It was hard to move last month without tripping over someone protesting about something.
Aside from the public sector strike which, at the time of writing, looked as if it would lead to the closure of some national museums, protests against cuts to culture were gathering pace.
In June, the Lost Arts website was launched by a consortium of eight unions, while the Museums Association (MA) announced the first findings from its cuts survey.
And the picture, as you might guess, is not pretty. The Lost Arts website is keeping a running total of cuts to the arts over the next three years. At the time of writing, it was more than £20m – a figure that will only rise.
The initial results from the MA’s cuts survey don’t make pleasant reading either; 40% of the local authority museums that responded said they had reduced the number of staff by 10% in the past year.
The full survey results will be published on the MA website on 20 July, and will, no doubt, expose closures, cuts to opening hours, the introduction of entrance fees and charging for services such as school visits.
It’s great to have an idea of where the cuts are hitting, rather than just anecdotal evidence of generalised gloom, but it would also be useful to have an idea what to do with the information that has been gathered.
What museums need is a campaign that comes from the grassroots up, and includes users and staff. It would not only expose the damage that cuts can do, but also have the advantage of getting a wide range of people involved in, and committed to, museums.
Sharon Heal, editor, Museums Journal
sharon@museumsassociation.org
www.twitter.com/sharonheal
www.museumsassociation.org/cuts
Aside from the public sector strike which, at the time of writing, looked as if it would lead to the closure of some national museums, protests against cuts to culture were gathering pace.
In June, the Lost Arts website was launched by a consortium of eight unions, while the Museums Association (MA) announced the first findings from its cuts survey.
And the picture, as you might guess, is not pretty. The Lost Arts website is keeping a running total of cuts to the arts over the next three years. At the time of writing, it was more than £20m – a figure that will only rise.
The initial results from the MA’s cuts survey don’t make pleasant reading either; 40% of the local authority museums that responded said they had reduced the number of staff by 10% in the past year.
The full survey results will be published on the MA website on 20 July, and will, no doubt, expose closures, cuts to opening hours, the introduction of entrance fees and charging for services such as school visits.
It’s great to have an idea of where the cuts are hitting, rather than just anecdotal evidence of generalised gloom, but it would also be useful to have an idea what to do with the information that has been gathered.
What museums need is a campaign that comes from the grassroots up, and includes users and staff. It would not only expose the damage that cuts can do, but also have the advantage of getting a wide range of people involved in, and committed to, museums.
Sharon Heal, editor, Museums Journal
sharon@museumsassociation.org
www.twitter.com/sharonheal
www.museumsassociation.org/cuts
- Readers should note that there will not be an August issue of Museums Journal. News will be updated regularly on the MA website throughout this period and the next issue will be published on 1 September.