To help those aiming to get into the sector, Youth Forum member and current Steering Committee representative Ellie Hartfield [E] recently conducted a group interview with established heritage professionals working at Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum. The group included Bethany, a Managing Curator [B], Ross, Assistant Curator and Marketing Officer [R], and Tabitha, an Education and Outreach Officer [T].
In ‘Interviewing Heritage Professionals Part I‘, their discussion covered advice around the professional pathways into heritage. This week, we share Part II, which gives a glimpse into the group’s thoughts about the future of military museums.
Ellie says: “The Ministry of Defence has significantly reduced their funding for military museums from 2017 all the way to 2030, aiming to completely reduce funding from 69 museums to 37, and planning to fund only one museum per individual British Army Regiment. This has resulted in an extremely tough time for military museums. As a result, they have been forced to reinterpret their collections and implement new ways to support themselves through other avenues. In general, there is also severe underfunding for the arts and culture sector, which has put huge strain on all heritage organisations, but specifically smaller museums.”
Read on for more insights from the interview – and don’t miss out on Ellie’s reflections on the interview themes and findings at the end!
Are Military Museums different from other cultural institutions?
B: “Yes. The biggest elephant in the room and I’ll just get it wide out there, is that we are up against jobs for the boys. We are faced with a legacy of museums being poorly run for at least 40 years, and dealing with current day people working in military museums that shouldn’t be anywhere near working in a military museum. Absolutely not there for the right reasons and absolutely do not understand the fundamental underlying reason as to why museums exist. They just see it as a cash cow, a way to look good out the front, but don’t understand the collection”.
T: “People like that have been in the regiment or the corps, so they have that connection. Whilst we try to portray history in a balanced way, whereas people who are emotionally connected would present stuff in a different way. And the military again is quite contentious”.
B: “They are almost a primary source themselves. They’re actually a historic item themselves, so seeing it as a subject and with an objective point of view is almost impossible as they’re living through it”.
R: You end up butting heads with stubborn attitudes that shouldn’t be around in the modern day. If you look at some of the work that local museums are doing on subjects like decolonisation, in military museums that’s almost like a dirty word, whereas a lot of other arts and heritage organisations are much more willing to approach it”.
What do you think the future of military museums look like? And what steps do you think they need to take to be successful?
T: “I think there will be fewer military museums in the future, just with how funding works, and as the veteran numbers diminish. I think it’s going to be harder. But on the other hand, I think it’s going to be easier being a military museum, because you will have fewer people that are
so emotionally connected. It will be easier presenting the history, maybe 30 years in the future”.
B: “We’re going through a massive transformation, it’s almost like we’ve gone backwards a little bit as funding is going to get withdrawn. Some museums have already closed, collections have been put to sleep. Reinterpretation is being forced on these museums, and I think that if they don’t act now, they will die as a museum and as a collection and history will be lost. However, from our point of view a lot of our sister museums are doing some amazing things”.
R: “There’s a lot to look forward to. It’s heartening seeing more and more young people getting involved, and young people taking up positions of responsibility and I think that is quite exciting”
Ellie’s Reflections:
It is clear that the future of military museums lies within its ability to maintain relevance and connection with its audiences as time moves on from major events like WWI and WWII. There will need to be a shifting focus from static displays to more immersive storytelling, looking at civilian experiences and societal impacts not just the conflicts themselves, which is what the Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum have been working towards in their Redevelopment Project ‘Update25’, focusing on ‘Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage’. And as stated, other military museums as well have started this reinterpretation process and have reinvented themselves in ways that the narrative connects to a wider audience, local connections and family histories. This is and has been a difficult process for many military museums, but also an exciting process to be a part of this change. I think all small museums alike should take advantage of those eager to get into the sector, as this will help significantly in the regeneration of small museums, making them more accessible both through an organisational point of view but also with having wider representation.
Are you a member of the Youth Forum keen to share your thoughts and experiences in a blog post? Send us an email at youthforum@heritagenetwork.org.uk.
