Can you remember the
first time you felt utterly in awe of something? It’s an incredible sensation.
Perhaps it was when you were a child, looking up at something so much bigger? It’s
size and scale may have seemed thrilling, or it may have been the exciting
element of the unknown, and the inspiration to find out more? Your toes may
have tingled with the excitement, your face fizzing with a smile and the want
to tell others about it. For me, this awe was inspired by a visit to Whitaker
Park Museum in Rawtenstall, Lancashire, looking up at the absurd structure of a
‘Penny Farthing’. The huge front wheel
and spindly structure I had never seen before and was suddenly so keen to know.
It also summarises an essential point; museums inspire us not only with awe,
but inspire us to learn beyond ourselves, beyond what we first thought possible.
They open new worlds. Thus to close them is a great tragedy.
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| Whitaker Park gardens and museum |
The museums of
Lancashire made my childhood, as well as my sources of inspiration and
information. It’s almost ironic (and horribly so) that the government cuts are
seeking to make history of them instead.
Five of the county’s museums are set to close from the 1st April next year, due to proposed local authority savings of £65m over the next two years for Lancashire County Council. The five museums are Fleetwood Museum, Queen Street Mill in Burnley,
Helmshore Textile Museum, the Museum of Lancashire and the Judges Lodgings Museum.
These are places which share our rich heritage, history and most importantly,
knowledge. To close them is to send the
message that the past is disposable and skews the notion of society. We aren’t
built online, on social media. We are built in human effort, and hardship, brick
and business; something museums regularly remind us through the buildings they
inhabit, the exhibitions they offer, the work they do. Museums give us a real sense of perspective
and that this could be lost is an awful concept.
Realise your role as a citizen
And Museums don’t just offer a sense of perspective, but
multiple perspectives too. They make you feel included. Rather than a single
source, they provide information in many different formats; allowing you to see
for yourself as part of a bigger past and in turn, a citizen. In most of Lancashire’s museums you can
currently enjoy free entry and the opportunity to browse as you like, in your own
time.
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| Helmshore Textile Museum |
Yet the government
cuts seem determined to open peoples wallets instead, including young people. What has been an
important aspect about Lancashire’s museums for a long time is that they are largely
free (or at least vitally free for children); emphasizing that you cannot put a
price on interactive knowledge. They
have long provided an opportunity for immersive learning, opened up to families
from all income backgrounds. Of course, financially supporting museums
important, but having the opportunity to choose whether you do this has been
long-term important to museums’ open-minded ethos. Plus a museum would rather
than take an inquisitive mind – a child ready to learn – rather than a closed
collection of coins. Yet the factor of finances has led the council to raise
the prospect of binging compulsory raised visitor charges into a number of
museums, as well as uncertainty
regarding their future.
Freedom for children - it matters
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| The Museum of Lancashire, Preston |
Turning a free museum into a fee-charging one I believe can
become a problem. When a museum is no
longer free, it is no longer ‘free’ by any sense of the word; as by ascribing monetary
value to its experience, this can be seen as an attempt to determine the worth
of its artefacts, of its experience. When museums are charged for this leads families
considering the value for money rather than the actual contents. Things quickly
become evaluated by investment (i.e. ‘was it worth the cost/time/effort?’) rather than the level of
interest engaged; and this taints the openness of perspective which museums
originally inspire. If a museum charges already and is attracting visitors, then
this is less of an issue. But to introduce charges to those which have long
been free is a hard task.
Museums are not just capable of opening up perspectives either;
it is important to consider the numerous roles they play in Lancashire. Firstly, their role in conservation. It is
through preserving the past that museums are providing educational opportunities
for future generations, highlighting
their continued importance in society. And they don’t just teach
society, but take lessons from it too;
as the exhibitions in museums are often
shaped by the attitudes of audiences and people who visit. Curators have the
role not only then of preservation but presentation; assembling the past to
make sense for the present and inspire the future. When you consider such processes,
it shows that museums are creating positive relationships and structures at
every level.
Museums make communities
Structure is an important point in itself too. Museums
provide important local infrastructure as well
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| Mills in Helmshore |
So now it’s time to give something back.
I think that one of the biggest things we can give to
museums, is our support. This doesn’t
have to be financial if you cannot manage it – because after all, museums
endorse open awareness, and it’s this openness you can use in your favour.
Perhaps you could pay a visit, volunteer, donate, or even sign a petition.
There is clear support for Lancashire’s museums out there and action already
being taken which emphasizes how important these places there for the modern
day. People can still walk through the doors and be awe-inspired. And that’s a
thing worth saving.
