There is a belief that, between preparing for Christmas on the Med and the skiing season, we national museum directors do no work for three months. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Each November we decamp to Sir N’s country estate to decide the future of the UK museum sector. Only then do we go abroad.
We identified the key opportunity for next year. This is that the top London nationals are getting richer while, thanks to Jeremy – I do admire him – and ACE, the rest of the sector is getting poorer.
Sir M, for example, got a windfall gift of £25m from Lord Tesco last year, on the condition that he used it to “destroy smaller museums” (much like his organisation has wiped out corner shops).
But, once you have had the champagne party, with the tame regional museum partners putting on a show as if they are Roman slaves, how on earth can you spend the money?
Our idea is simple. England has too many national museums. Scotland has only two, both in Edinburgh. So each London national will establish an outpost in a Scottish city.
The V&A has already tested out the strategy in Dundee. And, incredibly, rather than support its own museums, the Scottish “nationalist” government has been fooled into giving it huge sums of money.
How we laughed! So the British Museum will open its own Lewis Chessmen Museum in Edinburgh, the National Gallery in Glasgow, the Tate in St Andrews, and so on. Poor old Soane Museum! All it got was Arbroath.
At first, we were stuck for a name for the scheme. Then Sir M suggested “Lebensraum” – perfect.
Each November we decamp to Sir N’s country estate to decide the future of the UK museum sector. Only then do we go abroad.
We identified the key opportunity for next year. This is that the top London nationals are getting richer while, thanks to Jeremy – I do admire him – and ACE, the rest of the sector is getting poorer.
Sir M, for example, got a windfall gift of £25m from Lord Tesco last year, on the condition that he used it to “destroy smaller museums” (much like his organisation has wiped out corner shops).
But, once you have had the champagne party, with the tame regional museum partners putting on a show as if they are Roman slaves, how on earth can you spend the money?
Our idea is simple. England has too many national museums. Scotland has only two, both in Edinburgh. So each London national will establish an outpost in a Scottish city.
The V&A has already tested out the strategy in Dundee. And, incredibly, rather than support its own museums, the Scottish “nationalist” government has been fooled into giving it huge sums of money.
How we laughed! So the British Museum will open its own Lewis Chessmen Museum in Edinburgh, the National Gallery in Glasgow, the Tate in St Andrews, and so on. Poor old Soane Museum! All it got was Arbroath.
At first, we were stuck for a name for the scheme. Then Sir M suggested “Lebensraum” – perfect.
