Wednesday, January 20, 2010

When Will the AAMD Get Their Massachusetts?

We saw last night in Massachusetts what happens when those in power don't listen. The AAMD met recently and changed nothing regarding their stance on deaccessioning. As jobs and exhibitions continue to plunge off museum cliffs due to the recession, is the AAMD deaf and blind to the obvious? Is this the AAMD mirroring Obama, focusing on wrong issues at the wrong time? Donn Zaretsky calls this meeting "breaking news." Via Artinfo.

The hot topic at this year's mid-winter meeting of the Association of Art Museum Directors in Sarasota, Fla., attended by more than 125 museum heads from 35 states and three countries, was the same as last year's: deaccessioning. The association's Deaccessioning Task Force has concluded that “works cannot be deaccessioned to provide funds for operating or capital purposes, and such funds may only be used for the refinement and expansion of the collection.”

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1 comment:

Dr. Mark said...

When the AAMD gets their Massachusetts depends on when poor little museums start having their tea parties. If poor little museums hurry, they can head the AAMD off before they all turn into the small dead museums that their larger brethren eagerly devour. If they wait, though, the AAMD may never get their Massachusetts.

And while Coaccessioning your artworks doesn't technically violate AAMD's deaccession rules, it's still a good way to fight the machine.