CultureLabel

“This isn’t the job most people think that they will be doing when they go into museums,” one interviewee noted, “it’s just not an area we’re trained in. Museum managers are able to deliver their product in difficult conditions, and often with low budgets. Ask us if there are other ways to lever in better results, and of course the answer will be yes. It’s just how do we find the time and expertise to find out what these other methods are?”

One of the main concerns to unpick here relates to mindsets and attitudes; how employees and employers in museums self-define their role. Buried within this lies what is arguably the single greatest barrier to developing an entrepreneurial culture within the culture sector. That is, the deeply entrenched mindset that responding to the market represents a conflict with core curatorial, conservationist or public service roles. Or, as another museum interviewee succinctly noted, “Isn’t conservation risk averse by definition?”

At this point, we do not have space to enter into the ongoing discourse between curators and marketers, entertainment and education, public service and general appeal. We can, however, make three points on the subject: (1) that collections and curatorial knowledge represent the primary assets of a museum; (2) that these represent the raison d’être of museums to consumers – it is mutually reinforcing rather than destructive; and (3) that, as a result, entrepreneurial museums must not affect this essence, but rather build on it, if they are to succeed in the eyes of consumers.

Central to this assertion is the close relationship between curatorial excellence and entrepreneurship. Rather than being sidelined to allow for ‘money-making’ activities, these should imaginatively form the heart of the offer. Raising revenues and curatorial excellence should mutually reinforce each other.

John Holden, in his pioneering work on cultural value at Demos, identifies three parties involved in the ‘cultural concordat’: the public, politicians and policy makers, and professionals. Each has different relationships with arts and culture institutions, and each values different elements of it. In short, he argues that:

• the public values: the transcendental qualities of culture; being treated well by the institution; and rootedness in terms of geography and/or community
• professionals are motivated by the intrinsic value and quality of their work
• politicians and policy-makers primarily value the instrumental benefits of culture, its contribution to social and economic agendas.

Taking Holden’s ideas as a foundation for our thinking, we suggest that entrepreneurship provides a route to meet and exceed the needs of all three stakeholder groups:

• For the public, an entrepreneurial mindset would (a) further develop and leverage its role as a natural ally against the dominance of instrumental values in culture and (b) understand and respond to consumer expectations and needs as standard. To enable this, arts and culture institutions must be outward-facing, understanding consumer developments in the world around them, and identifying how these could be utilised or reflected internally. Reconnecting with the wider public (beyond just audiences or potential audiences) provides a relatively untapped source of revenue.
• For politicians and policy-makers, a reconnection by arts and culture institutions with the wider public through entrepreneurship provides a greater democratic mandate for investment. The greater a museum is embedded within the consumer society at large, beyond simply immediate audience develop
• For professionals in the culture sector, engaging with a wider public through entrepreneurialism provides a greater forum for deploying their role of curator and expert. As Holden notes, “the age of deference may be over, but that does not mean that the public has ceased to be interested in expertise.” Shaping public opinion, and encouraging and validating public debate – just two examples of new consumer-focussed curatorial roles. Crucially, such roles are interdependent on intrinsic excellence: the ability to guard and conserve, to understand and interpret.

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