MGHG Annual Conference, Sept 10th and 11th 2010
Leeds City Museum

MUSEUMS AND THE MARKET

Ever since the historian Frank Herrmann first directed attention to the
important role that the market has played in the changing fashions for
collecting, in his The English as Collectors (1972) (recently republished, in
1999, by Oak Knoll Press), it has become increasingly clear that the market
has been no mere ancillary factor in the history of museums and the
development of their collections. A real interest has recently re-emerged in
questions of the influence of the market on how we understand, consume,
interpret and value objects. These developments can be seen as a part of the
drive for an ever deeper contextualisation that emerged as part of the "New
Museology" in the 1980s. This "market turn", if we can suggest that such a
shift in academic focus is occurring, offers the exciting prospect of a
reinvestigation of the historiography of museums and their collections.
In the history of nearly every museum there has been a significant
engagement with the wider market structures and yet these engagements rarely
feature in the interpretation of the history of the objects as we encounter
them in the modern museum. Indeed, whilst relevant studies have often focused
on the art market, it is increasingly clear that other markets, such as those
pertaining to natural history and specimen collecting, scientific instruments
and the collecting and display of archaeological artefacts, are also part
of the museum’s engagement with market structures. The historiography of
collections illustrates this engagement, reflecting the changing
relationships between curatorial interests and the wider field of
consumption. It is therefore appropriate, given the current academic
interest in the commercial aspects of the history of collections and the wide
range of objects that museums collect, interpret and display, to look anew at
the role played by commerce in museum acquisition practices. Can such an
approach offer a different way of interpreting collecting and the individual
objects in museum collections? Why has the role of the market often been
downplayed, ignored, or even suppressed in museums? Could an approach to
interpretation that includes reference to the market help the visitor to
understand why specific collections have been assembled? This conference
proposal, therefore, focuses on the intersections, the formal and informal
spaces where the market and the museum meet and overlap.

The conference invites papers on themes such as;

-The role of agents and dealers in the development of museum collections.

-The intersections between the market, the museum and evolving discourses; art
history, the history of science and museography/museology.

-The market and its relationship to the role of patronage and philanthropy in
the museum.

-The influence of the market in the history of museum practice; for example
the developing influence of the blockbuster exhibition.

-The role of museums, galleries and heritage in local and national economies;
for example in culturalled economic regeneration.

-The relationship between museums/heritage, the market and evolving national
and international legislation; for example restrictions on the ownership,
movement and circulation of cultural property, such as the Waverley Criteria.

-The relationships between museums/galleries and contemporary commodity
culture.

We invite papers on a wide range of museums, galleries and collections, such
as: fine art; decorative art; natural history; social history; industrial
history; local history; heritage; military history; anthropology and science
collections. (this list is by no means meant to be exhaustive).

We also invite session proposals which map onto the themes listed above. For
example we are hoping to have a session which, due to the location of the
2010 conference, considers the history of museums and the market in Leeds,
1830-1930. Session proposals should include a brief outline of the session
(300 words) as well as three or four abstracts (300 words each) for the
proposed session.

Please send a 300 word abstract for proposed papers to Dr Mark Westgarth and
Dr Abigail Harrison Moore, School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural
Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT.
m.w.westgarthleeds.ac.uk
a.l.mooreleeds.ac.uk

Closing date for papers: 1st February 2010.