Museums and heritage

Members of the National Trust have rejected the election of five candidates endorsed by the pressure group Restore Trust.

Restore Trust was set up three years ago for members concerned that the Trust’s priorities were being driven by “modish, divisive ideologies”. 

A record turnout of 156,000 members voted in the Trust’s council elections at this year’s AGM held on 11 November.

Members also rejected two resolutions put forward by the Restore Trust.

Following the AGM, Zewditu Gebreyohanes, Director of Restore Trust, announced she was to step down.

Gebreyohanes said she made the decision six months ago and plans to focus on her work as a researcher at the Legatum Institute, a controversial think-tank based in London closely aligned with the Vote Leave Brexit campaign.

The families of victims of the Grenfell fire are calling for a permanent museum or public exhibition to honour those who lost their lives.

A report released by the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission earlier this week proposed a long-term museum or exhibition housed in an existing museum to make sure future generations can learn about and remember the tragedy.

The report, which is the second of its kind and the result of four years of consultation with bereaved families, survivors and residents who live close to Grenfell Tower, also called for a memorial that features art, water and display a mix of faiths and cultural backgrounds that make up the Grenfell community.

It said the memorial should be located at an alternative but easily accessible site, or sites, in London, to avoid the scene becoming a tourist destination.

It also suggested a separate private archive to house community tributes that are becoming “vulnerable to the elements”. 

“There is an urgent need to create a permanent and fitting space for the Grenfell community to remember, to mourn and to reflect upon their experiences,” Thelma Stober and Lord Paul Boateng, co-Chairs of the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission, said.

Timings for the development of a memorial will be dependent on the government’s decision on the future of Grenfell Tower, but the memorial commission is hopeful construction could begin from late 2026.

Families of the victims have also requested a garden and built structure be incorporated into a permanent memorial at the site of the fire.

The fire in west London killed 72 people on 14 June 2017.

A statue of transatlantic slave trader Edward Colston that was pulled down by protesters will return to public display at a museum in Bristol next year.

The controversial monument gained worldwide attention after it was toppled during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in 2020 before being thrown into the city’s harbour.

It was temporarily displayed at M Shed Museum from June 2021 to January 2022 but has been out of public view since.

Following a city-wide consultation and a We Are Bristol History Commission report, the statue will be included in a new M Shed exhibition on protest and racial injustice from March next year.

In a blog post, Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees said: "The vast majority (80 per cent) of Bristol residents who responded agreed that the best place for the statue in the future was in one of our museums."

"To help make this a reality, an application to regularise the legal position of the listed asset, away from its plinth, has recently been submitted, which will go to a planning committee early in the new year."

Rees said the application was submitted following discussions with Historic England.

Last month the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published a five-step "tool-kit" for cultural decision-makers to follow when faced with calls to remove a public statue or monument.

Known as ‘retain and explain’, the government's strategy for contentious heritage assets has, since 2021, been to keep them in place, accompanied by an explanation of their historical context. 

Protesters from Art Workers for Palestine Scotland have staged a sit-in at Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow this afternoon (10 November).

The demonstration began shortly after lunchtime as dozens of activists sat in the art gallery with flags and banners.

Police have attended the scene, and visitors are not being admitted during the demonstration.

The protesters are calling upon members of the Scottish parliament to publicly demand an immediate ceasefire in Israel.

In a call out on their Instagram page ahead of the demonstration, which was due to end at 2.30pm, the protesters said: "The majority of arts and cultural institutions have been silent as we witness the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.

"We refuse to let the arts, culture and heritage sector to continue as if nothing is happening. No more business as usual in the arts."

Further details of the theft of 2,000 Greek and Roman artefacts from the British Museum (BM) have emerged as the terms of a review of the organisation were published on its website yesterday.

The terms of reference for the British Museum Independent Collection, Security and Governance Review state that the “loss and/or damage of the affected objects occurred during the period from 1993 to 2022”, corresponding to the timeframe the alleged suspect was employed at the museum as a curator.

The document also names the review’s three co-chairs as Nigel Boardman (former trustee and lawyer), Lucy D'Orsi (Chief Constable of the British Transport Police) and Ian Karet (lawyer and charity law expert). 

They join senior BM employees David Bilson (Head of Security and Visitor Services), Mark Coady (Head of Internal Audit) and Thomas Harrison (Keeper of Greece and Rome) in investigating the thefts and liaising with the police.

