Theatre, dance performance expertise threatened at the Victoria & Albert Museum

[Kate_N]

You may have heard the Front Row programme on Thursday 4th March about the proposed restructuring of the staff areas of the V&A, which will result in the closure of the Theatre & Performance specialist section, and if followed through, will likely lead to the redundancy of expert staff in that team.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000srg7

(starts at around 18 minutes into the programme)

 

We know the amazing exhibitions produced by that team - the Ballet Russe exhibition for a start. There's more to this than simply losing the staff and the named team - collections will no longer be developed or looked after by theatre, dance, music expert curators and archivists. 

 

You may not know it but the Theatre Collection at the V&A is THE Designated National Theatre Collection.

 

There's a petition doing the rounds here:

 

https://www.change.org/p/tristram-hunt-director-v-a-performing-art-heritage?recruiter=1183668119&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive&recruited_by_id=7b9d6230-7b64-11eb-be93-4d8b86fe6b76

 

When the Theatre Museum was closed in Covent Garden, and absorbed into the V&A, they promised that they would hold and nurture the collections. You can make up your minds about how this commitment is being honoured ...

[Jan McNulty]

Thanks for highlighting the petition Kate.  I've signed and shared it via my social media accounts.

 

It seems madness to me to not to continue to develop and cherish this internationally important collection.  it is an absolute treasure trove.

[Odyssey]

To think we used to have a Theatre Museum. How can we not celebrate the wonderful achievements of this art form in our country.

[Kate_N]

I know., @Odyssey Fo one of the leading theatrical nations in the world, it's pretty poor, isn't it? In the course of y work, I've been to many designated national theatre museums, in Spain, in Slovenia, in Finland, and many others. It's a bit of a scandal that we don't celebrate & protect our theatrical heritage.

[Don Q Fan]

This department must not be allowed to close, I have signed the petition and tweeted it as well. I have enjoyed visiting the display any times and would be very sorry if it was closed.  The V&A have some very strange attitudes sometimes and I have called them out on it in the past.

 

[Rob S]

It seems various departments are affected, including the National Art Library

 

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/mar/07/guardians-of-uks-literary-jewels-at-risk-in-va-plan-to-cut-key-library-staff

[Kate_N]

Yes. I can't say too much, but there's strong pressure to "thin" out any/all archivists as some in the senior management don't see the point of libraries & archives. It looks like the plan is to focus only on the art/craft object collections, and not the archival collections & research which gives them context.

Edited March 7, 2021 by Kate_N

[Diandri]

The Times had a related article earlier this week that the V&A are still pushing ahead with their planned new premises in East London. It would appear that money is still available for that, but not for paying for fully qualified staff (ironic given the recent TV series made a point of celebrating the skills of the curatorial staff). A situation the Wallace Collection appears to agree with when they recently tried to close their library collections to the public & make the librarians redundant.  

[Jeannette]

This is the curatorial team led by Ms Jane Pritchard, yes? So sorry to read this news. I’ve signed the petition and shared with ballet friends on Facebook.

[Kate_N]

10 hours ago, Diandri said:

V&A are still pushing ahead with their planned new premises in East London

 

It\s basically going to be storage, without specialist staff, as I understand it.

[Lynette H]

The V&A along with the British Museum and other museums have used Blythe House, an enormous building in Olympia, for storage of parts of their collections for many years.  The government announced a few years ago that it would sell off Blythe House and provide some funding for alternative storage sites for the museums.  The development of the V&A East in in two parts, one for this storage.  The other part on the waterfront (next to where the Sadler's Wells new small theatre will be) is for display. 

 

https://www.vam.ac.uk/info/va-east-project

 

 

[Don Q Fan]

I just think it will be a complete tragedy if the departments close.  Surely they could instead pass the items to a museum up north for example so that people up here could enjoy them without a trek to London.  I love seeing costumes etc up close.  

