The Future of Londons Museums

The Future of superior of the United Kingdoms MuseumsThe side by side(p) research motif investigates the symbolise specialise of capital of the United Kingdoms museums, focusing upon three aspects their historical development, their present issues and debates, and their strategies for ensuring time to come survival and prosperity. To ascertain these facts five fourth-year management put downs from five lede capital of the United Kingdom museums were interviewed and assumeed to complete questionnaires discussing the themes mentioned above.The research focuses at much length upon the decision of the present Labour brass to introduce informal entryway price to capital of the United Kingdoms museums and to finance this policy with funds from the National drafting. An separate(a) key aspect of the research was to determine the level of competition posed to capital of the United Kingdoms museums by European, Ameri poop and other internationalisticist museums further, to dis cover how capital of the United Kingdoms museums aptitude raise their performance to match this competition. In addition, another type of competition faced by capital of the United Kingdoms museums is that of domestic attractions perceived by tourists and the human race to be more sensational and exciting than old-fashioned museums.Famous examples include the capital of the United Kingdom Eye, doll Taussards, and the Tower of capital of the United Kingdom amongst others these attractions fit well with the zeitgeist of modern British youth and it is a major problem for Londons museums as to how they will re-assert their prominence. A third central aspect of the research, viewed both from the sides of museum management and from the establishment, is the question of the strategies that Londons museums will pursue in the twenty-first century.The survival and success of Londons museums will very much depend upon the decisions made regarding such strategy and its efficaciousness once put into place. The present research assesses the likely efficacy of such strategies, and the consequences that their implementation will have upon the publics museum experience. The results of the research paint double-sided picture on the side, of optimism regarding the increased admissions participates witnessed since free admissions began, and, on the other side, a gloomy scene dominated by the London museums lack of financial support and by the negative consequences of the judicature insistence of putting attendance figures before a qualitative artistic and heathenish experience.Section 1 IntroductionSince the foundation of the British Museum almost two hundred and fifty eld ago, London has had an international reputation as the museum capital of the world, as the city with the finest collections, the best specialists and the most to cristal the fascination of the public. In addition to the British Museum, London can boast the lifelike explanation Museum, the Science Mus eum, the London Transport Museum, the Victoria Albert Museum and the Theatre Museum amongst numerous other world-class museum-experiences.In their early decades Londons museums flourished through the generosity of private donations and gifts, and through royal and presidential term accompaniment these ample re fountains gave museums such as the British Museum unriv simplyed funds for the facial expression of magnificent architecture and the gathering of the most splendid specimens and pieces from across the globe.But by the early 1990s, and reflecting Britains changed economic circumstances, Londons museums found themselves in need of considerable new funds to pay for refurbishments and developments so as to keep pace with other museums in the capital cities of Europe and in America. The coming of the National Lottery in 1994, and the terms of its constitution whereby a majority of its funds would go to museums and galleries, app bently offered the very chance to bring aroun d a revival in the fortunes and prosperity of Londons museums. so between 1994-2003 more than 13 billion was given to good causes by the National Lottery and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) (Selwood Davies, 2005 p.3) 1 billion was given to six hundred museums across the country (Selwood Davies, 2005 p.3). These funds were intended for the construction of new buildings and army halls, and to compensate museums and galleries for the spillage of r change surfaceue that they would incur once free admission was introduced. A few smaller museums were also enabled to open in London because of grants from the HLF.The attached radical step in the recent history of Londons museums came when the Labour Party in their 1997 manifesto, promised that when elected they would introduce free admission into Londons museums a move that it was anticipated would greatly increase attendance from members of the public public. In the event, this prediction turned out to be just right, peculiarly in the two years immediately succeeding the introduction of free admission. The giving medication minister thus in charge of museums in 2001, Estelle Morris, spoke of 2000 as an unprecedented season of openings and flourishing (DOC, 2000) for London museums.The year 2000 witnessed nine major construction or refurbishment projects in Londons great museums and a total of 379 cardinal spent on this (193 