Ten Reasons To Visit A Museum

Last week's blog giving you reasons not to visit museums hasn't seen an appreciable drop in visitor numbers to the museums, but and appreciable increase in professional disgruntlement with me. So by way of reasoned balance I thought I would give ten reasons why you should visit a museum. I suppose I shouldn't expect a large increase in visitor numbers as a result. I'm beginning to get the feeling my blog isn't as influential as I thought. Anyway, down to business.

1. Museums are Free! Or at worst a very cheap day out

Do you need a cultural fix? How about La Traviata at the Royal Opera House? That can set you back £200 for a couple of hours being shrieked at by a big boned woman dressed in a tent. What about something more downmarket? How about the latest Star Wars film in 3D. That is a much more comfortable at £14.50 to see how Harrison Ford's arthritis is getting on for a couple of hours.  NO! Pop up the road to the British Museum to see the greatest collection of art and artefacts that human ingenuity has ever created. All for free. Yes there are some objects even older than Harrison Ford, or even bigger than your average soprano. Even better - your experience is not time limited, you can spend all day there and go back the next day and the day after that. In what other universe can you get the best of something for free? Go now before the British Museum has to hand it all back.

Alas some museums are forced to charge nowadays. Yet they are still incredibly cheap. Even the National Trust properties are cheaper than a west end cinema ticket, the visits last 4 times longer and you'll probably leave smelling of lavender.

Value for money? Abso-bloody-lutely! Visit now before museums get wise and actually charge what they are actually worth. 

2. You can talk in Museums

Unlike me you probably go to the movies, or the opera, or the theatre in a social group. But what can you do in a museum that you can't in La Traviata or Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Need a clue? Talk, socialise and otherwise interact with your fellow human beings. Try clearing your throat during a classical concert let alone debate how inspired Mozart's basso continuo is in the recitative. In the first instance your companion will shift slightly uncomfortably in the second he/she will be calling for you to be thrown out. Now go to the Tate Modern and see Alexander Calder's performing sculpture (on until 3rd April 2016) and now discuss your thoughts as to how his work reveals by what means motion, performance and theatricality underpinned his artistic vision. Your companion will nod appreciatively, say it more loudly and large numbers of Japanese tourists will start following you. The point is, a museum is a social space, a place for debate, a place for normal human beings to interact and enjoy one another's company (I naturally exclude Historic England's horrid audio tours of their archaeological sites from this) in a safe environment. Visit a museum this weekend and reinforce your social network.

3. Museums make you happy

An experience = a memory. Being lost on the Yorkshire Moors in the fog and freezing rain is a bad memory I try to forget. Standing in front of the Antioch Chalice in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is an experience I will never want to forget. It is a memory for life. That memory will be an eternal pleasure. We also treasure accomplishments, they give us deeper personal meaning. Objects interpreted in museums challenge our ideas of beauty, culture and life. They can affirm and reaffirm and add to a meaningful sense of our identity. 

All of this can be had for less than the price of a three pack of pants from Marks and Spencer, and my pants add significantly less meaning to my life. 

I'm even smiling now at the memory (of the chalice not my pants). Do that exercise now and I guarantee you will smile. Visit a museum this weekend and give yourself more reasons to smile.

4. Museums are the memories of society

When the Egyptians learned to communicate through writing, they chose hieroglyphs That knowledge was lost for 1000 years and even nowadays only professional Egyptologists have a working knowledge of the language. Yet even the youngest school child can access Egyptian culture through the objects. Writing has limited access, objects have a universal language made accessible through museums. Museums are not archives and they are not books. Museums objects are the portals into other worlds, other cultures or even our own past. Thematic museums are the time machines to greater knowledge and understanding of history and of society. No previous education needed. That is why, unlike any other medium, museums are the most crucial of our cultural institutions. Without museums society will be infected with cultural Alzheimers. Visit your local museum now and ease the strain on the NHS.