[jmhopton]

Sadly the plan for a theatre museum in Blackpool partly funded by the V and A fell by the wayside and I don't know of another. It is terrible that the country of Shakespeare, and such a vibrant theatrical tradition, cares so little for this vital artform that a proper theatrical museum can't be funded. I used to go to the Theatre Museum when it was in Covent Garden and for some reason I never really liked it. I think it was the building that seemed to go almost underground. I loved the displays and costumes but just wished it was elsewhere in covent garden. It would be a tragedy if all those artifacts including ballet costumes, were hardly to be seen again or were destroyed because of lack of care. 

[Odyssey]

Yes, I agree that the venue for the old Theatre Museum was less than ideal but there was a wonderful array of exhibits.

Wouldn’t it be brilliant if some enlightened philanthropist could fund something opening in Coventry as part of the City of Culture. Wonderful transport links and near enough to Stratford / Birmingham to be able to attract tourists who are already in enjoying the wonderful theatrical experiences available in the Midlands.  We can only dream.

[alison]

On 07/03/2021 at 20:49, Diandri said:

The Times had a related article earlier this week that the V&A are still pushing ahead with their planned new premises in East London. It would appear that money is still available for that, but not for paying for fully qualified staff (ironic given the recent TV series made a point of celebrating the skills of the curatorial staff).

 

It's probably been ring-fenced, or something   Donations.

[alison]

From this week's Stage:

 

"This week, actor and director Simon Callow calls on the Victoria and Albert Museum to ensure the theatre collection is properly displayed and fully accessible"

 

https://www.thestage.co.uk/your-views/the-va-must-save-its-theatre-collection--your-views-march-17

 

I can't get at this myself as I'm on the wrong computer, but presumably those who have an account will be able to read it.

[LinMM]

I signed this petition a week or so a go now as was being sent around various ballet groups I’m in. 
I do hope they change their mind. 

[alison]

Updates also at http://www.sibmas.org/

 

Including this one:

 

"SIBMAS laments the simple fact that the UK does not have such a national theatre museum of performance, when across Europe specialist museums are part of the backbone of many nations’ museums cultures. At very least we should support a specialist department in a major UK museum and have it recognised as such."

 

http://www.sibmas.org/sibmas-response-to-the-recent-statement-by-the-va-concerning-the-national-art-library-and-archive-jobs/

[alison]

"6 Apr 2021 — 

Dr Hunt has now written to the President of SIBMAS, and we are hoping that this is the start of a productive dialogue. The questions raised in the petition still remain. We are disappointed to see that theatre and performance, which is internationally recognised as a distinct branch of heritage, is still being treated in line with the V&A’s “materials” based approach. Until recently, the performing arts were well understood by the V&A and had their own branch museum. Now they do not even warrant a separate department, despite covering all material types and relying on specialist curators, archivists and librarians working together. We know that this is not easy in the current financial climate, but the V&A has a long standing commitment to document the UK’s rich performance culture. Which is why an urgent and wide-ranging consultation is needed. We call on the V&A to speak to theatre heritage specialists, to the theatre industry and to theatre researchers and educators. We would love to talk. 

Please note the internal consultation process at the V&A Museum has now been extended to the 23rd of April. 

Read the full statement on the SIBMAS website:

Please also visit the campaign page for further information, comments & updates. Thank you to everyone, all 18 thousand plus people who have signed this petition and have supported the Theatre & Performance Department & staff."   

 

https://www.change.org/p/save-performing-art-heritage-at-the-v-a/u/28831563

[Kate_N]

Yes, my organisation (I'm leading an international coalition of theatre/performance researchers & curators) got this answer as well. We're now calling for a bit more consultation with the international community of performance researchers. Equity is also concerned that members who have donated private collections via special arrangements have not been consulted.

[alison]

And now, a letter from the former director of the Theatre Museum:

 

https://www.change.org/p/save-performing-art-heritage-at-the-v-a/u/29026348?cs_tk=AvTTByEymhNBBHI9nWAAAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvFPwD5FEEW5v2jwGbvhuizM%3D&utm_campaign=b38136dd690f4a4ebd6f280b37d9f2da&utm_content=initial_v0_4_0&utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_update&utm_term=cs