Society Needs Museums More Than Ever

'Society needs us [museums] more than ever' was the opening rallying cry by David Anderson, President of the UK Museums Association, at the annual conference in Cardiff. It might be argued that it is rather the case that museums need society more than ever, but that would slightly disloyal to the call to arms of the MA's 'museums change lives' agenda. However what there was a complete lack of was debate over the deeper question at issue here. What is society?

A certain female UK Prime Minister famously asserted that there was no such thing as society. She, probably unwittingly, agreed with Oscar Wilde who is quoted as saying,

'Society only exists as a mental concept; in the real world there are only individuals'.

Although Margaret Thatcher wasn't known for her wit what a different world it could have been if Thatcher had been a late 19th century playwright and Wilde a late 20th century Prime Minister. I would shudder at her version of Lady Windermere's Fan,

"You are all worthy of the gutter and some of us are looking at the cost of all those stars", 

but rather enjoy Wilde's performances at Prime Minister's Question Time,

"May I say to the Honourable Gentleman for Croydon North that where there is vulgarity, may I bring wit. Where there is certainty, may I bring incomprehensibility. Where there is merely talent, may I bring genius. And where there is temptation, may I bring a complete lack of resistance." 

I profess I don't agree with Wilde and Thatcher (don't they sound like a micro brewery?) as I believe us to be social animals, I am not an individual, society is to blame for what I do (still not a good defence in front of the local Magistrate). I find myself agreeing with the anonymous man at the end of this scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian,

Brian: "You don't NEED to follow ME, You don't NEED to follow ANYBODY! You've got to think for your selves! You're ALL individuals!"

The Crowd: "Yes! We're all individuals!"

Brian: "You're all different!"

The Crowd: "Yes, we ARE all different!"

Man in crowd: "I'm not..."

I'm in the Mahatma Gandhi camp, not only is man a social being, but that interdependence ought to be an ideal of humanity. Yes, I hear you shouting, but what does this all mean for museums? It may surprise you that Gandhi is not famous for his musings about museums, but his point about interdependence does have some meaning for museums as well as society in general. 

If you take the point of view that there is such a thing as society and that museums should reflect society, be part of society, and be the repository of society's material culture - you could make the argument that conceptually museums are synonymous with society. Logic then dictates that every quote about society is a form of meta language about museums themselves - so all we need to do is swap the word 'society' for the word 'museum' and a profound understanding is then achieved. 

Suddenly, Margaret Thatcher's quote becomes very chilling, 

"There is no such thing as a museum." 

This revised quote instantly reveals and articulates the barrenness of right wing political thinking about culture in one simple sentence. What about something more positive? Try Henrik Ibsen, 

"The spirit of truth and the spirit of freedom - these are the pillars of museums." Inspiring.  

What about something closer to reality? How about the Spanish philosopher George Santayana,

 "Museums are like the air, necessary to breathe but insufficient to live on." Hmmm. 

I believe museums are as necessary to the existence of a meaningful society as air, but clearly humanity and curators in particular cannot live on air alone. What will make both society and museums sustainable? That is THE question of the 21st century for society as a whole, and for future Museums Association conference debates. I'll leave the last word to the Princeton Academic, Robert Gutman, 

“Every profession bears the responsibility to understand the circumstances that enable its existence.”

Let THAT be the theme for MA discussion in Birmingham 2015, by which time the UK will have has a General Election. Elections may bring uncertainty, but in the meantime let us rejoice in being able to follow our vocation in a free and democratic society and make sure we exercise our right to vote. How important are elections? Very - according to one 16 year old answering that question in a test in Springdale, Arkansas - 'because sex can only happen when a male gets an election'. 

BRING ON MAY 2015!