I visited Stockholm recently to see the Vasa, a jaw-droppingly beautiful ship that sank in 1628. It is now housed within a museum that was built around it after its long salvage operation.
I was particularly struck by a sign in the museum alerting visitors to the fact that a new education space is under way: “The aim is for all children, regardless of their functional skills, to be able to experience, actively participate in and benefit from the educational activities on equal terms and with dignity – all in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
It’s something we don’t do enough in the UK – connect our cultural provision with the articles of the UN Convention, which assert every child’s right to education, leisure, culture and play.
As the Children’s Commissioner for England has pointed out, we are, in effect, bound by this international treaty, given permission and exhortation to ensure that our children are rounded citizens: “Involvement in cultural learning… is part of fulfilling their – and our – promise.”
I have little interest in any museum that does not take this promise seriously: museums are cultural riches to be shared with all children and young people. The great thing about an international treaty is that it reaches above party politics: no party can dispute its authority (although politicians – or rather government ministers – may occasionally need reminding about it).
As an Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year judge this year, my scrutiny of the finalists will lean towards their learning provision, and my checklist will be as it is for the Clore Duffield Foundation’s grant applications.
Is the head of learning on the senior management team? Is there a board member with responsibility for learning? Is there a dedicated, fit-for-purpose learning space? Is learning at the heart of the museum’s core offer or an undervalued adjunct?
Is the museum reaching out to young people who find it hardest to access their collections? Ultimately, what this distils down to is a wider point about a museum’s values: how much it cares about human potential and how that concern is translated into practical delivery. For what is the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child about if not human potential?
Museums can provide profound experiences that can shape the people we become. The place that best embodies all that I love about them is the children’s wing of Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark.
For all the fabulous – and occasionally less fabulous – Clore Learning Spaces we have funded, I long to see such a vibrant, inspiring and substantial children’s wing in the UK.
Scandinavians are alert to the fact that museums are special places for children. We would be wise to do the same – and I hope that the Museum of the Year winner will show that we can.
Sally Bacon is the executive director of the Clore Duffield Foundation and a judge of the 2014 Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year
