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V&A UK 2005/06 – 2006/07 2 nd Report of the V&A UK Steering Group Helen Jones, Janet Davies, Laura Frampton March 2009
V&A UK 2005/06 – 2006/07 2nd Report of the V&A UK Steering GroupHelen Jones, Janet Davies, Laura FramptonMarch 2009
V&A UK 2005/06 – 2006/072nd Report of the V&A UK Steering Group
Table of contents
Section Page1 Introduction 22 Sheffield Galleries & Museums Trust
Partnership3
3 V&A UK Partnership 64 Subject Specialist Networks 105 Access to collections: off-site exhibitions and
loans12
6 MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund 197 Training and Development 218 Research 219 V&A UK infrastructure and profile 2110 Other national working 22Annex A Origins of visits to London sites 25
Introduction
National working helped the V&A to extend its reach to 14.7 million users in 2005/06 and in 2006/07 t0 22.8 million visits to V&A sites, websites and touring exhibitions. There were around 300,000 visits to V&A touring exhibitions in the UK each year. Many more people will have seen some of the 2,200 - 2,500 V&A objects on long-term and short-term loan in the UK each year.
2005/06 was the second year of operation for the V&A UK Strategy that was agreed in September 2004. It was a period of consolidation in many ways, with new activities such as the V&A UK Partnership bedding down, the first raft of Subject Specialist Networks being
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initiated and ongoing activities continuing to successfully deliver a range of projects and programmes which continued in 2006/07. Many of these had public-facing outcomes, with people around the country able to access V&A collections or participate in partnership events but just as important were the behind-the-scenes connections and collaborations. These help to build strong relationships between individuals and organisations, increasing professional capacity within the UK museums sector and delivering long-term, sustainable benefits to the public.
One of the visible outputs of the Museum’s national working was the report V&A UK 2004/05, the first time that various elements of our activity throughout the UK had been brought together in this way. It was extremely gratifying and demonstrated the breadth, the longevity and the strength of the V&A’s commitment to nationwide working. While some projects have been funded from external sources, a very significant proportion of our national work is funded from our own core budgets. This is right for a truly National Museum, but it must be noted that Museum funding is stretched increasingly thinly. V&A Grant-in-Aid has not kept pace with inflation as we experience it (related to the Average Earnings Index) and the Museum has not been able to invest as much as it should in certain key areas that must be priorities, currently and in the foreseeable future: these include acquisition, building maintenance, IT and security. If the V&A is to sustain its productive national working, let alone realise some of its own and others’ ambitions it is essential that increased funding be found, ideally as long-term, core Grant-in-Aid, but also from project-funding from public and private sources.
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2 Sheffield Galleries & Museums Trust Partnership2.1 The long-term partnership between the V&A and the Sheffield Galleries & Museums Trust
(SGMT) is formalised in a ten-year contract with Sheffield City Council that began in 1999. Contacts between the two organisations range over several areas of activity and the partnership has started to feel truly embedded. A joint action plan for the future has been produced following an evaluation of the first five years of the partnership. The highlight of the period was undoubtedly the exhibition, Palace and Mosque: Islamic Treasures from the Victoria and Albert Museum which ended its international tour at the Millennium Galleries in Sheffield. As well as being a highly successful exhibition in its own right, Palace and Mosque was used by SGMT as the basis for an extensive community and education project under the umbrella of the Image & Identity programme (see section 3.2), and as the launch event for the regional Festival of Muslim Culture.
2.2 Palace & Mosque: Islamic Treasures from the Victoria and Albert Museum Millennium Galleries, 14 January-16 April 2006This major exhibition enabled some of the V&A’s most valued objects to remain in the public arena while the Museum re-developed its Islamic Middle East Gallery, made possible by the generosity of Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel. The exhibition was opened by the Minister for Culture, David Lammy, and was visited by HRH Prince of Wales. At 18,900, the visit figures exceeded targets by 72%. The exhibition also provided an opportunity for SGMT to generate exceptional press coverage.
Organising the exhibition highlighted some differences in perceptions and expectations between the Partners, but the SGMT/V&A Steering Group proved an effective forum for addressing these and drawing out lessons for the future. These fed into the joint Action Plan described below. The main lesson was the importance of clarity about responsibilities in the early stages of planning a project and the necessity of recording discussions and decisions.
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“Palace & Mosque is a stunning exhibition and offers a wonderful insight into the artistry and craftsmanship of traditional Islamic Art. This imaginative partnership between museums has provided an opportunity to see pieces that rarely leave London”.
David Lammy, Minister for Culture, quoted in the Yorkshire Post – 16/1/06
“The V&A collection contains many items of exquisite beauty. Its value is also that it covers many areas in great depth, providing unequalled study facilities”.
Sheffield Telegraph – 13/1/06
“Art lovers in South Yorkshire have a chance to see a superb collection of Islamic art this week without having to travel to its usual London home”.
Antiques Magazine – 14/1/06
2.3 Image & IdentitySGMT is a partner in this DCMS/DfES-funded Strategic Commissioning project (see section 3.2). Outputs in 2005/06 included: an Object Dialogue Box, created by artists to support the Palace and Mosque exhibition and SGMT collections; a screen of images showcasing workshops and art works and three giant wallpaper banners. In 2006/07 SGMT worked with over 40 young people to produce art works, gallery displays, films, and a web-based teaching resource.