million of which came from drawing sources) (Selwood Davies, 2005 p.4). The most spectacular of these projects was the construction by Norman Foster of the Great Court at the British Museum costing 110 million (of which 47 million was derived from draftsmanship sources) (Selwood Davies, 2005 p.5). All in all, it shoot the breezemed that the lottery was proving a vital fertilizing force in the greening and restoration of Londons great museums. This optimism was very all the way reflected in the visitor figures following free admission.In 2001/2002 London museums that had previousl y received capital financial backing from lottery sources noticed a staggering rise in visitor numbers of 5.3 million when comp ared with the 1999/2000 season in 2002/2003 this figure jumped again to 6.3 million extra visits compared with 1999/2000 (this representing an increase of 89%). In stark contrast London museums that did not receive lottery support allege they annual attendance figure drop by 7% in 2001/02 and 13% in 2002/03 when compared to the 1999/00 season. To take an individual instance, the Victoria Albert Museum witnessed an increase in attendance from 75,773 in November 2000 to 132,882 in November 2001 (this figure even jumped 270% by March 2002). Likewise, attendance figures at the Science Museum uprise by 120% and the National History Museum by 74% in the identical period (All figures Selwood Davies, 2005 pp. 6-10).Nonetheless, this stream of incessantly spectacular and rising admissions figures masked a major uphold unsettling more of the managers and dir ectors of Londons leading(a) museums. These figures of course welcomed lottery funding as a vital means of rejuvenating Londons museums and making them competitive with museums found in New York, Paris, Berlin and elsewhere. Nonetheless, the approach of free admission introduced at the same time a far great degree of vulnerability and doubt in the financial arrangements and security of Londons museums.It was obvious to museum strategists and directors that a great deal of lottery money would be needed to compensate for the loss of revenue endured once free admission was introduced. Crucially, it would be paramount that lottery contri furtherions of the levels of 2001 would be sustained for the long-term nothing would be worse that one spectacular year for two of prosperity and monumental investment followed by ten or twenty years of under investment and decline.It is recent charge imputed by many museum directors against the government and the HLF directors that they were nave i n profoundly underestimating the levels of investment that would e required to sustain not only the rejuvenation of Londons museums but merely also their survival. The British Museum alone, for instance, harmonize to its director Neil MacGregor stands to lose 80 million over ten years from lost revenues and reclaimed VAT. Increased attendance figures are welcomed naturally by all museum directors on the absolute condition that sufficient funds are made available to pay the be of this increased attendance. Selwood and Davies calculated that since the advent of free admission and 7.3 million extra visitors each of these visitors cost Londons museums on average 3.56 per visitor 3.56 extra that has to be found by the museums from non-lottery funding (Selwood Davies, 2003 p.8).Thus free admission has had a bitter sting in its tale, and it may be said that presently a great many of Londons famous museums find themselves in financial difficulties, unable to pay for restorations and impr ovements unable to compete with American and European museums for the finest pieces and exhibitions, unable to attract the brightest researchers and curators and ultimately in jeopardy of losing the great reputations that some have nurtured for as long as two centuries. It is clear to all, museum directors and government officials alike, that the present funding arrangements of Londons museums are risky and that a serious strategy needs to be devised to offer such museums long-term financial security and therefore a platform to compete with the other leading museums of the world.This present dissertation conducted interviews, by way of questionnaires with five elderly figures from five of Londons leading museums the British Museum, the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum, the London Transport Museum and the V A museum to ascertain their thoughts and attitudes regarding the present state and the likely future(a) state of Londons museums.These ranking(prenominal) figu res were questioned on their beliefs regarding the lottery funding of museums, on the advent of free admission, on the extent of government funding, on international competition, and on future strategy. The picture that emerges from these interviews is one of profound uncertainty over the future survival and prosperity of Londons museums buffeted on the one side by the loss of revenue from free admission, and on other sides by the short-fall in promised lottery investment and the present governments obsession with the quantitative aspect of museum attendance at the expense of the superior of the visitors experience.Section 2 Literature ReviewIt perhaps appropriate to preface this literature review with a few remarks about its undertaking. much when undertaking research that refers to comparatively recent events, the researcher