Did museums cause Brexit? Or at least could we have predicted Brexit from our museums' output?
With the imminent withdrawal of the UK from the EU in 2019 (29th March for those wanting to plan a party or, alternatively a wake) and the latest speech from our beloved Prime Minister promoting a typically British compromise of a hard soft Brexit or a soft hard Brexit. Its a bit like a Jaffa Cake that is a week past its sell-by date and not particularly appetising for those wanting either a ginger snap or a buttermilk shortbread.
Who is to blame for this biscuit related mess? Well, museums of course. Let me explain.
As any historian will tell you there are long term causes and immediate ones. For example WWI was caused both by Franz Ferdinand's driver taking a wrong turn in Sarajevo in 1914 AND the emigration of the first homo sapiens out of Africa two million years ago. Obviously some events have a more direct impact than others, so which are the most important? The second point to make is that historians are always wrong. This is made obvious by the fact that no-one is blaming museums for Brexit (or thanking us if you are one of the majority). So here we go.
1. The Industrial Museum
I started work in museums in the 1980s and along with many others was made unemployed almost instantly as Britain changed beyond all recognition. Here's a few statistics. Two million jobs were lost in the first half of that decade, almost all in the north (94%). Obviously this was a long term trend and continued after the Thatcher years, but it was most acute 79-86 and in my view encouraged by the government that didn't seem to care about the consequences. All the new wealth created was concentrated in the south and east of the country. For us northerners our industrial identity (mining, shipbuilding, steel etc.) was removed in a heartbeat. What replaced it? Industrial heritage, industrial museums, living history was the answer for a society still grieving from loss. Worse still the audience for these places was not the same audience who were losing their jobs, their dignity and their identity. Well meaning attempts to engage with these audiences then collapsed after 2010 when museums had hard choices to make and outreach and educational activities were the first to be cut. To add insult to injury these middle class statements of loss were heavily funded by Europe.
2. The Heritage Centre.
As museums we are keen to create safe spaces for debate and understanding the complexity of the world. Multiple perspectives, collaborative curation have reduced the certainty of what a museum is. Historians argue that museum exhibitions are bad history. Curators fire back that they are dealing with a different audience and having more impact than many historians. Primarily the audience deal with is the older person. We are an ageing population, both the audience and volunteers for museums are primarily older. Thus we are engaging them in our cleaned up organised past that they are already nostalgic about. Not just bad history, but an idealised past, a pre-European Union past, a whiter past, a past with less social disintegration. No wonder there is a belief that post Brexit there will be a return to a new world trading empire. Thus not only an idealised past but a nostalgic future. Lets call that the Boris Johnson approach
3. The Immigration Museum.
One of the key drivers of the Brexit vote was immigration. In 1994 the Labour Government opened up UK borders to the new members of the EU. The predicted 10,000 a year immigration was somewhat of an underestimate as immigrants in their hundreds of thousands came to these shores. Good immigration depends on gradual integration, acceptance and adjustment on both sides. It cannot be forced it has to happen organically. Big cities are more used to this and are set up to deal with it in terms of facilities and inhabitant psychology. Other ares haven't had the chance to develop this mindset and the ongoing pressures on schools, NHS etc. see politicians find new scapegoats to blame and easy financial solutions to take back CONTROL. In this maelstrom what do museums do? Let go of control and send the message that we are all migrants and if we came together in safe spaces we would understand and all get on. A hippy message, a subtle message, an inclusive message, that lacked strength, passion and purpose and most importantly an audience that wasn't listening. The inclusivity completely failed to give voice to the fear, anger and disorientation in many areas of the country which would be the starting point of rebuilding hope and self worth, before they were asked THAT question in June 2016.
4. The Battle of Britain Flight
I had a dream that, when WWII disappears from living memory, our national obsession with it would fade with it. Having grown up with adults telling me that they fought in the war for me, with the expectation that I would be somehow grateful, I looked forward to the day when I could tell the younger generation that I curated a museum on their behalf and would witness the sense of wonder and gratitude in their eyes. But...our obsession grows, war weekends are taking over the summer. Every museum feels it must address it in some way. I will relate an experience I had sitting in a pub when England played Germany at football. An England player badly fouled his opponent and there was a cheer and one rather emotional young man said, "That's for Hitler!'. Will we ever develop a grown up relationship with Germany? Or even the idea of Germany? Or will we be forever be morally superior and most importantly, separate. Museums should make a difference, they should help us move on? Or in a new era of sustainability we subsume our ethics for the promotion of stereotypes and myths.
5. The Curation of Complacency
Any discussion I had pre Referendum, had a rhythm to it. It was going to be close but we would never leave. It was unthinkable. We have missed the fact that society is changing fast and we in museums are paddling fast, but are being swept away by a lack of economic sustainability and cultural relevancy. We have the same audience demographic that we had in the 1970s, but I have long since stopped riding my Raleigh Chopper bike, perhaps museums should do the same.
