from The Observer -
Enlightened age for the arts in Britain is cast into shadow
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And to end the year with an eye on what is happening in UK museums that could serve for all as a lesson (from the past) and a warning (from the future), perhaps:

"The culture shift began with free entry to museums and has developed down the years to force once standoffish institutions to engage with wider School trips, outreach and working with diverse communities have come to rank as highly as research and fundraising."

And,

"The fear is that a collapse in private philanthropy combined with a political arms race of expenditure cuts and quango-bashing could soon return our galleries and museums to the dark days of charges, closures and pandering to the familiar."

from The Guardian -
China loses thousands of historic sites
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"The last 20 years have been the worst time for cultural heritage site protection with the rapid development. It is even worse than in the Cultural Revolution"

Intense urban development finishing what misguided ideology could not ... and, then some.
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from The New York Times -
An Italian City Shaken to Its Cultural Core
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go to images

"Shortages of money, political will, architectural good sense and international attention — along with a distinctly Italian predilection for a kind of magical thinking — threaten to finish what the quake started."

This is yet another case-in-point for national efforts in setting aside funds and identifying expertise before crisis happens.
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from The Art Newspaper -
Heritage marketing: Love is not enough
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Heralding the rise of a new breed "museum worker" - the interpretation expert - whose job is to make historical information more tasteful and digestible for the (imaginary?) general public. What a load of condescending bung!
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from The Royal Academy of Arts -
Conservation: Principles, Dilemmas and Uncomfortable Truths
go to web-page
download talks and discussions

"Conservation today is as much about conserving intangible values as it is about conserving material culture, yet the Codes of Ethics for conservators fail to guide them in understanding and prioritising such values."

Still no answers to be had, but this is a first step in opening up a space for honest discussions within the profession - rather than hiding behind "mantras" derived uncritically from such "codes of ethics".
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