Opinion
Letters
Creating a contemporary museum habitat The recent closure of my local Habitat in Harrogate was a big come down for me, as a once stylish environment was reduced to a bargain basement full of half empty shelves and scrappy handwritten signs. As a museum curator with a passion for the development of domestic interiors and …
Museums should be campaigning for cultural rights for all
On 3 April this year, there was an international outcry when the Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei was arrested on charges of alleged “economic crimes”. London’s Tate Modern placed a large sign on its building demanding that China “Release Ai Weiwei”. The artist was eventually freed on 22 June. So is everything OK now? …
Overcoming the fear of tackling sensitive issues
An exhibition exploring the history of Broadwater Farm is now on at Bruce Castle Museum in Tottenham, north London. That it is on at all is a testament to the courage of the museum and the council in facing, passively at least, what they fear most: sensitive issues. No matter what the achievements before or …
Museums need to make the loans process easier
Over the past five years of work on collections at the Museums Association (MA), I’ve championed increased loans between museums and to other public venues as one of the primary means of improving use of collections. But even compared with disposal, loans has been a tricky subject on which to find agreement and to see …