathetic article, Hands Off (Museums Journal September 2005, p42-43).
As the new wing looks out on the house in which I was born and as I grew up with Whitby Museum as the image of what a museum should be, I might be parti pris.
But as I also spend most of my spare time working for the Captain Cook Memorial Museum on the other side of Whitby harbour, I have at least some idea of the relative merits of the three museums within easy walking distance of each other in this isolated town.
The charm of the Pannett Park museum lies in the very fact that it does look as if it hasn't changed much since 1931. It would have been relevant to indicate, for example, that the largest fossil dinosaur is dramatically displayed diagonally, not horizontally, across the wall because the architect neglected to measure it before drawing up the plans!
That is typical of the way in which this heterogenous collection was assembled and it would be a tragedy if it were to be insensitively themed or modernised.
My grandchildren range in age from six to 12 and invariably ask to visit the museum when they come to stay. They can be safely abandoned for anything up to an hour while they fossick about, occasionally guided to new discoveries by the sympathetic and knowledgeable guides.
I cannot agree that the new wing has the look of a municipal add-on. In fact, whatever reservations anybody might have about the original architecture of the museum, the new wing blends into it so seamlessly that one would hardly know it was an addition. Before reading the article I misunderstood the title but having read it, I can only echo it. Hands Off, indeed.
John Woolley, Whitby
Sharon Heal is critical of the fact that little has changed at Whitby Museum, despite its new extension. We visited Whitby for the first time last Easter and were delighted to discover its museum.
I cannot comment on the extension, which was not open at the time, but far from being put off by the old-fashioned aspects of the existing museum, we were charmed by them. The crowded exhibits with their typed and yellowing labels convey such a sense of the excitement and pride of discovery of new knowledge, and love of learning for its own sake.
The juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated displays provides a rich picture of interests in North-East England in the late-19th- and early-20th-centuries and we learned such a lot. We loved the fact that there was nothing interactive, and no interpretation to tell us what reactions we should be having.
I am not a traditionalist; high-tech displays and interactive facilities, such as those at the new Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, can be equally absorbing, but their use is not universally applicable and there is still a place for old style presentation of museum artefacts when it is as engaging as Whitby is.
The Whitby Museum is surely a museum piece in itself; rather than conveying a hostile tone, the modern visitor is likely to appreciate the 'do not' notices as an integral part of how museums have been in the past.
This may sound ludicrous to those who have never experienced paucity of cultural heritage, but one of the reasons we chose to return to the UK after spending six years in Australia is that it is possible here to visit a small town such as Whitby in filthy weather and happily while away several hours, lost in appreciation of what has enthralled others in the past.
Many people still wish to be informed, not just entertained, and subsequent to our visit we have found that the Whitby Museum as it has been is much loved and valued. I am well aware of the audience-widening agenda, but the museums, libraries and archives community neglects its core clientele at its peril.
Clare Powne, deputy librarian, Durham University Library
I was disgusted by the article Market Forces by Corinna Lotz (Museums Journal August 2005, p16-17). Lotz obviously has no idea what marketing involves. The article was entirely derogatory and seemed to assume that those of us that work in museum marketing have no regard for the museums and collections that we care for.
She says we have two options: 'spending yet more money to raise revenue by marketing and going in to partnerships with the private sector; or to increase funding and use what there is to promote and encourage the special role played by those who create, curate and present cultural heritage.'
Where does Lotz think this extra funding will come from if not marketing? If we are not involving the public (and that is what marketing is, involving the public in our endeavours) then what is it exactly that we are creating, curating and presenting cultural heritage for? I would even go a step further; that if we do not involve the public then cultural heritage is meaningless.
Marketing is not evil commercialism. Marketing is income-generating, yes. But it generates income by involving the public. And the public is what museums are supposed to be there for. Perhaps Lotz should remember that.
Jen Hall, Wiltshire
Hi-tech, but still human
Vicki Wood is quite right to congratulate Big Pit on its recent Gulbenkian Prize (Museums Journal September 2005, p10), but I'm not sure that she should worry that the new National Waterfront Museum in Swansea will not be able to engage its visitors on an emotional and personal level.
Although extensive leading-edge technology has been used to tell the story of industry and innovation in Wales over the past three centuries, the key focus of the museum is on the people of Wales and how their lives were changed for both good and bad by industrialisation.
Indeed the intelligent use of IT has allowed a multi-layered approach to interpretation, where spoken testimony, historic film and other archival sources can be accessed by the visitor while engaging with the museum's collections.
Furthermore, all our front-line staff are being trained to provide not only excellent customer care but also assist in the interpretation of our collections. Here the key task will be engaging with visitors through explaining technicalities in human terms and fostering intergenerational reminiscence.
The use of hi-tech methods of display does not preclude the 'personal' touch. In fact such multimedia exhibits can provide not only a human-focused but also a subversive museology, suggesting to our visitors that what is on display is not the whole story and helping them to come to some contrasting interpretations.