2.4 SGMT/V&A Steering GroupThe Group met in April 2005 (V&A), September 2005 (V&A), January 2006 (Sheffield), May 2006 (V&A) and December 2006 (Sheffield). From 2006, SGMT took over the Chair and Secretariat. The V&A nominated Eric Turner as the prime contact point in Collections. The standing members in 2005-2007 were:
V&A SGMTHelen Jones, Head of Planning Caroline Krzesinska, Creative DirectorJanet Davies, Head of Regional Liaison Team
Ceris Morris, Development & Partnerships Manager
Poppy Hollman, Assistant Head of Exhibitions
Adam Lumb, Marketing Manager
Eric Turner, Curator (Metalwork) Kirstie Hamilton, Exhibitions ManagerDiane Lees, Chair, V&A UK
Sheffield / V&A Partnership Evaluation 1999-2004This document, to which both Partners contributed, was signed off by the Steering Group in October 2005.
Action PlanOne outcome of the five-year evaluation was the need for a joint action plan to define and guide Partnership activity until the end of the formal contract in 2009. This was agreed by the Steering Group in May 2006. The main priorities are: more effective access to V&A Collections (both objects and expertise); higher profile of the V&A in Sheffield; matching need to opportunity in training and development; and agreeing the nature of the Partnership post 2009. The Action Plan has proved a useful way of monitoring the Partnership, forming part of the agenda at Steering Group meetings.
2.5 SGMT BoardDavid Anderson, V&A Director of Learning & Interpretation, continued to represent the V&A on the Board of SGMT.
2.6 Training and development Discussions between the relevant staff took place with the aim of matching needs to
provision. The outcome of a needs analysis at SGMT in 2006/7 will inform progress. Twenty V&A staff (from Gallery Services, Development, Collections, Conservation,
Directorate, Records, V&A Enterprises, Learning & Interpretation and Property Services) visited SGMT and the newly-opened Weston Park Museum, the Graves Art Gallery and the Millennium Galleries on 6 November 2006.
A 2-week placement in the V&A Metalwork Department for an SGMT curator, Rachel Conroy, took place in March 2007, supported by a successful SGMT bid to the Designation Challenge Fund.
Damien Whitmore, V&A Director of Public Affairs, continued to mentor a member of SGMT staff.
2.7 Exhibitions planning Plans and discussions for the following V&A exhibitions were a significant part of the Partnership work:
Vivienne Westwood, Millennium Galleries, late 2008 Where Are We? Questions of Landscape, Graves Art Gallery, Sep 2007 – Jan 2008 Seeing Things, Graves Art Gallery, Aug – Nov 2008 Space Age, Weston Park Museum, May-Aug 2008
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Medieval & Renaissance Treasures, Jan – May 2009 Out of the Ordinary: Spectacular Craft, Jun – Sep 2009 Long-term planning for events to commemorate in 2013 the centenary of the discovery of
stainless steel. Discussions over exhibition/events on the theme of dining.
2.8 Collections V&A and Sheffield curators liaised over the acquisition by the V&A of three important
teapots designed by Christopher Dresser and made in Sheffield. Two of them were lent for display at the Millennium Galleries in an exhibition about the maker, James Dixon in July 2006.
The V&A was a major lender to Art at the Rockface, an exhibition jointly mounted by SGMT and Norfolk Museums Service.
A team from SGMT visited the V&A Museum of Childhood to discuss the development of the Weston Park Museum.
Following discussions about research and display of SGMT’s collection of Chinese ivories (the Grice Collection), former V&A curator, Rose Kerr, was appointed by SGMT. This will lead to a display in Sheffield in 2008.
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3 V&A UK Partnership3.1 Key strategic V&A UK Partners
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery (BMAG)Brighton & Hove Galleries & Museums (B&HM)Manchester City Galleries (MCG)Sheffield Galleries & Museums Trust (SGMT)Tyne & Wear Museums (TWMS)
3.2 Image & Identity Image & Identity (I&I) is a collaborative museum education initiative, led by the V&A, with the five UK Partners and NCH, the children’s charity. The project seeks to engage and inspire new audiences, particularly young people, in responding creatively to museum collections and displays of popular modern culture through the performing and visual arts. It aims to increase participants’ self-esteem, confidence, sensitivity to cultural difference, and sense of entitlement to take part in cultural activities as well as to improve their performance, behaviour and attitudes to learning across the curriculum.
In 2005/06 (year 4 of I&I ), there were over 2,000 direct participants, making an estimated total of 8,000 ‘participations’. A further 20,000 people used I&I resources and many other people (c. 215,000) enjoyed the young people’s work in the form of displays, performance, videos, gallery tours etc. In 2006/07 (year 5) there were 964 direct participants.
I&I also benefits teachers and youth workers by providing resources and opportunities for continuing professional development (CPD). This latter aspect was evaluated by the National Foundation for Educational Research and built upon in 2006/07 by research into how to sustain teachers’ and others’ use of museums and the I&I theme after projects were complete. The overall project was evaluated by Glasgow Caledonian University.
The relationships with NCH and Local Authority Looked After Children (LAC) Units have been especially rewarding. The I&I project led Sheffield, Tyne & Wear and Birmingham to work with local NCH centres for the first time, increasing the inclusion of under-represented groups across the Partnership. Manchester City Galleries has built sound partnerships with LAC Units.
There is a lasting legacy in that some of the work produced has entered the museums’ collections. David Lammy, Minister for Culture, spoke at the culminating Young People’s Conference and Exhibition at the V&A in March 2006.
Image & Identity 2005/06 and 2006/07 statisticsParticipants 05/0
606/0
7Participations (estimate)
05/06
06/07 Participating venues
05/06
06/07
School pupils 1,087
345 School pupils 4,300
1,514 Schools 41 11
NCH/LAC young people
543 120 NCH/LAC young people
2,150
664 NCH Projects 32 7
Teachers 164 36 Teachers 660 unknown LAC Units 5 2
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“I think a lot of our young people have issues around their identity. I’ve worked previously on an art project but not as thorough as this. Working this way was different and we will come to the gallery again “
Manchester school inclusion provision teacher
“I had never been into an art gallery before these sessions. I now have the confidence myself to talk about my feeling and thoughts on a piece of art and express my perceptions. It’s been very refreshing watching and being part of their development, as well as my own.”
