The last few months have been tough for cultural heritage professionals and for the institutions where they work. Lockdown posed many technical and financial challenges and the process of reopening will not be any easier. There are still difficult times ahead and recovery will not be simple.
Loss of income on the scale that many museums and galleries have experienced cannot be replaced quickly, so uncomfortable operational decisions will have to be made. We have already seen the impact of financial restructuring in the announcements from various organisations, from regional museums through to major bodies such as the National Trust.
While we understand that there will be a need to tighten belts at least in the short to medium term, we make a strong plea for maintaining and supporting conservation services and conservation activity within our cultural institutions, whether this work is carried out by in-house teams or commissioned from freelance practitioners.
Investing in conservation demonstrates that we care about our cultural heritage and embrace our duty to be responsible custodians. But it offers much more than simply safeguarding the past. Conservation is forward-looking and creative. Investing in conservation will support people and the places they care about as we face a challenging and uncertain post-Covid future.
Read the statement here.
Download our Care of Collections factsheet here.
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Image: Creative Commons
