Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport Written Evidence


Memorandum submitted by the Visual Arts and Galleries Association (VAGA)

  VAGA welcomes this inquiry into the care of collections. We have worked with the Contemporary Collections Consultant for the West Midlands Hub on this submission.

INTRODUCTION

  1.  Caring for today's collections has to ensure their relevance to contemporary society and their archival function as a record of the ideas, events and rich cultural diversity of our time. The longevity of collections as tomorrow's heritage is dependent on their vibrancy today.

  2.  Creativity is increasingly seen as a main driver for economic development and social cohesion. Our public collections are key to the provision, nurturing and stimulating of creativity for artists, creative practitioners and the public alike.

  3.  Public collections at their best are institutions that express democratic values and contribute to civic life.

  4.  A key consideration is the need for significant commissioning and collecting of contemporary art outside London as pioneered by the great 19th C municipal collections such as Birmingham and Manchester.

  5.  A recent survey carried out on behalf of the Contemporary Art Society revealed severe lack of funds for purchases and commissioning. Of 63 collections surveyed 64% had budgets of less than £5,000 per annum over the past five years. (A full copy of this report can be found at www.contempart.org.uk)

  6.  The Renaissance in the Regions programme has given an immense and much needed boost to regional museums enabling them to better meet the access and educational needs of their publics; as has the investment in national/regional partnerships made through the DCMS/DfeS Strategic Commissioning fund. However little of this investment has gone into the collections— the foundation upon which learning and access are built. In the words of Sir Nicholas Goodison, "The objects and the public benefit that they can provide are a seamless whole."

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO COLLECT ART OF OUR TIME

  7.  Contemporary artists ask questions of and about the world in which we live; they make us look at it with fresh eyes and stimulate new ways of thinking about it; they provide pleasure, inspiration and intellectual enrichment.

  8.  Contemporary art provides a record of its time, reflecting contemporary events, issues and the diverse make-up of society; it is a rich educational and creative resource for current and future generations.

  9.  In a knowledge-based economy that relies on visual as well as verbal communication, the ability to decode, interpret and use visual images and structures is increasingly important in developing the critical thought and debate that leads to creative and active citizenship.[43] This is particularly relevant in our increasingly diverse society with its plethora of cultures and consequent need for greater intercultural understanding.

  10.  There are good economic reasons for acquiring art at the time that it is made. If we ignore the art of the present until it is recognised as important we may by then no longer have the financial means of acquiring it at all, as evidenced by the Tate's difficulties in filling gaps in its collection of 20thC British artists let alone in securing works by international artists.

  11.  A healthy visual arts sector is vital to the wider well-being of the creative economy. Indeed, artists provide a research and development model for the creative industries in general. The advertising industry, for example, draws heavily on contemporary artists' work. Collections ensure that these cultural, educational and creative assets are available in the public domain.

  12.  Investment in purchases of work of contemporary artists provides a living for artists and so contributes to the economy.

  13.  A healthy, active collecting policy will also attract donors and long-term loans.

  14.  A strong collection can help to stimulate private collectors—whereas in the 19th century public collections evolved through the gifts and bequests of wealthy private collectors, it is now public collections which inform and stimulate private collecting.

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS OF CONTEMPORARY ART: DISTINCTIVE FEATURES

  15.  Art galleries, including the Local Authority sector, are part of a complex system of patronage for artists and of which the public is ultimately the prime beneficiary.

  16.  Art galleries—including even the smallest municipal ones—are distinguished from museums through their relationship with contemporary practitioners. Public gallery exhibitions provide a showcase for artists' work and often facilitate sales. Public exhibitions also consolidate reputations and thereby influence the art market. For most artists, acquisition by a major public gallery is the ultimate validation.

  17.  Unlike other museum disciplines acquisitions of contemporary art almost invariably involve expenditure: it is an inherently expensive business. For a long time it has been clear that the cost of major works of contemporary art far exceeds the purchasing power of public sector galleries; and once galleries stop collecting contemporary art, it can be very hard to get a foothold again—to fill gaps or to retain the curatorial expertise.