finds that the faculty member world has not yet had time to catch-up in print and publish scholarly books and articles top these events. With the present research however the proposition was entirely opposite even though the subjects of lottery funding, free admission and so on are relatively recent, there is nonetheless an abundance of literature dealing with the specific question of the future of Londons museums.The task of the researcher was thus to sift this bodily so as to isolate its most pertinent and relevant parts. Another unusual aspect of this present literature review is its wide use of government documents and announcements. An overriding theme throughout the present paper is the intimacy of the relationship between the government and museum managers and directors. Naturally, the government perspective upon events is not published through academic books and journals, but by speeches, white-papers, press releases and so on.This research of course made much use of the outstanding museum journals, pre-eminently Curator The Museum Journal. Of the several articles from this journal utilise in this dissertation, one was of s eminal importance in providing statistical and analytical evidence of the impact of lottery funding and free admission upon Londons museums, this creation S. Selwood and M. Davies (2005) Capital Costs Lottery Funding in Britain and Consequences for Museums. The article excellently articulates the dilemma that has crept upon Londons museums now that the inadequacy of lottery funding to meet extra visitors numbers has become apparent.There are hints in the above article to possible solutions to the funding crisis facing Londons museums, and these solutions are discussed in great depth in R. Barons Reinventing a State Program for Museum Funding (2003). Question marks as to the thoroughness and efficacy in practice of the governments free admissions policy is raised in several places Freudenheims That Politics Problem (2005), Babbidges UK Museums Safe and Sound? (2000) and lemonys Controversy and Challenge British Funding Increases Nationally, But Not to National Museums all echo the apprehensiveness and fear felt by many museum directors and staff towards the financial liabilities that would arise in the wake of free admissions (2006).Freudenheim, in particular, highlights a certain naivety in governments attitude towards the kit and caboodle of national museums citing in particular the governments inveterate insistence upon the increasing of admissions figures no amour what the effects of this upon either museum costs or the artistic museum-experience of visitors.The governments position, and its obvious delight and sense of fulfilment at increased attendance figures since free admission, is given in a number of documents. Principally, the paper London Cultural Capital Realising the Potential of a World Class City published by the Londons Museums Agency (2004) establishes the governments intentions and strategy towards the future of Londons museums. The paper gives fifteen government policies, under the headers value, access, creativity, and excellence by which the governments museum strategies will be delivered in future.The government, in draw with the National Lottery, has written in several places of its satisfaction at the results of the introduction of the policy of free admissions. In particular, the paper One Year On visitor Numbers Soaring At National Museums Following Abolition Of Entry Charges published by the surgical incision for Culture, Media and Sport, 1 January 2003 gives a sense of the euphoria and consummation perceived by the government. Also, the paper Two Years On put down Admission to National Museums Draws Even Bigger Crowds again published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on 9 March 2003 gives much the same impression.In each of these documents the government stresses its loyalty and commitment to the principle of free admission and to the citation of this principle as far as possible. At the same time, there is little reference in these documents to the nervousness and trepidation felt by museum directors and managers about the future prosperity of the institutions they preside over. It is in this absence of self-criticism, that the reader perceives the origins of the discrepancy between that governments perception of the financial condition of Londons museums and the reality of their condition. The possible consequences of such as disparity increasing, and of a competition gap widening between Londons museums and those in America and Europe, are well delineated in Cains article Museums and the Future of Collecting (2005).In short, the extant literature paints the present picture of Londons museums as a time of grave uncertainty with respect to their financial predicament and thus their world-class legacies and reputations. These sources also acknowledge the considerable benefits already brought by lottery funding and free admission, and point also to the great future potential of these schemes they instil in the reader at the same time a standard that idealism m ust be checked by pragmatic considerations before Londons museums can attain the future they deserve.Section 3 methodologyThe principal method of primary data collection for this research was the interviewing, by way of questionnaires, of several senior figures at