Steph Mastoris, head of the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea
An open and shut case… or is it?
I much enjoyed reading Moira Simpson's article Standing on Ceremony (Museums Journal October 2005, p14-15).
Naturally curators must be sensitive to the display of sacred objects. But what if the adherents to a religious object or text disagree on how it should be displayed? When I came to the Manchester Museum in the late 1980s there was a closed Koran from Pakistan on display in the Ethnology Gallery.
Then I thought it should remain closed because of high light levels, which were later reduced. In the early 1990s I opened the Koran so that visitors could see the Arabic calligraphy. I showed it to a visiting Egyptian curator who was, I was reliably informed, a fundamentalist Muslim. He was delighted to see the open Koran and read aloud some of its contents in Arabic.
Sometime later I began receiving anonymous notes saying that the Koran should not be open, though none of the authors explained to me why it should not be open. It has been off-display since about 1994 in a drawer by itself in the store.
When I went round the Turks display at the Royal Academy in March 2004 I saw there were two open Korans on display. I am reliably informed that in Turkish museums Korans are open so visitors can admire their calligraphy.
George Bankes, honorary research associate in anthropology, Manchester Museum
Cardiff museum is full steam ahead
Although I was pleased to see that the profile of museums of cities is being raised (Museum Journal October 2005, p22-25), I want to correct the article with reference to Cardiff.
The feasibility study that Chadwick Jones Associates prepared for a museum about Cardiff was passed by Cardiff Council in February 2004, and contrary to the project being put on hold, I have been in post since March 2004, charged with taking forward the proposals.
Currently it is hoped that a city museum about Cardiff will proceed as a legacy of 2005, when Cardiff celebrates 100 years of being a city and 50 years as capital of Wales.
Anna Smith, museum project officer, Cardiff Council
Whitby Museum is fine just as it is
May I suggest that Sharon Heal has rather missed the point about the Whitby Museum in her quasi-sympathetic article, Hands Off (Museums Journal September 2005, p42-43).
As the new wing looks out on the house in which I was born and as I grew up with Whitby Museum as the image of what a museum should be, I might be parti pris.
But as I also spend most of my spare time working for the Captain Cook Memorial Museum on the other side of Whitby harbour, I have at least some idea of the relative merits of the three museums within easy walking distance of each other in this isolated town.
The charm of the Pannett Park museum lies in the very fact that it does look as if it hasn't changed much since 1931. It would have been relevant to indicate, for example, that the largest fossil dinosaur is dramatically displayed diagonally, not horizontally, across the wall because the architect neglected to measure it before drawing up the plans!
That is typical of the way in which this heterogenous collection was assembled and it would be a tragedy if it were to be insensitively themed or modernised.
My grandchildren range in age from six to 12 and invariably ask to visit the museum when they come to stay. They can be safely abandoned for anything up to an hour while they fossick about, occasionally guided to new discoveries by the sympathetic and knowledgeable guides.
I cannot agree that the new wing has the look of a municipal add-on. In fact, whatever reservations anybody might have about the original architecture of the museum, the new wing blends into it so seamlessly that one would hardly know it was an addition. Before reading the article I misunderstood the title but having read it, I can only echo it. Hands Off, indeed.
John Woolley, Whitby
Sharon Heal is critical of the fact that little has changed at Whitby Museum, despite its new extension. We visited Whitby for the first time last Easter and were delighted to discover its museum.
I cannot comment on the extension, which was not open at the time, but far from being put off by the old-fashioned aspects of the existing museum, we were charmed by them. The crowded exhibits with their typed and yellowing labels convey such a sense of the excitement and pride of discovery of new knowledge, and love of learning for its own sake.
The juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated displays provides a rich picture of interests in North-East England in the late-19th- and early-20th-centuries and we learned such a lot. We loved the fact that there was nothing interactive, and no interpretation to tell us what reactions we should be having.
I am not a traditionalist; high-tech displays and interactive facilities, such as those at the new Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, can be equally absorbing, but their use is not universally applicable and there is still a place for old style presentation of museum artefacts when it is as engaging as Whitby is.
The Whitby Museum is surely a museum piece in itself; rather than conveying a hostile tone, the modern visitor is likely to appreciate the 'do not' notices as an integral part of how museums have been in the past.
This may sound ludicrous to those who have never experienced paucity of cultural heritage, but one of the reasons we chose to return to the UK after spending six years in Australia is that it is possible here to visit a small town such as Whitby in filthy weather and happily while away several hours, lost in appreciation of what has enthralled others in the past.
Many people still wish to be informed, not just entertained, and subsequent to our visit we have found that the Whitby Museum as it has been is much loved and valued. I am well aware of the audience-widening agenda, but the museums, libraries and archives community neglects its core clientele at its peril.
Clare Powne, deputy librarian, Durham University Library
