Presentation to the American Alliance of Museums 2013 conference 'The Power of St

1. Shared Guardianship is good
for the museum business
(or why the Green Slime aren’t coming for you)
Nick Poole, Chief Executive
Collections Trust
www.collectionstrust.org.uk

2. Who am I…?

3. What do I do…?

4. “Shared
guardianship” can
be a little abstract,
even threatening…

5. Some things changed…
People are different
Expectations are different
The materials we collect are different
The experiences we offer are different
Our expectations of scale are different
Some things didn‟t…
People are the same
Museums are trusted institutions
Things tell stories
Things are beautiful
Things are important
Places matter

6. What kind of
museum
professional are
you?

7. Objects Experiences
Facts Stories

8. Objects Experiences
Facts Narratives
“Our first duties are to collect,
conserve and display material
culture, to protect the nation’s
treasures and to showcase the
high points of human
creativity”

9. Objects Experiences
Facts Stories
“Our first duty is to create an
open, welcoming environment
in which people can come and
enjoy the experience of
beautiful, inspiring things”

10. Objects Experiences
Facts Stories
“It is not the objects
themselves, but the
connections between them
and the stories they can tell.
Our duty is to weave stories
and objects together to help
people understand the world
around them”

11. Objects Experiences
Facts Narratives
“Our first duty is to provide an
authoritative record of the
development of the natural
and man-made world. We
must collect and preserve
type specimens and objects
based on our authoritative
and scientific knowledge.”

12. Objects Experiences
Facts Stories

13. All of these impulses (and many others) co-exist in museums.
Shared guardianship is about engaging on equal terms with our
users to keep these perspectives in balance.

14. The big challenges…
Get more visitors
Do more stuff
Make more money
Be loved by our supporters
Stay relevant
Stay interesting
…have big solutions
Be true to your values
Make relationships, not property
Share the workload
Be open to new knowledge
Be confident & excited about your role

15. The ethics of the museum profession are the
ethics of shared guardianship.
This is not about doing something new, or different, its about
getting back in touch with the values at the core of your museum
and living by them.

16. Museums have to balance an
ethical responsibility to collect
and preserve with the
imperative to facilitate access
Shared guardianship means taking joint
ownership of this challenge

17. Why Shared
Guardianship?
Because relationships
scale and enclosure
doesn‟t

18. Te Papa and the iwi
Shared guardianship is the manifestation
of our commitment to accountability

19. M-Shed
Among the highest repeat visit rates of
any museum in the UK

20. The Rijksmuseum is open…
“Opening up access to our collections is not just
something we do. It’s what we are”

21. Looting in Iraq

22. Shared guardianship =
The Mission Statement
The Board
The Budget
The Exhibition programme
The building design
The Marketing Plan
The Product Design
Collections Acquisition & Disposal
Interpretation
Digitisation
Cataloguing
Collections Stores
Conservation
You don‟t have to abandon professional practice to give people a stake in
what your museum does, it‟s all a question of language…

23. Will you embrace shared guardianship?
1. Look at your Mission/Vision
2. Look at your acquisitions process
3. Symbolically „hand over‟ your collections
4. Assert the public right of access
5. Go out and tell the world

24. Thank you!
Find out more: www.collectionslink.org.uk
Nick Poole, Chief Executive
Collections Trust
@NickPoole1