Opinion
Be vocal about your ethical responsibilities
Egyptian antiquities have long attracted steep premiums at auction, but prices have never been higher. At stake are professional reputations, public faith in museums and, above all, Egypt’s heritage. But what can the museum community do? For starters, we need to be more vocal about our ethical responsibilities as stewards of the past. Recently, the …
Help us rehabilitate curating
We all agree that museums need curators, but do we all agree on what it is that curators do? Are they holders of specialist collections knowledge? Cultural programmers? Custodians? Facilitators? Communicators? All of these, or none? Through the Art and Science of Curation project, we are beginning to map the rich and diverse landscape of …
Lessons on disposal from the US
It was with considerable sadness that I watched Northampton Borough Council consign the Sekhemka Egyptian statue, an extraordinary work of art, to an auction house for sale. The fact that part of the proceeds of the £15.8m sale will be ringfenced to pay for museum programmes and development is neither here nor there. Works of …
Protecting the future of archaeology
On 14 July, Loyd Grossman announced the biennial British Archaeological Awards at the British Museum. The awards recognise best practice in archaeology in the past two years. Winners included the Bloomberg project by the Museum of London Archaeology and the work of the Scape Trust in engaging communities with coastal erosion in Scotland, plus an …