Enjoy this article?
Most Museums Journal content is only available to members. Join the MA to get full access to the latest thinking and trends from across the sector, case studies and best practice advice.
Voxpop
How can lending and borrowing between museums be improved?
Last month’s Sharing Collections Symposium at London’s Natural History Museum looked at how lending and borrowing between museums and galleries has changed over the past few years. The event was organised by the Art Fund, the National Museum Directors’ Council and the Touring Exhibitions Group
Lynda Powell, director, Green Howards Museum, Richmond, Yorkshire
“Receiving funding from the Weston Loan with Art Fund was a critical factor in enabling our museum to borrow.
If more museums are to borrow, funding to cover loan costs, (which can be significant and can fluctuate), needs to be in place. We should also explore how better collaborative working, particularly around transport, could reduce costs.
Getting a loan approved can feel like passing a very difficult exam. We need to get better at developing supportive and flexible relationships, where both borrower and lender are equal partners.”
Maria Bojanowska, Dorset Foundation Head of National Programmes, British Museum
“Sharing museum and gallery collections in collaboration rather than in transaction can transform a loan into a powerful experience for both audiences and staff. Loans are an opportunity for museums and galleries to build partnerships and learn from each other.
More time therefore needs to be taken to develop these relationships and explore the potential of the objects that are being shared. It is also only through collaboration that we can be more experimental, question the status quo and make an object’s journey spectacular.”
Jon Murden, director, Dorset County Museum, Dorchester
“It’s encouraging to see that, given the benefits loans between museums can bring in terms of audience development, community engagement and our economic and cultural impact, thought is being given towards how processes can be simplified.
Using the Accreditation scheme to encourage a move toward greater standardisation of loans policies (as far as is practical) would perhaps help everyone interested, in either borrowing or lending, understand the rules of the game a bit better – particularly when it comes to the details of organising transport, installation and insurance.”