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Editorial | Shaking up disposal practices
Looking forward to a new toolkit from the Museums Association
It goes without saying that collections are at the heart of museums and are what makes them special and unique. People visit in their millions so they can enjoy looking at objects and the powerful stories that they can tell. But many museums are finding that their artefacts are jeopardising their futures.
It is not the collections per se, but how they are acquired, conserved, managed and stored. As a comment article in the May/June issue on development-led archaeology points out, this is a growing problem – the more material museums acquire, the more difficult the problems become.
The sector has been talking about the challenges of acquisition, storage and object disposal for years, but has found it difficult to tackle the issues head on. An increasing number of museums are running out of storage space, while there are also associated problems with a lack of proper documentation of collections. And, more broadly, museums have a responsibility to address the climate crisis through their collections management practices.
If museums are to be financially and environmentally sustainable, and relevant to the communities that they serve, they must take an immediate and proactive approach to collections management.
This is why the Museums Association (MA) has been working on a new toolkit for the ethical transfer, reuse and disposal of items in collections. This work should be an everyday and necessary part of sustainable collections management – and the need for it to happen is urgent.
The MA’s toolkit, which has been developed with sector professionals and will be published later this year, will help museums to better manage their collections. There will be lots of accompanying case studies to support the guidance.
Empowering the sector to have a more strategic, proactive and confident approach to collections management should have great benefits. Collections need to be relevant and manageable, if they are to be used effectively. Removing items that no longer meet the needs of the communities they serve is vital.
As our comment article implies, effectively addressing collections management issues, including storage, will allow museums to get on to the really exciting work of inspiring their audiences.