  18.  Collecting contemporary art can be controversial and purchases are therefore often subjected to intense political and media scrutiny, particularly at a local level. This can inhibit the adventurous collecting on which healthy collections depend. Judgements about what to acquire must largely be based on individual curatorial acumen, experience, judgement and peer assessment, since there is no well-established `canon' to guide decision-making.

COLLECTING CONTEMPORARY ART: THE WIDER CONTEXT

  19.  Although contemporary art is often controversial, public appetite for it is undoubtedly increasing. The impact of Tate Modern and the success of the Frieze Art Fair, among other things, bear witness to this. Arts Council England's recent publication, The Power of Art, 2006, cites 8.59 million attendances in 2003-04 to the organisations that they fund on a regular basis. The expectations and knowledge of the public are growing all the time.

  20.  The last 10-20 years have seen a growing internationalism in the visual arts. An artist based in Glasgow is just as likely to exhibit in Cologne or New York as s/he is to exhibit in Britain; curators now move from one country to another; and there has been an exponential growth in the number of international art fairs, biennials and art magazines. This has huge implications for collecting, especially in the hard-pressed municipal sector where money is short and opportunities for research and travel—even to London—are limited.

  21.  Not only has the art world changed but so has the internationalism of the society of which it is a product. In our global society —economically, culturally and in terms of migration—internationalism in art can no longer be limited to Europe and North America but must embrace all first and third world countries. It is culturally and socially important that our collections are enabled to embrace these changes.

THE FUNDING SYSTEM

  22.  The current funding system's demarcation between non-collection based galleries and collections does not reflect the permeability of the sector's institutions and relationships. Independent galleries without collections have a symbiotic relationship with those galleries that do have collections. They are often better placed to exhibit and commission new work and encourage experimentation. Without this vital test-bed, the gallery sector as a whole would suffer, and artists would be left with a much narrower arena in which to operate and the benefits to the public would be curtailed.

  23.  Stronger partnerships between independent and collection-based sectors would therefore be beneficial, particularly in building centres of excellence around the regional museum Hubs established through Renaissance in the Regions. The intention of Art Council England's strategy for the visual arts, Turning Point, (published June 2006) to forge greater links between ACE, MLA and the other agencies including English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund is to be welcomed. Indeed it is essential if the potential of our collections and of our creative production is to be maximised. There is however concern that the current re -structuring of the Arts Council's national office and downsizing of subject expertise at a national level will have an impact on the longer term implementation of this strategy.

  24.  Lack of joined-up policy making between ACE and MLA and lack of coherent leadership in recent years has not helped the development of collections. MLA works across three very different domains with at times conflicting demands. Its concentration on policy and strategy has left a vacuum in practical support for museums.

  25.  Both ACE and MLA have undergone successive periods of restructuring. There is limited understanding within both MLA and HLF of the role of museums in showing and collecting the work of contemporary artists. Likewise the Arts Council does not always understand the limitations and difficulties faced by large multi-disciplinary museums.

  26.  There is lack of clarity over use of lottery funds for collecting—with HLF having a cut off for acquisitions funds of work over 10 years old and ACE not funding one-off purchases or committing Treasury funds to purchasing. This has left a gap in provision.

COLLECTING LIMITATIONS AND CONSTRAINTS

  27.  The most obvious constraint on contemporary collecting is lack of resources. It is the single most significant deterrent to collecting and it is important in so far as it is symptomatic of the priorities of national and local government (see report cited para 5).

  28.  On the whole, Local Government does not understand or value contemporary art. Galleries (and museums) have generally been subsumed within Leisure Services or Education directorates and are viewed by politicians and senior officials in the same way as parks, swimming pools and schools. The focus is on service delivery for local people here and now and does not encompass the wider national/international arena, the need to take risks and the importance of specialist collections for research as a creative resource and as archives. Collections will not be a priority whilst museums remain non-statutory and the idea of culture as an entitlement is only embraced sporadically.

