Memorandum submitted by Alexander Schouvaloff
My credentials are that I am the founder-curator
of the Theatre Museum although I retired early in 1989. I have
not had anything to do with the Theatre Museum since then, but
I am alarmed and naturally very disappointed by the news of the
Museum's imminent closure. Hearing you on You and Yours the other
day has prompted me to write to you.
I agree with you that it is surprising that
no-one from the theatrical industry is prepared to support the
Museum financially, although, of course, most people working in
the theatre are out of work most of the time and very few are
rich enough to sponsor museums. But it seems to me that this is
actually irrelevant. The Theatre Museum was set up as a department
of the V&A, a national museum. As such it should have been
treated in the same way as any other department of the V&A.
With great difficulty and some opposition it became a branch of
the V&A in its own building. It was under-financed from the
very beginning, and has been resented, if not neglected, by the
trustees of the V&A ever since. However, the Theatre Museum
is acknowledged to be the national collection of the performing
arts, and should surely be treated as such within the overall
budget of the V&A. Its threatened closure now is a national
disgrace. Why should it alone of all national museums have to
rely on private sponsorship to survive? Are other national museums
now going to have to face similar threats?
No-one has explained why the Museum needs such
a huge investment now to remain open. It certainly needs (has
needed over the years) a much greater subsidy than hitherto in
order to have more frequent and imaginative temporary exhibitions
to attract a wider public. The museum has an amazing amount of
uniquely wonderful material for a never-ending series of the most
extraordinarily attractive exhibitions. In the past it has been
stupefied by starvation. There is a lot of ignorance about the
museum, not least among the trustees of the V&A.
For your information I enclose a copy of an
article (not printed here) I have written recently (but
no-one wants to publish!) which gives some of the background which
you may find helpful.
17 October 2006
| 
