Displaying items by tag: Museums

The Italian minister for culture and tourism, Dario Franceschini, has announced a series of “revolutionary” reforms, which could mean that leading museums such as the Uffizi in Florence and the Accademia in Venice gain independence on a par with many of their European counterparts. Franceschini said: “The chronic lack of autonomy of Italian museums... greatly limits their potential.” He also aims to cut costs, streamline the administration and better integrate the work of his ministry.

The ministry was earmarked for staffing cuts after a €100m reduction in its budget from 2012 to 2013 under Franceschini's predecessor Massimo Bray. The latest review, presented by Franceschini last week, justifies 37 managerial redundancies in museums to reduce bureaucracy.

Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry has initiated a new project to revive the fortunes of the country’s museums and ancient sites by seeking to emulate some of the world’s leading cultural spaces.

The project, “Journey to History to Museums and Ancient Sites,” will take leading art centers such as the British National Gallery, France’s Louvre and the Netherlands’ van Gogh Museum as examples, while organizing various artistic and social events during evening hours.

In addition to the high toll that Syria’s four-year-old civil war has had on its people and infrastructure, Syria’s cultural heritage has been and continues to be destroyed at an unprecedented rate. World Heritage sites like the historic city of Aleppo and Krak des Chevaliers, as well as medieval Christian cemeteries and numerous archaeological sites and museums, have been subjected to extensive raiding and looting.

In an effort to help stem the loss of the region’s significant cultural heritage, Penn Museum’s Penn Cultural Heritage Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., in cooperation with the Syrian Interim Government’s Heritage Task Force, have come together to offer assistance for museum curators, heritage experts, and civilians working to protect cultural heritage inside Syria. A three-day training program, “Emergency Care for Syrian Museum Collections,” focusing on safeguarding high risk collections, was completed in late June; additional training programs are being planned, pending funding.

Museums that house objects have a particularly difficult task. These objects were created with the intention that they would be handled, and part of the fascination with them lies in human activity that they indicate. However, for the safety of the objects, they are most often placed behind glass cases and out of reach of the average museum visitor. This can make them little more than pictures of themselves and creates a distance between viewer and object that is difficult to overcome. As a result, many museums have been looking to technology to help them reconnect their collections and their visitors.

Enter Dutch designer Maaike Roozenburg and her 3D printing knowledge. Roozenburg creates replicas of precious objects and then adds a layer of augmented reality information.

None of them is pristine. From the beginning, they experienced decades of fitful renovation, and their occupants still keep bursting through walls. There’s never enough space. Some institutions wear their history more lightly, or have the luxury of starting fresh.

A government audit of 1,218 French museums has revealed that some 80% do not know the full contents of their collections, with many collections facing further serious hazards, Libération reported. The preliminary document, released Wednesday after eight months of research and ahead of a full report due at the end of the year, cites several shocking oversights; for example, the Louvre is critiqued for storing Classical sculptures in a subterranean chamber that could not be properly evacuated in the event of an overflow of the Seine river. Noting instances of theft, the report states that numerous collections are kept under insufficient security measures. Issues of provenance related to World War II looting continue to plague several institutions, the report adds, blaming inadequate resources for the incomplete cataloging and other issues.

A survey into environmental sustainability has found that museums have experienced the largest financial benefit from being green compared to other creative and cultural organizations.

The Sustaining Creativity survey, which was conducted by Julie’s Bicycle in partnerships with BOP Consulting, found that 75% of those asked said they have already benefited financially from being more environmentally friendly, with 25% of that reporting significant benefits.

And 61% said they have experienced reputational benefits thanks to their environmental actions.

The Chrysler Museum of Art Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Erik H. Neil as its next director and president. The board unanimously approved his appointment on June 26, 2014. Neil, 50, is director of the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland, where he has served since 2010.

“Erik Neil comes to us with a strong sense of the essential role a museum plays in its community and a history of deep personal engagement in each place he has served,” outgoing board chair Peter Meredith said. “He is a perfect fit for the Chrysler, given our focus on serving the Hampton Roads area.”

“Through our incredible collection, curators and staff, board, and donors, the Chrysler Museum has always been an active participant and leader in the national conversation about art and museums,” said Lewis Webb, head of the Museum’s executive search committee who now chairs the board. “Erik Neil is a leader who loves art. He is the just the right person to continue to nurture and coordinate our efforts for even more impact,” Webb said.

Do as the locals do. These are the top museums to visit on Cape Cod as voted on TripAdvisor by Cape Codders.

Heritage Museums & Gardens, Sandwich

Sandwich Glass Museum

Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, Brewster

Museums and jewelry enthusiasts are no strangers to Cartier’s greatest bijoux creations, but now, a different sort of show lends insight into one of the house’s greatest American clients and collectors, Marjorie Merriweather Post, once the wealthiest woman in the United States.

Founder of General Foods Inc., Post was a socialite and art collector who in 1973 left her estate with a sizable and exquisite French and Russian art collection featuring the work of Fabergé, Sèvres porcelain, French furniture, tapestries, and numerous paintings. But it is her collection of precious jewels, frames and objets d’art that she amassed from the Parisian jeweler that is on exhibition in “Cartier: Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Dazzling Gems” at her former home, the Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens in Washington D.C., until December 31.