Manchester LAC residential care worker
NCH/LAC staff
223 28 NCH/LAC staff 870 unknown Other 0 3
Total 2,017
529 Total 7,980
2,178 Total 78 23
Programme 05/06 06/07Number of projects 78 30Number of teachers’ INSET days
14 3
Number of participants in NFER seminar
49 (teachers, youth workers, museums workers, artists)
_
Number of on- and off-site sessions
390 184
Number of sessions using resources
unknown 24 (1,602 users)
Number of visits to displays 214,723 352,800
3.3 Every Object Tells a StoryEvery Object Tells a Story (EOTAS) was a DCMS Culture Online project that aimed to help people recognise and understand the personal meanings and narratives of objects. Large numbers of people from varied backgrounds were encouraged and enabled to explore the creative potential of interactive technology for storytelling inspired by museum and personal objects. The project began in 2003 with core project partners Ultralab and Channel 4, and three V&A UK Partners (TWMS, BMAG and B&HM) joined in 2004/05. Some other regional museums participated in 2005/06. The full site, with the capacity to accept online contributions, was launched in January 2005. The project was, essentially, completed in spring 2006, but the site remains live with basic maintenance: www.everyobject.net
To quote the evaluation report by Audience Focus:‘Every Object Tells a Story’ is a unique, ground-breaking initiative with a multitude of benefits to diverse end-users. It shows proof of the way in which new technology can be used in the Museums and Galleries sector to reach new audiences and engage these in personal meaning making around objects. This report also shows that staff participating in the project learned new skills and gained new experiences. However, due to a range of factors relating to cultural differences between partners, and the complexity of contracts and project management, EOTAS was sometimes a “rollercoaster ride” for participating staff. It was reported that both communication and confidence developed as the project progressed, highlighting the importance of allowing time and nurture in order for partnerships to develop. Participating staff should be congratulated on their bravery, determination, patience and exceptionally hard work in delivering this project.
EOTAS statistics July 2003 - June 2006Number of website participants 1,261,800Number of participants in events 13,500TWMS users 2,100BMAG users 2,200B&HM stories collected >1,020
3.4 Inspired byTWMS and MCG have participated since 2004/05 in this V&A annual competition for adult part-time learners who produce work inspired by objects in museum collections. The numbers of participants in regional museums increased in 2005/06 with 47 entrants at South Shields Museum (TWMS) and 166 entries (up 50 on the previous year) at Manchester Art Gallery. Participants came from even more diverse backgrounds this year, particularly at
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Tyne and Wear where there were several entrants from prisoners, including the overall winner. In 2006/07 Manchester Art Gallery received 64 entries and Tyne and Wear Museums had 25 entries. The fall in participation compared to the previous year was due to the number of classes and workshops being cancelled in the local institutions.
3.5 V&A touring exhibitions (for details see section 5.1) 2005/06
Cinema India Sunderland Museum & Winter Garden (TWMS) 60,600 visitsBlack British Style Manchester Art Gallery 30,200 visitsPalace & Mosque Millennium Galleries (SGMT) 18,900 visits
2006/07Black British Style Sunderland Museum & Winter Garden (TWMS) 57,200 visitsBlack British Style Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery 11,500 visitsMust-have Toys South Shields Museum (TWMS) 29,500 visits
3.6 V&A Medieval & Renaissance GalleriesSara Holdsworth, Head of Public Programmes at Manchester City Galleries, was a member of the Advisory Group for the £31.75 million redevelopment of the V&A Medieval & Renaissance Galleries.
3.7 Workforce development BMAG enrolled 8 technicians on the V&A Technical NVQ A training programme on customer care for front-of-house staff was devised with
Brighton & Hove Museums Two networking days were held at the V&A in 2006/07 to promote links between V&A
UK Partners: one on Retail and one on Development.
3.8 Other contacts: Head of Regional Liaison Team participated in consultation on BMAG re-structuring
and future plan Head of Regional Liaison Team and Curator of Far Eastern led a session in a
‘knowledge café’ on national/regional museum partnerships run by the West Midlands Hub Head of Conservation and Head of Planning visited Manchester Art Gallery to discuss
a proposed display on conservation The V&A began to consult with the UK Partners when seeking potential storage sites
outside London. Letter of support provided for TWMS funding bid for development at the Shipley Art
Gallery. Sue Prichard (V&A Crafts Champion and Curator of Contemporary Textiles) was
appointed to the Acquisition Panel of the Shipley Art Gallery (TWMS) Curators at Brighton & Hove and the V&A liaised over preparations for B&HM’s
forthcoming exhibition Chinese Whispers, a major exhibition on Chinoiserie.
3.9 Nature of PartnershipConsultation with the V&A UK Partners by email and in person early in 2005/06 showed that they were, by and large, happy with the way the Partnership was working and felt that the V&A tried to be responsive to their needs: as one would expect, though, there were occasional glitches in communications and processes. The Partnership was maturing and becoming widely embedded across museum practice. Partners did not consider a rigid joint plan to be necessary, though it was agreed that a degree of formality in the relationship could be advantageous, e.g. through memoranda of understanding.
Priorities for all Partners included staff development and making loans processes simpler and cheaper and these areas will be addressed in future. The V&A is also keen to maximise
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the impact of national working by using the partners as a route to their wider regions, and also by working with other national museums.
The Partnership proved useful when a touring exhibition venue was unable to take a show at short notice: the Partnership was a pool of potential alternatives the Exhibitions team could call on and, with a great deal of effort and goodwill, the show was mounted at a Partner venue where it proved highly successful.
