Good curators at risk? – Collections Trust Manifesto for good curatorship 5 Feb 2013

The Collections Trust warns that with many curators heading for retirement, there is a general trend of curatorial knowledge being lost to collections.  On the Collections Link blog they write:

“We are deeply concerned by the decrease in support of and provision for curatorial expertise in the museums sector. We believe that action needs to be taken now so that knowledge of objects and their relevance to the communities with whom the museums engage is not lost. Action is needed now as many museum employees with this knowledge are nearing retirement, and there is no adequate provision of continuity of this expertise.

Only through promoting and connecting the different sets of professional skills, from curatorship, outreach, education, collections management, marketing and leadership will we achieve this vision.”

They invite museums and museum staff to join their public campaign group and sign their manifesto supporting good curation practice.