The terms task the team with “identifying a complete list” of the missing items, noting “the ongoing detailed audit of affected objects is likely to take longer” than the scope of the review.  

In setting up procedures to recover the missing property, the terms suggest this could involve “civil litigation against persons suspected of possessing missing affected objects”.

The review will also examine the “failures of controls, processes or policies” that enabled the thefts, as well as the actions taken by the board in response to the allegations of losses.

The review report will be presented at the December meeting of trustees. It will also be shared with the Secretary of State at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Lucy Frazer, and her Permanent Secretary, Susannah Storey.

It will, however, be “kept confidential” though the trustees reserve the right to publish it in whole or part with the approval of the Co-Chairs.

Museums across the country have made a joint commitment to take collective action on the climate crisis at the UK’s first-ever Museum Cop.

Attendees at a conference held at Tate Modern last week included delegates from museums and organisations from Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton, Derby, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Sheffield and York, as well as national bodies from England, Wales and Scotland.

In a statement, museum leaders acknowledged a “responsibility to speak out about the climate and biodiversity crisis” as “institutions with a long-term view.”

It said museum leaders feel they have an "ethical obligation" to take action to alleviate the damage of climate change and are committed to using collections, programmes and exhibitions “to engage audiences with the climate crisis and inspire them to take positive action”. 

The agreement also included pledges to manage collections sustainably while developing and implementing decarbonisation plans and increasing biodiversity in museums’ green spaces.

As well as urging UK politicians and businesses to accelerate action on climate change, the conference made a series of recommendations, including changes to planning laws to improve the long-term viability of heritage buildings and for environmental best practices to be taught on sector-related courses and apprenticeships.

Nick Merriman, Chief Executive of the Horniman Museum and Chair of the Cop, said: “The fact that the whole museum sector has come together to stress the urgency for action is hugely significant. We will now work together to implement the actions we have agreed.”

The National Lottery Heritage Innovation Fund has announced 17 organisations that will benefit from a share of £1.17m of funding to explore how challenges facing the sector’s workforce can be overcome.

The grants, worth between £50,000 and £75,000, will support a staff member for up to 12 months to test solutions for issues ranging from recruitment and retention of volunteers and heritage skills shortages to attracting young people to the sector and improving digital products and capacity.

This testing phase is the second of the programme’s three stages, which started with 34 organisations. Of these, 17 will progress to the test phase, while a third phase is planned for late 2024.

Projects moving to the second stage include the British Film Institute, which will test new entry routes to film conservation and the role of formal accreditation in professionalising the practice.

Meanwhile, Hampshire Cultural Trust will look at different approaches to creating paid career pathways for volunteers across heritage organisations.

Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: "I'm delighted to see these 17 projects progress to the next stage. The cohort approach has already led to some impressive development of skills, confidence and capabilities – I'm excited for what they come up with next.

"Investing in innovation supports organisational sustainability, one of our four investment principles, and will ensure that heritage is valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future."
 

Museums in Glasgow are closed this week due to industrial action taken by staff over plans to cut jobs.

Members of Unison working in Glasgow museums and collections are taking part in five days of strikes, ending on Saturday (28 October), impacting flagship institutions, including Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and Glasgow Museums Resource Centre.

Unison says that Glasgow Life, an arm's-length organisation that runs the city's art, leisure and culture sector on behalf of the council, proposes 38 job cuts in specialist roles, including gallery curators and conservators.

The union has warned the cuts to conservators could result in a "high-profile accident" to items in the £1.4bn Glasgow Museum collection. "Collections do not look after themselves," a union spokesperson said.

"Deep cleaning of display venues by specialist conservation staff will greatly reduce or completely disappear. World-class textiles at the Burrell Collection, taxidermy specimens at Kelvingrove and other vulnerable organic objects will be at particular risk of pest damage without regular, vigilant cleaning by highly-trained specialists."

Defending the cuts, Glasgow Life said it had to make £7.1m of savings after cuts to its budget from Glasgow City Council which is grappling with a £50m deficit.

Glasgow Life said: “We recognise how valued our museums and collections are to Glasgow’s communities and the city’s international profile, and we understand the concern any changes may cause.

"Wherever possible, we have identified ways of making savings by reducing, rather than losing Glasgow Life services programmes and events; retaining the potential to rebuild them in the future."

"However, we have been saying for some time now that the savings we are making this year add up to around 9% of our annual service fee from the Council and ensure none of our facilities will have to close."