At the V&A UK Partner meeting on 10 May 2005 it was agreed that there would henceforth be one annual meeting of the Partner Directors. This would set the strategic direction for collaborative working and take place in spring. Accordingly, the first such meeting took place on 20 March 2007.
4 Subject Specialist Networks (SSNs)The V&A believes partnerships based on collections and subject to be an important way of sharing and extending skills, expertise and information. The MLA supported SSN development through further rounds of its grant scheme to explore the feasibility of networks and to implement subject network projects.
4.1 Performance (Theatre Information Group (TIG))The Theatre Museum-led implementation project on documenting performance received an MLA grant of £23,000 which enabled preparatory work for the establishment of a TIG website to share information with and about its membership and a feasibility study for the creation of a UK performance database. This will merge object level records across collections enabling a comprehensive search about productions and casts. A further £24,125 was awarded in March 2007 to implement the proposals defined in the feasibility report.
4.2 Fashion (Dress and Textile Specialists (DATS))The focus of the Fashion exploratory project was a network seminar day at the end of April 2005, organised in partnership with DATS. Attended by 70 people, the day included talks and tours of V&A stores and conservation studios before a workshop investigating the potential of a network. The outcome was a great demand for active collaboration amongst people working in this field at all levels and a network aiming:- To facilitate training events to improve specialist collections knowledge for staff working
with fashion and textile collections; and- To establish a website for the network to support and promote this work, towards the
ultimate benefit of audiences.Further research through questionnaires and DATS meetings resulted in a refined forward plan and the SSN was awarded an implementation grant of £6,000 to run a series of training workshops at different venues in England.
4.3 Himalayan Collections The Himalayan network project had immediate benefits in that not even curators of 5 core collections the V&A, National Museums Liverpool, National Museums of Scotland, the Pitt Rivers Museum Oxford and the Horniman Museum had all met before. The group quickly concluded that a joint virtual archive would help redress the under-representation of Himalayan material in museum displays. A key element of the project was therefore to employ an experienced IT consultant to explore its feasibility in terms of organisation, audience and sustainability and the relation to existing online projects. Thorough research identified why this resource would be new and invaluable in stimulating interest, knowledge and activities around the subject. Although the SSN has not received further external funding, it has continued to meet.
4.4 Design from 1950
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In the course of the exploratory project for design from 1950, the parameters widened to encompass design from 1900. Including all artefacts that involve people’s intent in the creative process – as different as spacecraft, household linen and prosthetic limbs – made definition difficult, but the project identified the advantage of a forum for considering the concepts of design and how these can be applied across UK collections. More immediately, the ten participating partners identified the strengths and weaknesses of their collections as a starting point to how design might be collected nationally in the future. Unfortunately, by the middle of 2006 it became clear that there was insufficient capacity to take this work forward for the foreseeable future.
4.5 Other SSNs and collaborationsTo try to avoid losing momentum of these groups pending further funding announcements from MLA, the V&A facilitated meetings and continued to play an active part, building on the links through other networks such as photography and ceramics. Janet Davies participated in the inaugural meeting of the ceramics network in Stoke in November, talking about issues of acquisition funding for ceramics. Active input to the Japanese Collections SSN, led by the Russell-Cotes Museum & Art Gallery, Bournemouth, strengthened and extended existing V&A work with the Japan Foundation, resulting in a symposium and seminar and a potential web project following up the publication of the guide Japanese Art Collections in the UK by Gregory Irvine (2004). The V&A was also closely involved in a network for Chinese collections led by the Oriental Museum, Durham University.
The V&A led a funding bid to MLA to explore the potential of an SSN for contemporary metalwork, in partnership with SGMT and BMAG, but this was not successful, being considered similar to a bid from a contemporary art network.
The V&A has always formed natural partnerships based on shared collection interests and these may or may not develop into formal SSNs. Examples include Arts and Crafts led by Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museums, and work on the study and conservation of historic beds with Temple Newsam House, Leeds, Hampton Court and the National Trust. These relationships continue to flourish and we are keen to develop collaborative working in this way.
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5 Access to collections: off-site exhibitions and loans5.1 Touring exhibitions: where the show was originated and administered by the V&A.
