OPINION> EDITORIALS
Managing free museums
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-20 07:41

Upgrading the quality of exhibitions is high on the agenda of museums when 325 more have scrapped admission fees this year, increasing the total number of museums with free entry to 1,332 -- about 77 percent of the total nationwide.

It is absolutely right for such public cultural venues not to charge visitors as they are built and maintained with taxpayers' money. What visitors will learn from more contact with cultural relics exhibited in museums facilitated by free access is something that cannot be measured by money. With all the costs shouldered by allocations from the government, it should not be difficult for these museums to maintain their normal operations. But it will not be easy for them to maintain their appeal to visitors with quality exhibitions all the time.

It is quite natural for some museums to lose their appeal to regular visitors if they do not have exhibition of fresh cultural relics or do not have enough money to keep their cultural relics in good shape. Yet, the reality is that it does need a lot of money to pay the staff working there and even more money to keep the items of cultural heritage in good shape.

It will need even more money if a museum wants to exhibit valuable items on loan from other museums or even abroad. It is still not known whether the government will be able to provide enough financial support for their normal maintenance, before assisting their additional activities to lure visitors.

In fact, there are ways for well-maintained museums to save money or get extra income by holding additional exhibitions. To cultivate regular volunteers to work as guides will help save money by hiring fewer staff members. Shanghai museums have a force of more than 1,000 volunteers, whose contribution have relieved it of the burden of hiring people to work as guides or staff to maintain order, especially when big exhibitions are held.

It is also important to encourage visitors to donate as much money as they can each time they visit a museum. This practice will help visitors to develop the awareness that everyone has an obligation to extend a helping hand to public undertakings whose services are also in their own interest.

Of course, business is important. Developing souvenirs or artistic products relating to their unique cultural heritage will also increase their income, which can then be used to improve the quality of their exhibitions.

The Capital Museum in Beijing successfully held an exhibition displaying the best cultural relics on loan from almost all museums nationwide last year for visitors to appreciate the splendid Chinese culture in different periods of history. This paid exhibition attracted 650,000 visitors over several months. It is a good example of how a museum can strike a balance between its role as a public service undertaking and the conduct of business operations to increase its income for better management and maintenance.

Museums must toe the line when it comes to business. There will be no problem for them to earn some money by holding paid exhibitions or selling souvenirs as long as the income is used for the management of the museums. It will be deviation from the nature of public service for a museum to make money only for the benefit of its employees.

(China Daily 05/20/2009 page8)