5. Museums are a key part of Britain's rich heritage

If you live in a city you will be very close to a museum, and probably around the corner from an ancient monument, next door to a listed building and you may even allow your dog to poop in a registered park or garden. If you live in a town or village you will probably be in a conservation area and near a heritage centre, picnic area or preserved Mark 4 telephone box.  If you live in a rural area you might already be trespassing on National Trust land. You'll certainly be near a National Park, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a cycle route and a public footpath. Your local railway line is probably steam powered. All these riches have been preserved to make the country we live in a uniquely rich historic environment. In other words, all this makes Britain a better place to live. Because we have so much heritage it is easy to let things go in piecemeal fashion. This is the fate of museums at the moment. Yet they provide the key storage and interpretation of humanity's material culture that cannot be kept elsewhere. It is done locally, regionally and nationally. Have I mentioned most of them are free? So visit a museum and keep Britain being Britain.

6. Museums make money for the economy 

L ets get down to brass tacks and talk in terms that politicians can understand. What is the point of culture? More specifically what is the point of heritage? Why should it be supported through taxation? How about: £26.4bn contribution to the economy (2011 figures)' that is £6bn more than sport does and accounts for 2% of GDP (agriculture is only 1%). It should be noted that curators are paid significantly less than premiership footballers (I would be very happy if this error was rectified). Over 393,000 jobs are directly created and a total of 69 million day visits are made to heritage sites with 62p of every £1 spent going into the local economy. So visit a museum today and keep me in a job. Also petition your local councillor if they are threatening to close your museum. The cost to the economy and the community will be dearer than the savings made.

7. Museums are fun

Whisper it quietly but go to your local museum and you might be in danger of having fun. That fun is multilayered. There can be tranquil spaces for rest and contemplation from the hustle and bustle of the Twenty First Century.  Next door there may be loud spaces full of noise and laughter and creativity. Interactive spaces for family learning. A cafe for discussion and reflection. An increasing choice of interpretive tools are now at your disposal. You can take photos, selfies might even be encouraged. Your opinion will be valued. If you haven't visited since you were a schoolchild 40 years ago you will be shocked that museums 'ain't what they used to be'.

8. Museums enrich your knowledge

Do you want to make more of a contribution to your pub quiz team? Visit a museum. Studies show that longer term recall of a learning experience happens in a museum. Longer than any other method of consumption. Its the unique experience, the kinaesthetic interaction with people and objects, the dramatic location all mean the learning is more deeply embedded in your brain. Add the learning to the pleasant memories that you will have and not only will you become your pub quiz team star, you'll have a smile on your face when doing it.

9. There is a museum for every subject and every taste

I have blogged before about the breadth of museums that populate our small planet. If you have an interest in pens and pencils you will be spoilt for choice. Baked beans, toilet seats, dog collars, soil - you name it there is a museum with your name on it. If you are interested in sex you can get as much museum action as you want (and reasonably priced too). If you like fast cars, slow cars, buses, trains, trams, traction engines, fire engines, ambulances, police cars, tractors, bicycles, or carriages you don't have to travel far. Name an industry and there will be a museum for it. Think of a famous person and you'll find a museum. Think of a range of fictional people and you'll find a museum for them. Just go to platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross for the train to 221B Baker Street. If you have an interest in anything there will be someone out there in the world waiting for you to visit and join them. Visit your museum this weekend and begin volunteering with like minded people.

10. Museums host great events

If you cannot escape the shackles of weekend retail therapy, then there will be an alternative available to you at a museum. Weekends would never be the same without antique fairs, classic car shows, historical re-enactments, nature trails, Easter egg hunts, teddy bear picnics, craft events, open air theatre, war weekends, sleepovers, behind the scenes tours, beer festivals, cinema nights, Christmas markets etc. etc. The list is as endless as the imagination of museum staff and volunteers. An astounding level of commitment and creativity is going on across the nation on a weekly basis. Meadowhall, Lakeside, Bluewater pah! A cheaper and more fun time is to be had at your local museum - remember reason number 1? You will have an experience you won't forget and you'll still have some money left to feed your children.

So there it is, some compelling reasons why museums are good for you, regardless of whether you visit or not. But even better for you if you do visit. So make the effort and go along this weekend and regularly thereafter. Your life will change for the better, society will be happier and you will have helped guarantee the existence of an important cultural institution for a little bit longer.

Happy visiting!