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Presentation by Suzanne Keene (UCL) on her research into more effective ways of promoting the use of Stored Collections, based on her Collections for People research programme.
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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