Nick Merriman, director of Manchester Museum, explains to Riya Sharma that museums in present times perceive collection as a luxury. There is no alternative to gathering artefacts, he says
When we think of artefacts, tools and objects of an era that are long lost in the ancient history, there seems to lie only one place that can make us rendezvous with the past of an era. The link that we can forge between our ancestors and our present generation, or the specific detailing of a time in history can be looked through the prism of a glass in museums. One object, tool or documentation can take us back to hundred years in a specific region socially and geographically.
But, what if we tell you that the museums especially in the imperial estate of the world, the UK and parts of Europe have started neglecting the vital role that they are expected to perform. Museums have stopped collecting the documentation of the contemporary times as they are busy dealing with ‘what they already have’.
Nick Merriman, director of Manchester museum during his talk Collecting by Museums organised by British Council, focussed on the need of museums to prioritise their research and start collecting. Talking about the decline in terms of collecting in UK and parts of Europe, Merriman informed, “There was a big phase in early 19th century. 1960s particularly was considered a period of collecting massive works. But due to political changes and global recession, we saw a decline in terms of collecting by museums.”
Merriman has started to experiment with the whole idea of collecting and is also trying to encourage museums in UK to continue their research work. So, we asked him, is the campaign only limited to the UK or he hopes to expand it to India as wellIJ “I have come here to know what the situation is in India and to see who can be interested in working with us.” He added that he is particularly interested in India because the Manchester museum has an imperial collection. “I am particularly interested in India. It is one of the former parts of British Empire and it makes sense to re work again with those countries. We have strong population of Indian and South Asian living in Manchester. I want to re-forge the links that people can associate with,” said he.
Speaking about the problems that are responsible for the decline in collecting by museums is ‘the basic premise that they are not collecting’ informed Merriman. He adds that at times it also depends on the kind of museum. “He gave the example of an art gallery of modern art who are unable to collect because of the cost for field work.”
The problem with museums of archeology is that it is very difficult to collect internationally because of legislation of different countries. “The cost of undertaking field work and expeditions is they often struggle with. Collection is seen as a luxury particularly in the global recession. They have traditional problems in terms of storage, so they think it is better to manage what they have than collecting something new.”
“In the digital world, the officials at museums have the luxury to feel that everything is being recorded anyway but the problem is, it isn’t,” said Merriman. He added that with social media and websites, it is almost impossible to choose what to record and preserve. The important role for museums is to record the events which is being neglected at the moment.
Merriman doesn’t deny that there are financial issues in the work involved, but the way museums are prioritising their preferences is actually a problem to link a gap between our past and present. “Over the last 25 years, it’s been a problem; it’s a gap that we can see which is missing from being reflected of the past 25 years. They are more concentrated on getting the house in order than to preserve something new,” said Merriman.
The talk which also focused on the digital ways for museums to improve their efficiency includes the thematic collecting as opposed to systematic collecting. He explained, “These include plant specimens that are imported or migration of refugees, conducting interviews on digital recording, training them in video interviewing.” He added that it is not about objects, but the context which becomes more important. “If an object is brought back by refugees with them, then why is it important for themIJ Digital recording brings around different stories around one particular object,” Merriman elaborated.
As opposed to the digital ways, it was very difficult for the archaeologists to understand the prominence of a certain object without the geographical or social context in primitive era. “Objects would come in with very little information. Scientifically that wasn’t very helpful as an archaeologist; it doesn’t help me when I have a stone tool If I have no knowledge about its history. It was one way, when you knew nothing about the donor, why it donated you. And there was no relationship with the donor. So this is the reason why I chose to call the other one as relational collecting. It is not just getting out and getting the object. It means what it means for people as a developing a relation from where the object comes. Sometimes, it is about collecting the process than the object,” he said.