  29.  Collections curators are not generally valued as "experts", whose expertise needs to be maintained through opportunities for research and travel. Levels of remuneration and career paths reflect this.

  30.  Curators have had to assume such a wide range of other responsibilities. Scholarship or subject expertise is not valued by Local Government or acknowledged by public sector inspection and audit régimes (eg Best Value, Audit Commission etc). The emphasis on social policy objectives and generating evidence of impact is hugely time consuming.

  31.  Artistic practice has changed enormously in the past 40 years, yet gallery buildings have not evolved to accommodate these changes. Curators struggle to cope with the conceptual and technical demands of art that cannot be conveniently fixed to a wall, often in 19th and early 20th century buildings, which are no longer fit for purpose.

  32.  There is an acute lack of storage, and facilities for open stores where the public may access work not on display. It is suggested that purpose built shared storage is more widely considered.

  33.  Contemporary work often has complex conservation needs: the ephemeral and degradable nature of certain categories of work is an issue. Curators, conservators and funders must come to terms with the fact that some works will not last forever and therefore must be documented accordingly. Conservation expertise should be more widely shared and the expertise within the National museums made more widely available.

DEVELOPING AND SUSTAINING COLLECTIONS AND EXTENDING PUBLIC BENEFIT THROUGH A NATIONAL STRATEGY

  34.  The idiosyncrasy of regional collections is a strength, however given the limitations of local government financially and the low priority often accorded to collections, national input and leadership is required to sustain and develop collections and to ensure their relevance and longevity.

  35.  A national strategy based on the concept of a distributed "national collection" and that acknowledges distinctiveness and centres of excellence as well as a broad nationwide access to the best art of our time is recommended as a framework for the future, The shortly to be opened Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art for example, will focus its collection on contemporary drawing and so create a national resource outside of London.

  36.  An updateable, digitised and widely available catalogue of contemporary art collections—including eventually holdings in private and corporate collections—is essential.

  37.  This will allow curators to develop a stronger rationale for decision-making and to share expertise. Above all it will provide a resource so far lacking, providing information for general public access, for digital curriculum resources and form an essential building block in establishing a cultural entitlement. ACE, MLA and Tate are about to undertake an initial audit, but continuing resources will be needed to maintain and extend this.

  38.  Models of shared purchasing and long-term loans need also to be extended and developed.

  39.  The Contemporary Art Society Special Collections Scheme has provided an effective model for training and professional development for collections' curators. This was a limited project funded through the lottery. A national strategy needs to include resources for sharing expertise, training and professional development such as research and travel.

DE-ACCESSIONING

  40.  Our view is that de-accessioning should largely be regarded within the context of transferral to other public collections. De-accessioning is usually in response to short term local needs rather than longer-term broader concerns. Indeed, if storage were not so pressing, it would not be an issue at all.

TAX INCENTIVES

  41.  VAGA supports the recommendations of the Goodison Review, and looks forwards to the introduction of gift aid for objects and incentives to encourage life time giving. The ecology of production, support for artists, private collector and public collections is complex and, given the success and popularity of contemporary art, of substantive economic impact. The Art Fund has researched and analysed the operability of the best scheme to fit within present tax arrangements.

  VAGA is the lead professional body working to further the exhibition, interpretation and development of modern and contemporary visual art for the benefit of the public. The Association acts as an advocate on behalf of its members to secure a healthy visual arts sector fit to meet the needs of audiences, creative practitioners and the wider public agenda.

  The current focus of the Association's work is the REALISE your right to art programme (see attached statement) and the belief that everyone has the right to a share in the rich visual culture of the nation and to have the opportunity to flourish as visually literate and creative citizens throughout their lives.

  The Association's membership is made up of organisations and individual visual arts professionals from across the visual arts and museum sectors.



43   For a full discusion of the importance of visual literacy in 21C society see: http://www.rsa.org.uk/events/textdetail.asp?ReadID=816 Back


 
previous page contents next page

House of Commons home page Parliament home page House of Lords home page search page enquiries index

© Parliamentary copyright 2007
Prepared 25 June 2007