As well as having this aura of importance that can legitimise the objects inside, they are also public spaces that anyone can enter and use. If we consider the space itself, a museums or gallery is more than just the place where a collection is displayed.
What’s interesting is the perceived elevation in status of the pieces, or perhaps legitimisation or approval, by the fact that they will be displayed in a gallery as part of an exhibition. The utter delight of those whose works have been chosen for the exhibition that will follow has been contagious (possibly a poor choice of word in the circumstances). I’ve been enjoying Grayson’s Art Club on Channel 4 and seeing the works people have been sending in on different themes. During lockdown people have been creating their own art, such is the desire to make and see it.
It’s tempting to ask if we even need museums and galleries at all, with internet access to so much of the world and technological advances, such as 3D printing that mean objects can be faithfully reproduced almost anywhere.Ĭlearly art is a fairly basic human need after shelter and food, as cave art testifies. In John Armstrong’s The Intimate Philosophy of Art, which I have been reading again recently, he talks about the pleasure and freedom of looking at pictures without any pressure to respond. Many museums have gone online with their content to allow people to access them despite the closures, and Maria Balshaw, director of the Tate galleries, said in a piece in the Observer ( 25th May 2020) that they are reaching new audiences through online content.
With this in mind it is interesting to wonder whether the physical museum and its objects may be secondary to the ideas that they represent.
There has been a move towards visitor access and engagement in recent years, with collections and their care taking a back seat (except in instances of decolonising collections). Writing from home in the weird circumstances of a global pandemic and general widespread lockdown, I got to thinking about what it all means for museums.
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