V&A UK touring exhibitions in 2005/06Exhibition title Venue and region Dates No. objects
(V&A objects)
No. of visits
Cinema India New Walk Museum, Leicester *East Midlands
2/7/05 – 6/11/05
111(111)
52,800
Sunderland Museum and Winter Garden 1
North East
10/12/05 – 26/2/06
60,600
Radiant Buddha 2 Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, BradfordYorkshire & Humberside
14/2/05 – 24/4/05
24(14)
- 3
New Walk Museum, LeicesterEast Midlands
2/7/05 – 8/9/05
31,200
Royal Albert Memorial Museum, ExeterSouth West
14/1/06 – 14/4/06
20,400
Brilliant National Glass Centre, SunderlandNorth East
17/2/05 – 6/6/05
6-7 installations
(0)
- 3
Black British Style 4 Manchester Art Gallery 1
North West18/6/05 – 4/9/05
521(63)
(individual objects)
30,200
Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, BradfordYorkshire & Humberside
1/10/05 – 15/1/06
13,100
Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East
Millennium Galleries, Sheffield 1
Yorkshire & Humberside
14/1/06 – 16/4/06
126(126)
19,000
Must-have Toys Tullie House Museum, CarlisleNorth West
12/2/05 – 15/5/05
168(165)
- 3
Bristol Museum & Art GallerySouth West
28/5/05 – 17/7/05
37,300
Reading MuseumSouth East
31/7/05 – 27/11/05
19,800
Museum of HartlepoolNorth East
10/12/05 – 26/2/06
16,400
Royal Albert Memorial Museum, ExeterSouth West
11/3/06 – 28/5/06
- 3
2005/06 Totals6 Exhibitions 14 venues
(479 ) 300,8
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* Cinema India won Best Asian Arts Event in the Leicester Mercury The Week Awards, the local newspaper’s annual arts and culture awards ceremony. It was also nominated in 3 other categories, including Best Leicestershire Visitor Attraction.V&A UK touring exhibitions in 2006/07
Exhibition title Venue and region Dates No. objects(V&A
objects)
No. of visits
Cinema India Ferens Art Gallery, HullYorkshire & Humberside
18/11/06 – 3/1/07
111(111)
15,000
11
Domestic Idylls: Clementina Lady Hawarden
Worcester Museum & Art GalleryWest Midlands
1/12/06-20/1/07
28(28)
2,400
Benjamin Brecknell Turner
Worcester Museum & Art GalleryWest Midlands
27/1/07 – 17/3/07
26(26)
4.200
The Radiant Buddha2
Royal Albert Memorial Museum, ExeterSouth West
11/3/06 – 28/5/06
24(14)
-
Black British Style 4 Sunderland Museum & Winter Garden 1
North East
1/4/06 – 29/5/06
521(63)
57,200
Birmingham Museum & Art GalleryWest Midlands 1
10/6/06 – 17/9/06
11,500New Walk Museum, LeicesterEast Midlands
30/9/-6 – 23/12/06
30,200
Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Middle East
Millennium Galleries, Sheffield 1
Yorkshire & Humberside
14/1/06 – 16/4/06
126(126)
-
Must-have Toys Royal Albert Memorial Museum, ExeterSouth West
11/3/06 – 28/5/06
168(165)
72,300
Northampton MuseumEast Midlands
10/6/06 -26/11/06
30,600
South Shields Museum 1
North East9/12/06 – 2/07
29,500
Royal Cornwall Museum, TruroSouth West
17/2/07 – 26/5/07
-
Khel - Toys From India
Gallery Oldham North West
1/7/06 – 3/9/06
477(45)
14,300
Hartlepool MuseumNorth East
16/9/06 – 3/12/06
13,700
Cheltenham Art Gallery & MuseumSouth West
16/12/06 – 30/1/07
6,300
2006/07 Totals8 Exhibitions 15 venues
(578) 287,200
1 V&A UK Partner2 Joint acquisition and tour with the British Museum, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund3 Although the exhibition partly occurred in the specified year, visit numbers have been / will be
reported the previous / subsequent financial year4 Supported by grants from Art Council England and other bodies
5.2 V&A co-operative exhibitions: where the V&A was the major lender and provided substantial support (e.g. curatorial advice)
V&A UK co-operative exhibitions in 2005/06Exhibition title Venue and region Dates No. V&A
objectsNo. of visits
Toulouse Lautrec and the Art of the French PosterCurated by the Bowes Museum from V&A collections with V&A support (Margaret Timmers, WID)
Ferens Art Gallery, HullYorkshire & Humberside
24/3/05 – 12/6/05
73 31,300
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Beatrix Potter's Garden 15 April –15 July 2006Organised by the Warne Archive with V&A support (Noreen Marshall, MoC)
Birmingham Museum and Art GalleryWest Midlands
27/5/05 – 4/9/05
44 10,100
Bristol Museum and Art Gallery,South West
17/9/05 – 4/12/05
54,300
Totals2 exhibitions 3 venues 117 95,700
V&A UK co-operative exhibitions in 2006/07Exhibition title Venue and region Dates No. V&A
objectsNo. of visits
Highlights from the Museum of Childhood(while MoC closed)
Hackney MuseumLondon
7/3/06 – 7/7/06
60-70(60-70)
12,400
Off the Page(curated by Stephen Calloway)
Catmose Gallery, Vale of Catmose College, OakhamEast Midlands
12/05/06-18/06/06
47(47)
700
Story and Tradition in Contemporary Printmaking(with Art in Hospitals)
Homerton Hospital 12/5/06 – 19/6/06
11(11)
Not recorded
Totals3 exhibitions 3 venues 123 13,100
(known)
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Not all V&A touring exhibitions include objects but comprise interactives and graphic panels based on V&A collections and/or community activities. These give the flexibility to reach audiences at a wider range of venues. Oliver Messel - Making and Doing, which celebrated the acquisition of the archive of stage designer Oliver Messel, was the first such touring exhibition mounted by the Theatre Museum. A hands-on, interactive display, visitors were invited to design their own set, including light and sound, put together costumes and create their own mini production. After showing at the Theatre Museum in 2005, it toured to The Assembly House Norwich, the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch, William de Ferrers School, Chelmsford, Theatr Gwynedd, Bangor and Nymans, Kent attracting over 50,000 visits.
5.3 Loans
Breakdown of V&A UK loans statistics by region and home countries, 2005/06Region Venues Objects
% of short-term
% of long-term
% of UK total
% of short-term
% of long-term
% of UK total
North West 6 10 9 16 8 11North East 5 3 4 2 2 2Yorkshire & H 6 6 6 14 14 14West Midlands 8 11 10 10 5 6East Midlands 1 8 6 1 4 3East of England
2 8 6 <1 9 6
South West 6 13 10 4 7 6London 55 19 32 47 26 33South East 5 13 10 3 16 11England total 92 92 92 97 92 93Scotland 3 4 4 1 4 3Wales 2 3 2 1 3 2N. Ireland 2 2 2 1 2 2Rest UK total 8 8 8 3 8 7
UK Total (numbers) 102 162 264 809 1,778 2,587
2005/06 visits 1.99 million visits were made to UK venues in 18 towns and cities showing objects on short-term loan from the V&A (based on information supplied by the borrowing institutions; some venues not represented). Of these, 0.9 million visits (45%) were to national museums and galleries in London: 55% of visits were to non-national venues and venues outside London.
