Collections for People:making stores work harder

1 – About collections

www.ucl.ac.uk/storedcollections/www.suzannekeene.info

Pilgrim Trust

Those difficult questionsI

suppose you use

the objects

to change

the things in

the exhibitio

ns?Hmm, exhibitions don’t work quite like

that

I suppose people

come and work on

the objects for research?

Please don’t ask how

many people ...

Why do you have

collections when you

can’t display them?

Ah, they’re the heart

of the museum, you see

But can you afford the

storage cost if they are only useful for a few

researchers?

But they’re for the future!

Urban development - archaeology

Cataloguing the natural world

Disappearing worlds - ethnography

How did we get here?

Mass production and consumerism

Admit it, we just love to collect

Collections - 1001 kinds

Art / aesthetic

Functional objects

Archives for research

Places & people collections

Why should people want museums to have collections?

Economists and the cultural value debate …

Kinds of cultural value

• Authenticity value

• Symbolic value

• Historical value

• Spiritual value

• Aesthetic value

Authenticity value – researcheg, authenticating Vermeer: depends on 100’s of humbler objects

Symbolic value – identity

Canada

Europe (Vienna)

Australia

UK

Historical value – learning

Spiritual value - creativity

These massless bodies have

been made visible through the

effective exploitation of their

inherent flatness.

The thin, pentagonal shapes

are ... composed with both

harmony and sobriety ... ‘

Byrne & Smith, sound installation, The sculpture of the Grant Museum

Brittle stars are found in …

Spiritual values - history, memory, discovery

Aesthetic value – enjoyment of beauty

Values >> Uses

• Authenticity value >> Research

• Symbolic value>> Memory, identity

• Historical value >> Learning

• Spiritual value >> Creativity

• Aesthetic value >> Enjoyment of beauty

Use values and even “Non-use” values

Existence value

Option value

Bequest value

Prestige value

Future museums?

Future museums?

My hero! Mark Dion,

installation artist

Next, some evidence