five of Londons leading museums. The decision to interview senior management and directing figures, rather than members of the public, had the obvious advantage that the answers obtained would be the specialist opinions of people with an intimate knowledge of the subject matter of the research.Members of the general public, especially those living in London, a good deal show much interest and curiosity towards the subject of the prosperity and fate of Londons museums, but at the same time are not professionals with direct experience of the key debates and consultations.To arrange these five meetings, the researcher wrote fifteen letters to major London museums. Of these fifteen requests for an interview, seven positive r esponses were returned to the interviewer, of which five eventually furnished the luck of an interview. In requesting these interviews letters were sent to the director of each museum, irregardless of the sex, race, or righteousness of the person. Of the five eventual interviewees, three were men and two women their ages ranged between forty-one and sixty-three.At the behest of interviewees, all of whom preferred to speak off the record due to the predisposition of many of the issues of discussion, neither their names nor their titles are given in the final publication of this research. Thus, in the transcripts presented in the appendix of this research, each of the five interviewees are referred to as a senior figure and ascribed a coded number following the simple scheme 001-002-003-004-005.This sensitivity, arising from the various present tensions over funding between London museums, the HLF and the government, intelligibly raises certain honourable questions about the prese nt research. Above all, is it permissible to expose senior figures to possible embarrassment or worse, for the sake of the findings of this research. In answer to this question, the present researcher would say two things firstly, that explicit consent for every interview was obtained by the researcher before the commencement of each interview, thus all interviewees participated at their own volition secondly, following Utilitarian principles of seeking the greatest good for the greatest number, the researcher decided that the possible positive benefits and improved public understanding of the topic that might arise from this research could justify the slight ethical risks associated with the carrying-out of this research.It is a belief of the researcher that by informing the academic companionship and the public of the chief issues and controversies now affecting Londons museums, that the debate generated from this knowledge will lead to greater consideration on all sides being sh own towards the preservation and improvement of Londons world-famous reputation as a museum centre.A number of criticisms may be levelled at the methodology discussed in this section. Firstly, it might be asked, with some justification, whether or not the interviewing of only five museum figures can produce results characteristic of attitudes and opinions of Londons museums as a whole. Naturally, critics might ask how the researcher can infer from the collection of five opinions general trends governing the many hundreds and thousands of senior figures working for the management of Londons museums.Likewise, why does the say interview exclusively figures from museum management and not from the government or from the National Lottery? In response to the first question the reply must be that with limited resources and limited time, it seemed most prudent to the researcher to restrict the field of investigation to a narrow focus, where the results obtained could be subjected to a signi ficant scrutiny and compendium something which resource constraints would have rendered impossible had the field been extended much wider. Moreover, whilst only five persons were interviewed, these figures preside over Londons five largest museums which between them see greater attendance figures and government investment than all of Londons other museums combined.Thus the opinions of the figures interviewed actually are far more representative of London as a whole than would first appear likely. In response to the second question, a similar answer might be given only museum directors were interviewed because they are the persons with the most intimate knowledge of the matters under discussion. If the present researcher were in future to extend the present research, then the opinions of others immaterial of museum management would sure as shooting have to be included. As it was, the present report incorporates sufficient expert opinion, to make its findings relevant to the bette r academic and public understanding of the issues affecting the future of Londons museums.Section 4 Results AnalysisThe aim of the present research was to investigate the likely future of Londons museums this research was undertaken by way of interviews with five senior figures from five leading London museums. From the information gained from the literature review undertaken by the researcher it seemed most appropriate to question these museum directors on five main subjects lottery funding, the advent of free admission, international competition, future strategy and the employment of new researchers and curators.The expectation of the researcher was that the general opinion of these senior figures would have initially been one of welcome to the proposed lottery funding, but that this initial welcome would have turned to mild scepticism in the wake of free admission and the provocation of severe uncertainty following the extra costs incurred by increased visitor numbers and lesser -than-expected lottery investment. What opinions then did these results produce in actuality?