We are in the middle of a flurry of officially sponsored anniversaries. Some, such as the Magna Carta, have been greeted with cynicism and indifference.
Who really wants to celebrate the medieval origins of our failing political system?
Anniversaries should be opportunities for critical reflection, not self-interested exploitation.
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, an event that continues to challenge and unsettle the Irish and British.
In Ireland, the Troubles have forced governments and communities on all sides to acknowledge the importance of a more critical and inclusive presentation of the past.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the rest of the UK, where there is still minimal acknowledgement of its role in the Irish conflict.
In England in particular, there is almost total silence in all areas of public life about the conquest, economic control and cultural repression of Wales, Ireland and Scotland, which were central to the formation of the British state.
Our sector is as guilty of this as any. There is no national museum of English or British history to enable the English to understand themselves and face their
past.
Despite devolution, our membership bodies, including the Museums Association, remain undevolved. And the one Celtic representative on the executive of National Museum Directors’ Council is still selected, not by the directors of museums in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but by the (invariably English) chair.
The Easter Rising anniversary is an opportunity to examine and reform ourselves, and remake the relationship between museums in our four nations.
David Anderson is a Museums Association board member and the director general of Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales)
Who really wants to celebrate the medieval origins of our failing political system?
Anniversaries should be opportunities for critical reflection, not self-interested exploitation.
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, an event that continues to challenge and unsettle the Irish and British.
In Ireland, the Troubles have forced governments and communities on all sides to acknowledge the importance of a more critical and inclusive presentation of the past.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the rest of the UK, where there is still minimal acknowledgement of its role in the Irish conflict.
In England in particular, there is almost total silence in all areas of public life about the conquest, economic control and cultural repression of Wales, Ireland and Scotland, which were central to the formation of the British state.
Our sector is as guilty of this as any. There is no national museum of English or British history to enable the English to understand themselves and face their
past.
Despite devolution, our membership bodies, including the Museums Association, remain undevolved. And the one Celtic representative on the executive of National Museum Directors’ Council is still selected, not by the directors of museums in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but by the (invariably English) chair.
The Easter Rising anniversary is an opportunity to examine and reform ourselves, and remake the relationship between museums in our four nations.
David Anderson is a Museums Association board member and the director general of Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales)