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2006/07 visits 3.54 million visits were made to UK venues in 24 towns and cities
showing objects on short-term loan from the V&A (based on information supplied by the borrowing institutions; some venues not represented). Of these, 1.24 million visits (35%) were to national museums and galleries in London: 65% of visits were to non-national venues and venues outside London.
Visits to V&A UK short-term loan venues 2005/06
7%
3%
11%
0%
7%
0%
70%
1%1%
Scotland
Wales
North West
North East
Yorkshire & Humberside
West Midlands
East Midlands
East of England
South West
South East
London
excluding London National Museums & Galleries(NMGs)
1%
12%
6%
19%
14%1%
44%
2%
1%
Scotland
Wales
North West
North East
Yorkshire & Humberside
West Midlands
East Midlands
East of England
South West
South East
London Non-NMG
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Visits to V&A UK short-term loan venues 2005/06
5.4 Facilitating UK lendingA priority for national working that has emerged from the V&A UK Partnership and also from wider sectoral consultations is to make lending and borrowing simpler and cheaper. This applies especially, but by no means exclusively, to regional museums borrowing from nationals. The prevailing perception is that, although the situation has improved considerably in the last two or three years, national museums are complex to deal with and slow to reach decisions. Anecdotally, this is especially true of the V&A, even though the Museum is one of the most active lenders among national art museums and tries to make borrowing user-friendly. The V&A participated in several fora throughout 2005/6 at which
Visits to V&A UK short-term loan venues 2006/07
7%
11%
3%
1%
3%
2%
7%63%
2%1%
Scotland
Wales
North West
North East
Yorkshire & Humberside
West Midlands
East Midlands
East of England
South West
South East
London
Visits to V&A UK short-term loan venues 2006/07 excluding London National Museums & Galleries (NMGs)
11%
18%
4%
2%
4%3%10%
44%
0%1% 3%
Scotland
Wales
North West
North East
Yorkshire & Humberside
West Midlands
East Midlands
East of England
South West
South East
London Non-NMG
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this issue was discussed and will both participate in any national initiatives to improve the situation and will examine its own practice to seek efficiencies.
5.5 Houghton Hall: conservation of furniture and textilesHoughton Hall, Norfolk, was built and furnished in 1722-1735 for Sir Robert Walpole, the first British Prime Minister. Many of the state rooms retain their original furnishings. In 2002, under the Government Acceptance-in-Lieu (AIL) scheme, the V&A acquired two state beds, three sets of tapestries and two suites of gilded seat furniture, to be preserved in situ at Houghton Hall for the nation. In 2004 grants totalling £750,000 were secured from the NHMF and DCMS to undertake the conservation of the original hangings and upholstery on the embroidered bed, the King’s and Queen’s tapestries and three out of the four Venus and Adonis tapestries.
The ambitious five-year conservation programme is being undertaken by four external conservation studios. To date the work on the head board and counterpane of the embroidered bed has been completed and work begun on the six curtains, whose delicacy and fragility are presenting many challenges. All the tapestries are fragile and were also very dirty: they have been successfully cleaned in Belgium, using he latest techniques and have been returned to England for the next stages of their conservation.
5.6 Online accessIncreasingly, nationwide reach is being achieved through digital projects. The National Museums Online Learning Project, funded by the government’s Invest to Save initiative, began in 2006. The V&A leads a partnership of nine national museums collaborating in a truly creative way with the aim of engaging new audiences by promoting the use of, and transforming thinking about, digital collections. A range of innovative online learning resources for pupils, teachers, and lifelong learners will encourage and support user participation across the nine websites; a search facility across the partner collections will, for the first time, put millions of objects from UK national museums at the fingertips of each user - wherever they live.
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6 MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund
6.1 BackgroundThe Purchase Grant Fund for acquisitions by regional museums, archives and specialist libraries is funded by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and financed and managed by the V&A as part of its nationwide work. It has been run by the Museum since 1881 and makes a significant contribution to V&A UK. Its wide reach and network of contacts gives the V&A a good overview of activity in the regions, sustained relationships and the ability to recognise and make potential links and opportunities. PGF staff sustain the V&A's visibility among colleagues in the regions through visits to assess eligibility and show support at events to mark new acquisitions, and to the public through the acknowledgement of Purchase Grant Fund support.
6.2 125th AnniversaryIn 2006 the PGF celebrated its 125th anniversary with a well-attended reception at the V&A in April, at which public funding for museum acquisition was debated. Most grant recipients contributed to the celebration throughout the year with gallery trails, information and events. Many focussed on objects acquired in past decades, demonstrating the ongoing value of grant-aided objects in these collections: Hampshire County Museums produced an information and work booklet on a 17thC raised embroidery acquired in 1991 and Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes dedicated a lecture on current research around a volume of early archaeological drawings acquired in 1989. The Bodleian and Lambeth Palace libraries created on-line displays and Salford Museum & Art Gallery mounted a whole exhibition on the Fund which included metalwork supported in 1898.
6.3 PGF budgetThe PGF budget has been frozen at £1 million since 1995 and, wholly demand-led, is always over-subscribed. The Director of the V&A appealed to MLA to include an increased PGF allocation in its funding bid for the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007, but this was not successful.