(1) Lottery Funding. The five interviewed senior figures unanimously (5 of 5) welcomed the original government proposals to aid Londons and Britains museums through funds made available by the national lottery. Museums such as the British Museum, with its newly built Great Court, was given considerable lottery funding amounting to 47 million (Selwood Davies, 2003 p.3). Museum directors were quick to give that such developments would have been impossible without these lottery funds or an extremely large, but unbelievable, private donation. In short, museum directors were united in their praise for proposed lottery investment.(2) Free Admission. The chief feature of the respondents answers to questions posed about free admission were twofold on the one hand, respondents welcomed the opportunity to open their doors to ever greater numbers of people, thus disseminating cultural and scientifi c experience as far as possible on the other hand, words such as apprehension and scepticism were apply liberally by nearly all of those interviewed. What most strongly prompted this apprehension was the twining of free admission introduction with the compensation for lost revenue by lottery funding. Directors confided that when allowed to charge admission fees their museums did at least have a degree of self-sufficiency and so could determine their own future strategies and successes. But lottery funding conditioned by the introduction of free admission policies has subjected Londons museums to a profound financial vulnerability and loss of independence.These museums, now depend upon the HLF for often as much a half of their income if controversies or difficulties arise with the lottery directors or with the ministers directing them, then the museums are forced to abide by outside instruction and policy. Moreover, the great fear that lottery investment would not be sustained appea rs to have come true for all of the five museums whose for whom senior figures were interviewed for this research. So too, insufficient lottery funding has been made available to compensate for the extra costs incurred by the vastly increased visitor numbers experienced after(prenominal) the introduction of free admission. Interviewees hinted at a certain naivety and lack of preparation on the part of ministers and lottery managers with respect to the projected visitor increases following free admission and the costs that would be incurred by this.(3) International Competition. On the question of international competition there was further unanimity of opinion amongst the senior figures interviewed. Each respondent vigorously asserted that the collections of the museums he or she presided over as a manager were the equal of any equivalent museum anywhere in the world. Managers from the British Museum and the Natural History Museum, not to mention others, could rightly boast that th eir reputations were pre-eminent amongst international museums. At the same time, three of the figures interviewed (the exceptions presided over specialist museums with little international competition) confided that many American and European museums simply had far better funding and so purchasing-power than their own London museums. For the immediate future, this gap will mean that these international museums will continue to purchase new pieces of exceptional public interest whilst Londons museums will have to remain content with their existing impressive but static collections. In the medium- and long-term future, if this purchasing disparity continues then a qualitative difference will emerge ever more clearly between the museums of London and those of America and Europe.(4) Recruitment. When embarking upon the present research the researcher did not anticipate that the difficulty of recruiting new researchers and curators would be a major concern to Londons museums regarding t heir futures. Nonetheless, as the searching through the literature review proceeded and as the topic came into better perspective this problem seemed to be a central concern for several of the major London museums. Specialist museums like the V A and the Theatre Museum do not, according to results, face such problems but senior figures from the Natural History Museum, the British Museum and the Science museum may all face crises over recruitment in the near future.According to these figures the recruitment of new staff has been a subject neglected by the government in their ceaseless quest for higher admission figures and in measuring the value of a museum-goers experience. The science museum can no longer attract top scientists and researchers because they are paid so little 20,000 as a starting salary, peaking at 50,000 ( ). Commercial companies and American museums offer far better salaries and improved facilities. If this brain-drain continues for much longer, then it may prove to be the greatest of all risk of exposures to the future prosperity of Londons museums.These institutions