Museums and Galleries Month
is an annual promotion organised by the Campaign for
Museums. All UK museums and galleries are invited to
take part. There is no registration fee. For full details
of MGM 2004 and plans for MGM 2005, please go to www.mgm.org.uk.
CONSULTATION
In the Autumn of 2003, the
Campaign for Museums carried out a consultation on
the future of Museums and Galleries
Month. The results were published in January 2004,
see news release below. The News Update with tables
and quotes
can be accessed here:
Consultation
Newsletter.pdf
MUSEUMS
AND GALLERIES SUPPORT MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES MONTH
98 per cent of museums and
galleries, who responded to the Museums and Galleries
Month consultation carried
out in the Autumn of 2003, said it should continue.
This included one third who do not regularly participate.
This wholehearted endorsement of MGM, first held
in 2000,
came from 466 respondents to the consultation launched
in September and concerned with the future of this
national celebration beyond 2004.
It
is three years since the Campaign for Museums consulted
the museum
and gallery
sector on Museums and Galleries
Month. The response received after the first Museums
and Galleries Month 2000 was encouraging and the
Campaign decided to continue with this national celebration
of what’s best in UK’s museums and galleries.
“
The results of this second consultation is emphatic – a
wholehearted endorsement of Museums and Galleries Month
and a general recognition that it is now part of the
annual calendar for museums and galleries and increasingly
for visitors”, said Loyd Grossman, Chairman of
the Campaign for Museums and co-chairman of MGM.
While there is majority support
for continuing with MGM and continuing to hold it
in May, there is a clear division
on the length of the celebration. Should it be a
week or a month? All the arguments for one or the
other make
sense; in summary - shorter would be more focussed
for publicity but longer gives more scope for planning
events.
The latter applies particularly to medium sized and
smaller museums and galleries. 56 per cent of participants
said
that they would continue to favour a month and 43
per cent preferred a week.
Charles Saumarez Smith, Director
of the National Gallery and Co-Chairman of Museums
and Galleries Month, added: “Our
plans for 2005 envisages Museums and Galleries Month
to continue in May but that it would start with a high
profile May Bank Holiday weekend, when the larger museums
and galleries take the lead with a series of celebratory
events. This weekend also coincides with the Printemps
des Musees celebration initiated by the French government.” Notes
to Editors:
1 Susie Fisher, consultant
to the Campaign for Museums, advised on the questionnaire,
the form of the analysis
and the final results. Each questionnaire has been
logged against the MGM database, and a wide range
of comments
logged.
2 Museums and Galleries Month
is funded by the Department for Culture, Media and
Sport, Resource: The Council
for Museums, Libraries and Archives and Arts Council
England.
It is organised by the Campaign for Museums (a
registered charity) with support from engage (National
Association
for Gallery Education), Museums Association, the
Art Fund, Resource, Association of Independent
Museums, the
Arts Council, GEM (Group for Education officers
in Museums) and the regional and national museums
agencies/councils.
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