6.4 Purchase Grant Fund statistics
The total value of the 370 acquisitions by 173 organisations supported in this period was £7.95 million. They included:- a Benjamin Britten manuscript score: Britten-Pears Library, Aldeburgh - a Sean Scully painting: Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal- Nonconformist silver: Gloucester City Museum - a poster for Ivanhoe filmed at Chepstow Castle in 1913: Monmouth Museums Service- a pair of 17th C postillion's boots: Northampton Museums & Art Gallery- 65 John Sell Cotman letters: Norfolk County Record Office- a filmed performance work by Ian Breakwell: Leeds Museums and Galleries- an Egyptian sculpture: Bolton Museum & Art Gallery- an 18th C sampler: Museum of Methodism, London - annotated proofs of an Elgar oratorio: The Elgar Birthplace Museum, Worcester- jewellery by David Watkins: Norwich, Norfolk Museums Service- ceramics by Julian Stair and Clare Curneen: Gallery Oldham - Bronze Age jewellery: Cotswold Museums & Art Service, Cirencester- painting by Bridget Riley: Southampton City Museums and Art Gallery
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“The Purchase Grant Fund is one of the unsung heroes of the museum world, quietly achieving results of lasting value for communities up and down the country with maximum effectiveness and minimal bureaucracy” Jacob Simon, National Portrait Gallery
- Bouncers, a set of photographs by Common Culture: Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum
MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund support by region 2005/06 and 2006/7
RegionNo. of cases considered
No. of grants awarded
Total value of grants % of funding (approx)
2005/6
2006/7
2005/6
2006/7
2005/6 2006/7 2005/6
2006/7
North West
32 25 24 15 £167,285 £73,794 17% 7%
North East 20 12 13 6 £73,725 £14,787 7% 1.5%
Yorkshire & Humberside
21 20 14 15 £76,498 £115,937 8% 12%
West Midlands
24 23 16 16 £79,757 £65,312 8% 6.5%
East Midlands
16 7 10 3 £47,900 £86,200 5% 9%
East of England
34 42 29 30 £175,363 £143,865 17% 14%
South West
63 60 28 40 £67,543 £178,551 7% 18%
London 31 36 21 20 £108,598 £85,268 11% 9%
South East 36 42 24 28 £184,140 £209,328 18% 21%
Wales 10 12 9 9 £20,140 £27,951 2% 3%
Total 287 279 188 182 £1,000,949
£1,000,993
7 Training and development In this period, the unit completed a number of training and consultancy projects covering disability awareness, visitor care, object handing and bug and pest control. Front-of-house standards were developed for 100 staff at Brighton & Hove Museums Museum courier training was delivered at Manchester City Galleries and Sheffield
Galleries and Museums Eight technicians from Birmingham museums embarked on the V&A NVQ Technician
Award
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8 Research Research sits at the heart of the V&A’s mission to ‘enrich people’s lives and to contribute to Britain’s success as a creative nation.’ The department works with education and research bodies internationally and across the UK.
It supports six fellowships and twelve collaborative doctoral award students in partnership with UK universities and art colleges including the University of the West of England /V&A Fellow in 20th C and Contemporary Craft, Mathew Partington, and a V&A/University of Brighton Collaborative Doctoral Award to Verity Clarkson: Cold War Modern: Art and Design in a Divided World 1945-72 / Cold War Émigré Artists and Designers in Britain which will feed into a forthcoming V&A exhibition.
Many staff share V&A knowledge by delivering papers such as those by Marta Ajmar-Wollheim (with Flora Dennis) at Musifications: House to Museum in Italy, 1500 to the Present Day, organized by the University of Manchester and held at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester in April 2005 and by Carol Tulloch at the seminar In Search of the Black Mother, organised by and held at the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester, 25 November 2006.
The research department manages the staff exchange partnership with the University of Sussex. In this period, Christopher Breward and Susan North of the V&A taught aspects of fashion and dress at Sussex whilst Michelle O’Malley and Nigel Llewellyn worked at the V&A on footwear of the early modern period and research for the 2009 V&A exhibition on Baroque respectively.
The annual V&A Research Report documents national and international research outputs for museum staff. It may be viewed online: http://www.vam.ac.uk/files/file_upload/49792_file.pdf
9 V&A UK infrastructure and profile9.1 Costing exercise: National Working Audit
A process for demonstrating how much V&A staff resource was expended on V&A UK, on what activities and how it is distributed geographically was piloted. The methodology, involving a sample of staff completing a survey, was shown to be sound. Soon afterwards, however, the Museum launched a separate and more comprehensive exercise to fully cost its activities. It was decided to delay roll-out of the full National Working Audit until the wider project had been completed so that the former could take advantage of the agreed and consistent methodology.
9.2 Branding UK working was monitored over a year to determine how we prioritise and manage activity outside the UK Partnership and also how we codify activity to ensure the V&A's regional input has due recognition. Both depend on staff resources and the degree of V&A involvement required. Draft definitions on the appropriate application of the V&A logo and a limited number of straplines which might be universally applied to exhibitions and outreach projects were tested against projects in hand. Organisations consulted were keen to have the benefit of the V&A association.
9.3 Representation The representational role of the Regional Liaison/Purchase Grant Fund Team has been
mentioned at section 6: they made 28 PGF visits in 2005/06 and 27 in 2006/07 and attended over 40 regional events.
A senior member of V&A staff represented the Museum at openings of each South Kensington-generated V&A touring exhibition, often alongside the relevant curator.
The V&A is represented in wider national working in the sector: - It is a member of the National Museum Directors’ Conference UK Affairs Committee
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- It was instrumental in initiating regular meetings of an informal group of national museum partnership managers (or equivalent) at which ideas and experiences were shared.
9.4 Advocacy The first report of the UK Steering Group, V&A UK 2004/05 was widely distributed among the
museum sector, key influencers (such as DCMS, politicians, Arts Council England (ACE)) and funders (such as HLF and charitable foundations). It was also made generally available on the V&A website. The report, the first of this type to be produced by any national museum or galley, attracted very positive feedback.
A short leaflet was produced summarising the V&A’s national working in a more attractive and lively way and with a slightly longer shelf-life than the annual report, V&A UK 2004-2006: How we’re working across the UK. This was mailed out widely, distributed at professional conferences and handed to visitors. Again, feedback was unanimously positive.
