A N N U A L R E P O R T - The Ashmolean Museum

Chairman’s Foreword / 5
In parallel with these Plan-related activities, the more traditional museum
functions of acquisitions, educational work, conservation, publications,
exhibitions and loans to other museums were maintained at a high level.
The same applied to our revenue fundraising efforts which in these days
of tight budgets become more important than ever. As with the Plan,
these activities too have required effective leadership from the Director,
Dr Christopher Brown, and to him and all the staff I extend the Board’s
thanks.
The Board’s thanks are also due to the individuals co-opted to strengthen
the Visitors’ committees: Michael Coates and Eric Gabriel on the
Building Committee, Edwin Antill and Professor Antony Hopwood on
the Finance Control Committee, and Frances Jackson on the Fundraising
Committee. I also thank Lord Butler, the Chairman of the Finance
Control Committee, which is still labouring under the difficulties arising
from the University’s accounting systems.
Part of the Ashmolean’s remit from Oxford is to reach much wider
audiences than the University’s own members. At the same time the
Ashmolean is recognised as the world’s best university museum, and we
attach great importance to its university roles in teaching and research. All
our curators are active scholars and I would particularly draw attention to
the research section of this report on p.25. The Ashmolean’s curators also
teach on several of the University’s degree courses, Archaeology, Classics and
Oriental Studies. To this list in October 2004 we added Oxford’s new
undergraduate degree in History of Art which is heavily based on the
Ashmolean’s outstanding collections of sculptures, paintings, prints and
drawings from both the western and oriental traditions.
The Ashmolean is on the cusp of a major transformation. In its new
guise it will more than ever be one of Britain’s finest museums outside
London. Within easy reach of the many millions of people living within
an hour from Oxford, it will become a magnet drawing many more
visitors than in the past, offering an experience to inspire them to keep
returning.
Nicholas Barber, CBE
Chairman