Christmas spending may be over, but our professional and personal finances could be about to be hit hard. Some warn that the "credit crunch" is taking its toll and a recession is on its way.
The position the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum (BECM) now finds itself in is one well known to the independent museum sector. And the museum is right to act now before things get too hairy (see p5).
From the start it was a fight to survive. The trust's relationship with the right-wing industrialist Jack Hayward (one of its biggest funders) was said, at the time, to have caused difficulty in attracting public funds.
And with a less than supportive city council, self-determination became the order of the day.
I admire what the BECM has achieved in its short Bristol life but the sad reality is that because of money it is forced to leave a city much in need of its presence. In order to get an international profile it appears the only possible home is London.
Although Liverpool's International Slavery Museum is likely to succeed in its remit, it has been helped by a £250,000 annual government gift.
New museums on the horizon should take heed of the treacherous financial climate. For example, getting revenue funding from government for a possible Museum of Migration/Immigration and or towards a new home for the Black Cultural Archives will be difficult.
The Black Cultural Archives, which has identified a building (in London) with the help of Lambeth council, is surely a strong contender for lottery money for a capital project.
But it will still have to chase regular grants to survive - something Gareth Griffiths, the director of the BECM, warned of finding exhausting in Bristol.
The fear for BECM supporters is that there will no longer be a museum they can visit that tells a balanced and extensive story of the British colonial expedition.
In its place could be an academic resource, with an archive, and a temporary exhibition space. All good things and facilities the BECM currently offers. But without an object-based venue? This is not an option in my book.
The position the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum (BECM) now finds itself in is one well known to the independent museum sector. And the museum is right to act now before things get too hairy (see p5).
From the start it was a fight to survive. The trust's relationship with the right-wing industrialist Jack Hayward (one of its biggest funders) was said, at the time, to have caused difficulty in attracting public funds.
And with a less than supportive city council, self-determination became the order of the day.
I admire what the BECM has achieved in its short Bristol life but the sad reality is that because of money it is forced to leave a city much in need of its presence. In order to get an international profile it appears the only possible home is London.
Although Liverpool's International Slavery Museum is likely to succeed in its remit, it has been helped by a £250,000 annual government gift.
New museums on the horizon should take heed of the treacherous financial climate. For example, getting revenue funding from government for a possible Museum of Migration/Immigration and or towards a new home for the Black Cultural Archives will be difficult.
The Black Cultural Archives, which has identified a building (in London) with the help of Lambeth council, is surely a strong contender for lottery money for a capital project.
But it will still have to chase regular grants to survive - something Gareth Griffiths, the director of the BECM, warned of finding exhausting in Bristol.
The fear for BECM supporters is that there will no longer be a museum they can visit that tells a balanced and extensive story of the British colonial expedition.
In its place could be an academic resource, with an archive, and a temporary exhibition space. All good things and facilities the BECM currently offers. But without an object-based venue? This is not an option in my book.
