Theories of the Information Society, Third Edition - Cryptome

INFORMATION AND DEMOCRACY
inclusion of works of art of quality worthy of universal esteem. Moreover, the
great museums, even if bearing an impress of collectors and donors from what
might be seen as a restricted social milieu, also – and enormously – contain
exhibits which do open the mind to new experiences, astound, stimulate and
spark wonder among visitors. In sum the great museums and galleries are
profoundly educative institutions, far removed from ‘ideological propaganda’,
testimony to which are the many recollections of childhood visits – and even
personal transformations – from adults. The biography of a disadvantaged young
man, later the famous author H. G. Wells, who visited the museums in and around
Kensington is well known. When one reflects that in 2003 about 5.5 million
people visited the Natural History and Science museums in South Kensington, it
is hard not to believe that countless others find there ways of expanding their
horizons, investigating issues, building up their knowledge.
If there are identifiable features that suggest some of the qualities of
Habermas’s public sphere, then it has to be said that they have been put under
threat in our museums and galleries in recent years. And how odd it has been
that the attack has come from an allegiance of opposites, an alliance of radicals
and ‘enterprise’ enthusiasts who together charge that these institutions are aristocratic
and out of touch. Something of the flavour of changes can be discovered
in the prevalent language adopted: visitors are now referred to as ‘customers’,
‘corporate business plans’ are routinely created, and measurable ‘performance
indicators’ are at the forefront of attention. Adding to this is hostility to the idea
of state subsidy which, impelled by the strictures of recession during the late
1970s and early 1980s, has meant that museums and galleries have been pressed
to manage diminishing budgets.
A common response has been twofold: introduction of entry charges and
seeking for the sponsor. The first has direct consequences for access (and indirect
effects on exhibits), while the second unavoidably limits the autonomy of
museum and gallery curators. Entry charges were introduced in the mid- to late
1980s in several national museums and galleries such as the V&A, the Science
Museum, the Imperial War Museum and the Natural History Museum. Across
the board declines in attendances were recorded, with falls up to 50 per cent
of the 1980s figures when admission was free. Conversely, the one major museum
to retain a free-entry principle, the British Museum, experienced an unfaltering
increase in visitors until 1996 (when it reached 6.7 million) and remains far and
away the most visited museum in the UK. One does not need to be much of a
sociologist to work out that the drop in attendances came disproportionately from
the poorer and otherwise disadvantaged sectors of society (those, incidentally,
which require most encouragement to visit in the first place since the ambience
is off-putting to them). Fortunately, admission charges were dropped in 2001,
after vigorous campaigns and the crucial support of sympathetic government
ministers. Succeeding years saw 75 per cent increases in visitors to Britain’s once
more free museums and art galleries (Kennedy, 2004).
Sponsors have been the other favoured source of funding pursued to make
up for government shortfalls. Unfortunately, museums and galleries are less
appealing to today’s sponsor than the live arts (which in turn are dwarfed by
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