During 2005/06 the Board members of DCMS each took responsibility for one of the English regions. A note was sent to each on what the V&A was doing in ‘their’ region.
10 Other national working10.1 Links with other UK organisations
The survey for the second report on the value of museums, conducted in January 2006 by Tony Travers of the LSE on behalf of the NMDC and MLA revealed “significant links” between the V&A and various educational, civic and charitable organisations in the UK:- 46 Further and Higher Education Institutions (e.g. joint research, collaborative courses,
Advisory Boards, External Examiner, regular lecture series; excludes one-off/ad hoc lectures, visits, student enquiries)
- 24 non-national museums (excluding UK Partners)- 45 community groups- 21 civil society institutions (e.g. learned societies, local/regional authorities, charities,
trade associations)- 68 trusteeships, chairmanships, board and panel memberships of UK organisations - 39 other organisations
10.2 AdviceV&A specialist staff advises national public bodies such as the Heritage Lottery Fund, DCMS and the Capital Taxes Office on acquisition, export licensing, Government Indemnity and acceptance in lieu of tax. In 2005/06 there were 189 cases requiring comment on 500 objects. In 2006/07, there were 185 cases involving 820 objects
10.3 Examples of UK collaborationThis is far from a comprehensive list of all the work that the V&A does throughout the UK, but serves to illustrate the range of activities that are part of the Museum’s daily life.
Clare Brown (FTF) advised the Bowes Museum on an exhibition on lace: Fine and Fashionable - Lace from the Blackbourne Collection, September 2006 – April 2007. She also gave a lecture as part of the associated public programme.
Clare Browne also led two textile study workshops for the North East Museum Hub; one at the Bowes Museum(December 2006) and one at the Discovery Museum (TWMS) and Beamish (March 2007).
Rosemary Crill (Asia) and Jennifer Wearden (FTF, retired) spent three days in March 2006 advising museums in the North East Museum Hub on textiles in their collections: Discovery Museum (TWMS), the Bowes Museum and the museum at Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Lucy Trench, (L&I) conducted a workshop on ‘Interpretive Text Writing’ for staff of National Museum Wales, Cardiff, November 2006. “… incredibly inspiring and thoroughly enjoyable”.
Marjorie Trusted (SMCG), represents the V&A on the Board of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford. Senior staff of the Gallery came to the V&A in November 2006 to discuss future co-operation.
Tessa Murdoch (SMCG) gave a talk on the Marlborough Pacot silver for the Friends of the Bowes Museum in February 2007
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Gregory Irvine (Asia) gave a lecture – Hidden Treasures: The Role and Significance of Japanese Art Collections in UK Museums at a symposium for The Japan Foundation, London in March 2006 associated with his book on the subject. This work also fed into a website.
Sarah Medlam (FTF), Temple Newsam House, Leeds and Historic Royal Palaces collaborate closely on the research and interpretation of historic beds.
The Museum partnered the Public Catalogue Foundation in a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund to establish the Public Catalogue Online. The V&A contribution would be in training volunteer participants.
The sixth one-day V&A/University of Derby Conservation Summer School was held in July 2006, supported by the Royal Society of Chemistry and led by Prof Graham Martin (Conservation). There were 24 participants and several external speakers. 92% of participants rated the day as ‘excellent’.
The Conservation Department (Dr Lucia Burgio) took part in two ‘Chemistry at Work’ events organized by the Royal Society of Chemistry, providing talks and demonstrations. One was held at the City Discovery Centre in Milton Keynes (June 2005) and one at the International Cruise Terminal in Tilbury, Essex (October 2005). In all, 40 teachers and about 370 pupils participated.
The Memory Maps website was launched, a collaboration between Marina Warner, Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Essex and the V&A. It focuses on Essex and features creative writing by well-known names and members of the public, historical information, trails and other other resources.
In 2006 Jo Prosser and Nigel Spiers (VAE) advised Glasgow Museums on retail for the re-opening of Kelvingrove Museum and Glasgow Museums staff participated in the V&A UK Partnership Networking Day on the topic of Retail.
The V&A Photography Studio provided training to a photographer from Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery. This was prompted by a long-term loan of V&A objects.
Marion Kite (Conservation) is Chairman of the Leather Conservation Centre and Council member of the Museum of Leathercraft, both in Northampton. This has led to research collaborations with the University of Northampton.
The V&A contributed to the development of the Archives, Libraries & Museums, London’s Museums Strategy.
In response to an approach by Portsmouth City Council, senior staff visited the city to discuss a potential partnership over a proposed new venue. Although this specific project is unlikley to be realised, as in similar cases, communication channels remain open and smaller-scale co-operation may follow.
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Origins of UK visits to V&A South Kensington 2005/06
4% 4%3%
2%
5%
2%
5%
6%
7%
15%
46%
1%Scotland
Wales
North West
North East
Yorkshire & Humberside
West Midlands
East Midlands
East of England
South West
South East
LondonNorthern Ireland
Origins of UK visits to V&A South Kensington 2006/07
2% 3%
3%
3%
2%
4%
3%
6%
5%
17%
52%
0%Scotland
Wales
North West
North East Yorkshire & Humberside
West Midlands
East Midlands
East of England
South West
South East
London
Northern Ireland
Annex A - Origins of visits to London sites From CRA Analysis data
Visit to V&A Museums by UK residents % of UK visits
out of total visits 2005/06
% non-London visits
out of UK visits 2005/06
% of UK visits out of total
visits 2006/07
% non-London visits
out of UK visits 2006/07
South Kensington 55% 54% 62% 48%Museum of Childhood
92% 22% 95% 18%
Theatre Museum 61% 53% 65% 59%All sites 58% 49% 64% 46%
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