British Association of Friends of Museums

BAFM AREA REPORTS:

NORTH EAST

NORTH WEST

YORKSHIRE & HUMBERSIDE

SOUTH EAST - SOUTHERN

SOUTH EAST - LONDON & MIDDLESEX

NORTHERN IRELAND

SCOTLAND

WALES

CONFERENCE REPORT 2009 - YORK

During the first day of the Conference there was an opportunity, after Registration, to visit a number of the Museums and Galleries in York with free entry where necessary by means of a complimentary ‘Passport to York’ ticket, valid throughout the weekend, including Monday. The list included the Castle Museum, Yorkshire Museum, National Railway Museum, Fairfax House and, of course, York Minster.

That evening an excellent reception was held at York Art Gallery with a welcome to the City by the Lord Mayor and an equally warm welcome by BAFM Chairman, Norah Dunbar. The Gallery Curator gave a short talk about some of the artworks on display, and delegates were able to tour the Gallery at their leisure.

The formal part of the Conference opened on Saturday morning, with a further welcome to delegates from Norah Dunbar and an introduction by John Staples, Chairman of the Friends of York Art Gallery. This was followed by the presentation to Jo Rooks of the Robert Logan Award for her paper on Sustainability. Jo works for the Museum of East Anglian Life in Stowmarket, and she gave an excellent presentation covering the economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainability in a rural setting and with the involvement of the local community; the website www.whenwewerehappy.org.uk is well worth a visit.

Janet Barnes, Chief Executive of York Museums Trust, explained the experience of the York museums since they acquired trust status and devolved from local Council control in 2002. This has allowed much greater freedom in the running of the museums, whilst still having inflation-proof funding from the Council. It ensured that there continued to be public benefit in the museum operations, while enabling other income stream sources to be developed. One of the key factors which helped the Trust become established was having a strong champion in the early stages. There continues to be a good positive relationship between the Trust and the Council.

After the coffee break, Tony Reeves, Chief Executive Officer for the City of Bradford, spoke on Local Government and Local Culture. He is working to build bridges between communities. The staging of exhibitions appropriate to specific communities reduced tensions and helped develop community cohesion. Young persons’ horizons were broadened, particularly those from deprived backgrounds. He explained Bradford’s ‘big plan’ – improving education, improving skills, and making Bradford great again!

Lord Faulkner of Worcester then talked on the subject of Securing our Heritage for Everyone – the challenge of free admission. Since this policy was adopted for the national collections in 2001, there had been a very significant increase in the visitor numbers attending the museums concerned. Of particular benefit had been the large number of visitors from socio-economic groups who would otherwise not have attended, and who had not been seen as the traditional museum market. Lord Faulkner did not support the opponents’ arguments that museums are elitist and the realm of the white middle classes, nor that it was wrong for the taxpayer to fund visitors from abroad. He warned, however, that although there was currently no plan to remove free admission, this might be at risk in the future. He took the view that museums were more important during recessionary times and pointed out that research shows that large numbers of people remain unaware that national collections are free. He concluded with comments on his passion for railway heritage, and spoke of the success story of the National Railway Museum satellite at Shildon – a joint venture between the NRM and local councils.

A discussion session with the speakers rounded off the morning, after which we had a good buffet lunch in the Hospitium building, with the opportunity of further debate between delegates. The afternoon session started with the keynote address by Dea Birkett, Director of ‘Kids in Museums’ – Everybody Welcome? Why all museums should be family friendly. She heads a visitor-led charity supporting and encouraging family friendliness in Britain’s museums and galleries. The charity was formed as a result of Dea and her three children being thrown out of the Royal Academy in 2003, when one of her sons shouted ‘Monster’ at a statue on display. Since then the ‘Kids in Museums Manifesto’ has been launched; it was compiled from visitor comments and has been revised and improved over the years. The 2009 edition has 20 ways to make a visit family friendly, from ‘Teach kids respect – help them to learn there are things they shouldn’t touch, and tell them why’; through to ‘Don’t say ssssshush!’ The charity wants museums to sign up to this manifesto. The website is www.kidsinmuseums.org.uk

Amongst the comments made at the Open Forum were the benefit of having the delegates’ Friends’ group shown on their badges and on the delegate list, and also the desirability of a balance being struck to include some subjects for discussion more relevant to smaller Friends’ groups, as well as the main strategic issues concerning all museums and galleries. The AGM business was efficiently despatched by Loyd Grossman, BAFM President, and this session of the Conference concluded with a brief presentation by Nicola Pemberton from the Friends of Manx National Heritage, on the 2010 Conference to be held on the Isle of Man.

The excellent Conference Gala Dinner was held in the magnificent Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, a mediaeval guild hall in the centre of York. There was a most interesting after-dinner talk by Jim Wight, son of Alf Wight (author James Herriot) and himself a veterinary surgeon still working in the Thirsk practice.

On the Sunday a choice of excursions was possible, either to Castle Howard (home to the Howard family and of ‘Brideshead Revisited’ fame) or the 18th century Cannon Hall Museum and Country Park. An optional free visit to two art galleries - Ferens Art Gallery in Hull and Beverley Art Gallery – was possible on the Monday, arranged by Haris Livas-Dawes.

Our thanks are due to John Staples and his organising committee, representing several Yorkshire Friends’ groups, for making all the arrangements for this year’s Conference.