The MA Conference 2008

The Arts Council Chairman Sir Christopher Frayling has told museum professionals that now is the time to show how the Arts Council and the museum sector can work together to promote the nation’s heritage and the arts.

Speaking today, October 7 2008, at the Museum’s Association (MA) Conference in Liverpool Mr Frayling said: “The dynamic of contemporary art can create new opportunities for exhibitions and audiences,” allowing visitors to “view the past through the prism of the present.”

Warming to a conference theme in which he looked at artistic interventions in creative museum and heritage settings, Mr Frayling said the boundaries between heritage and culture were “fuzzy” and that the idea of heritage and the contemporary is “notional.”

“Artists are now similar to curators in that they are both creatures of curiosity who want to comprehend the world around them,” he said. “They look at the world in similar ways, both are interested in the object but have different values.”

“A curator will handle things in white gloves or not at all but an artist wants to handle it, to feel its texture. Shared interests sometimes create different approaches and values but a fruitful collaboration can come from these differences.”

The work of artists like Laura Ellen Bacon, who worked on the Museumaker project at Charnwood Museum were highlighted by Mr Frayling. Picture: Fallen Nest. © the artist

Mr Frayling’s comments are timely - and some in the museum and heritage sector might say his presence at the MA conference in Liverpool is historic. Until recently the Arts Council and the museums and heritage sectors have operated as distinct areas with separate strategies and agendas.

His speech also comes on the back of the publication of the Arts Council’s Turning Point strategy for the visual arts in England and the MA report ‘Collections for the Future’, both of which point to a more integrated approach to the management and promotion of our heritage and arts.

He went on to flag up several schemes that were already putting this collaborative approach into action - such as the Museumaker project which in 2007 saw artists go into museums across the East Midlands to work with collections and develop new interpretive and collaborative artworks.

“Are artists a threat to curators?” asked Mr Frayling. “I can understand some people feel they are, but opportunities are so great.”

The speech, which highlighted a raft of similar collaborative schemes, also precedes MLA’s strategy for museums document, which is anticipated to explore similar themes.

Culture24 Director Jane Finnis is at the MA conference 2008. Read her blog here.