Opinion
Oral history in museums is under attack
News that the Museum of London is axing its oral history curator, a post created 20 years ago, is the latest in a worrying trend that has seen oral history posts disappear at Beamish, Newcastle, Bradford, Bristol, Croydon and Southampton. Elsewhere, notably at the Imperial War Museum, where oral history was pioneered in the 1970s, …
Editorial: It’s time to overhaul the funding structure
Last month, we found out that there is a huge disparity in public and private funding between cultural organisations in London and the rest of the UK. The shocking facts speak for themselves (see this month’s news analysis). Of course, as the capital of England, London could be expected to get a larger slice of …
Uncomment: Elizabeth Rynecki on a lost chance
My great-grandfather, Moshe Rynecki (1881-1943), painted the Polish-Jewish community in the inter-war years. His themes included religious study and scenes of everyday life, offering a glimpse into a world before it was destroyed by the Holocaust. Although Moshe perished at Majdanek, many of his 800-plus works survived the war. Although many historians and museum curators …
Wales gets cultural education
What on earth is going on in schools in England? The government seems to have taken leave of its senses. Goya’s painting of Atlas devouring one of his children comes to mind. In September, Michael Rosen, Carol Ann Duffy and 200 other writers and academics became the latest arts and education professionals to condemn Michael …
The conversation: Should we be charging for temporary exhibitions?
Hannah Redler is the head of Media Space, Science Museum, London; Julie Finch is the head of Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives Dear Hannah New ways of generating income are at the heart of charging for temporary exhibitions – and possibly a substitute for charged entry to museums. We have introduced a charging system for …
The 2020 column: It’s time to confer
The three themes at this year’s Museums Association conference (11-12 November) relate to Museums Change Lives and Museums 2020. Tomorrow’s World looks at the future of museums from a range of perspectives, including the implications of technology for democratising museums, culminating in a session imagining what a museum would be like if it was designed …
Vox pop: Can museums prove that they are good for your health?
Carol Rogers, executive director, education, communities and visitors, National Museums Liverpool “We know that we can affect the lives of visitors by focusing our venue assets, collection expertise and resources on making a difference to people’s health and wellbeing. A growing number of museums actively reach out to connect with people living in poverty and …