are sustained not only by their pieces and specimens, but by the care and expertise of their curators and other staff it is this expertise and the respect that arises from it that gives these institutions their world-class reputations. If this expertise evaporates, then no amount of increased admission or funding or improved strategy will protect the legacies and future prosperity of Londons museums. But towards the re-capture and enticement of these experts the government and the lottery fund seem somewhat blinded given the extent to which Londons museums now rely upon government funding, it is precisely with the government that the responsibility lies for providing sufficient funding for home-grown and international experts to crave as they used to the opportunity to work in the prestigious museums of London.(5) Future Strategy. The senior figures interviewed for this resea rch are nearly as one when they declare that future strategy has to be built around the attainment of financial stability this is to be sought through an improved, more efficient and more effective relationship with the government and the HLF. A better balance has to be struck between the governments ardent desire for ever increased admissions and the practical and pragmatic methods by which these extra admissions, dragging with them their extra costs, will be paid for.If a resolution and balancing is not achieved here then the obvious and inevitable path down which Londons museums must slide is that of ever greater debt and so lesser purchasing-power for new pieces and so a general decline in the standing and reputation of Londons museums. The reality of this predicament is brought home, even as this dissertation is written-up, by the announcement today of the London Theatre Museum (BBC, 2006) that they face imminent closure unless a major cash injection from the lottery fund is re ceived. The alternative strategies are these firstly, an abrupt about-face by the museums whereby they begin to charge for admission.This path is unattractive as there are numerous legislative, ethical and civil obstacles to this policys reinstatement. Another alternative is increased public funding from a source other than the lottery this however looks most unlikely in the short-term. Thus, setting aside the remote chance that a massive private donation will save them, museums must, in their strategising come to agreement with the government about how extra funding from the lottery may be obtained.In short, the results obtained from this present research point to two things firstly, that senior figures from the five museums interviewed welcomed in general lottery funding as a means to achieve rejuvenation and restoration secondly, that this optimism changed to apprehension and tentativeness once it became clear the extent to which lottery funding would be dependant upon free admis sions policies.Thirdly, it is obvious from all the interviews, that Londons museums are at a cross-roads and a defining moment in their illustrious history. To the left, is the danger of an ever greater financial disparity caused by increasing visitor figures and inadequate lottery funding to the right is offered a sound financial coordinate that will ensure the continuation and prosperity of Londons museums world-class reputation.Section 5 ConclusionIn the final analysis, it seems most appropriate to say that Londons museums are now at a seminal moment in their historical development a moment of both opportunity and precariousness. The opportunities promised by massive lottery funding at first seemed likely to engender a great rejuvenation of Londons museums indeed, this new source of funding promised to keep Londons museums competitive with the other great museums of the world for the foreseeable future.The advent of free admission was met with both tentativeness and warmth by t he senior figures interviewed by this researcher apprehension because free admission, and thus loss of revenue from admission charges, meant a far greater degree of dependence upon the government and the LHF and thus greater financial uncertainty. If the new relationship between lottery funding and free admission worked in practice as some had suggested in theory that it would, then Londons museums would have a bright and perhaps glorious future.If, on the other hand, the organization and administration of lottery funding was inadequate or improperly practised then a disparity would open between increasing admissions numbers and the ability of museums to pay the extra costs of these visitors. In the event, both expectations and fears were realised by the introduction of free admission in Londons museums. As the figures cited throughout this dissertation attest, visitor figures rose spectacularly in the wake of free admission. Greater numbers of the British general public and interna tional visitors than ever before were able to receive the cultural and scientific treasures of Londons great museums.Nonetheless, once the honeymoon period had waned, it became clear to many museum managers and directors that insufficient lottery funds were being supplied to compensate for loss of revenue incurred after the dropping of admissions charges and after the increase of visitors also from this policy. In the years since free admission was introduced, Londons museums have acquired ever greater deficits on t