Museums are sailing in very stormy weathers!

[Maurice]

After some important museums in the Netherlands who had to shut their doors, it's getting even worse.
It seems that even now the Amsterdam Tropenmuseum has difficulties to keep his head above the water.
This all because of the lack of funds of the Government, which they used to get in the old days.
It seems that nobody cares about heritage and old collections which tell us those important things from the past..... at least the Dutch Government doesn't.......

How is it in other countries in the world? The same problems as overhere with the ressesion and the economizing on museums and their collections?

[Jonno]

It's a shame!!

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by Jonno

It's a shame!!

Yes John, it is! Where does it end?

[laEspadaAncha]

Fortunately, here in the U.S., or at least here in Southern California, our regional museums have largely continued as normal, their funding requirements (AFAIK) mostly received from membership, benefactors, and through fundraising events - here at Balboa Park in San Diego, they've even maintained their rotating schedule of "Free Tuesdays" for San Diego residents. Our one casualty since the crash of 2008 has been a North County sattelite arm of one museum. It's our parks that have suffered the most, with reduced staffing and the consequential closing of park-related museums, such as the Serra Museum at the Presidio, or the San Pasqual Battlefield Museum here in San Diego County, which have both had their hours of opertion reduced to a handful a month.

The National Endowment for the Arts has a total budget of just over $150 million, a fiscal burden that doesn't even appear on the radar of the pragmatic.

I am truly sorry to hear of the closing and/or reduced operational capacity of some of your museums.

[Maurice]

Originally Posted by laEspadaAncha

Fortunately, here in the U.S., or at least here in Southern California, our regional museums have largely continued as normal, their funding requirements (AFAIK) mostly received from membership, benefactors, and through fundraising events - here at Balboa Park in San Diego, they've even maintained their rotating schedule of "Free Tuesdays" for San Diego residents. Our one casualty since the crash of 2008 has been a North County sattelite arm of one museum. It's our parks that have suffered the most, with reduced staffing and the consequential closing of park-related museums, such as the Serra Museum at the Presidio, or the San Pasqual Battlefield Museum here in San Diego County, which have both had their hours of opertion reduced to a handful a month.

The National Endowment for the Arts has a total budget of just over $150 million, a fiscal burden that doesn't even appear on the radar of the pragmatic.

I am truly sorry to hear of the closing and/or reduced operational capacity of some of your museums.

Thanks for the information about the regional museums in your neighborhood.
I must admit we have pretty much museums here in this little country, and I agree that not all can survive.
But when it's done with policy, and maybe collaboration between museums, I would have a better feeling about it.
It is necessary to take care of the collections, and keeping them together and open for public.

I know for instance that a lot of the Nijmegen museum pieces are in private hands now, after closing the museum some years ago. Some of them were for sale on the market allready and even I had an Aceh shield of this collection.
Some of the ex-Nijmegen museum pieces are placed amongst collections in other museums. In this way the whole collection had been teared up and nobody is able to trace anything anymore..

[Tim Simmons]

I just do not understand. This must have something to do with current trends and tasteless bean counter forecasts. How any company, organisation or even state government could let such a short sighted thing happen.

[fearn]

Actually, at least two of the museums in Balboa Park are doing as ducks do: looking serene above water, and paddling crazily beneath the surface to stay afloat. I know this because I'm a member of one museum, and a member of another group that donates money to that museum to keep one of its core (and award winning) departments open and working.

My experience is that this is fairly normal for non-profits. There are fat years and lean years, and more to take care of every year, given that greed is currently fashionable and philanthropy currently is not.

Given Tim's disparaging comment on sustainability, I suspect I'm whistling in the wind here, but I'd strongly suggest that the wealthier among us might seriously consider giving grants to our favorite museums to pay for the salaries of people to keep up their favorite weapons collections. Rust and rot doesn't do anyone a bit of good, does it?

I'd also suggest that, if fantasy online games are mining all these museums for weapons to use in their games, they'd do well to give a bit of money back to the museums that provided them with the raw material they used to decorate those games.

But then again, I've always been an impractical romantic.

F

Originally Posted by laEspadaAncha

Fortunately, here in the U.S., or at least here in Southern California, our regional museums have largely continued as normal, their funding requirements (AFAIK) mostly received from membership, benefactors, and through fundraising events - here at Balboa Park in San Diego, they've even maintained their rotating schedule of "Free Tuesdays" for San Diego residents. Our one casualty since the crash of 2008 has been a North County sattelite arm of one museum. It's our parks that have suffered the most, with reduced staffing and the consequential closing of park-related museums, such as the Serra Museum at the Presidio, or the San Pasqual Battlefield Museum here in San Diego County, which have both had their hours of opertion reduced to a handful a month.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by fearn

Actually, at least two of the museums in Balboa Park are doing as ducks do: looking serene above water, and paddling crazily beneath the surface to stay afloat. I know this because I'm a member of one museum, and a member of another group that donates money to that museum to keep one of its core (and award winning) departments open and working.

My experience is that this is fairly normal for non-profits. There are fat years and lean years, and more to take care of every year, given that greed is currently fashionable and philanthropy currently is not.

Given Tim's disparaging comment on sustainability, I suspect I'm whistling in the wind here, but I'd strongly suggest that the wealthier among us might seriously consider giving grants to our favorite museums to pay for the salaries of people to keep up their favorite weapons collections. Rust and rot doesn't do anyone a bit of good, does it?

I'd also suggest that, if fantasy online games are mining all these museums for weapons to use in their games, they'd do well to give a bit of money back to the museums that provided them with the raw material they used to decorate those games.

But then again, I've always been an impractical romantic.

F

Salaams fearn, I agree with all that... What is needed is an Ethnographic Arms and Armour Museum...!! Then we could really go to town on the subject and all its supporting concepts like certification and degree programs... Yaaaaa !!

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.