White paper on creativity - ebla center

Chapter 11obvious example is the USA and thekind of tax incentive system developedin a country in which patronage,donations and volunteer work are keyelements in the institutional system. InItaly the situation is different. I believethat what is more significant is thepsychological incentive that ourmuseums seem unable to handle. Whathas a greater value, a bronze bust or aplaque in the museum or a 19%reduction in tax due or other deductionsof cultural contributions from income?Effects on museum managementAs some sceptics of free admission haverightly pointed out the positive effectsof increases in visitors tend to disappearafter a year or so. I believe this accurateobservation must be interpreted asfollows: visitors are initially attracted bythe free admission, but then they maynot return to the museum if theexperience of the visit has turned out tobe disappointing. In other words, theflow comes to a halt and settles at theusual historic figures, if the museumdoes not improve the quality of itsexhibits, services and exhibitions. If it isboring, why return?If funding is performance-related, thengood management and production oftemporary exhibitions, for whichadmission is justifiably charged, becomemore important. Tickets constitute aprimary source of income and pay forresources. But this no longer means justone or two scanty exhibitions a year, butfour or six thematic exhibitions ofvarying quality and size to capture newvisitors at all times. Performance-relatedfunding will thus encourage theproduction of more temporaryexhibitions.Congestion and compulsory bookingFor the major museums, free admissionand voluntary contributions could turnout to be a boomerang, especiallybecause of the costs of congestion. Achange in this direction couldexacerbate the dramatic visitor pressureon the usual exceptional places of artand culture.As the economists say, entrances mustin some way be “rationed”. There arenot many ways to do so: either the costof admission is increased, but here weare suggesting free admission, or wemust be reconciled to queues due todemand in excess of the supply capacity.There is another less invasive and lesscostly possibility for rationalising visitorflows: compulsory booking. This is akind of queue, but has the advantagethat it can be managed a good deal inadvance. Moreover, visitors-tourists canbe spread out over longer periods, thusfavouring smoother tourist take-up alsoin other sectors such as the hotelindustry. Lastly, when faced with alengthy wait, tourists could be induced –through a dedicated awareness andinformation campaign – to organisetheir itineraries by choosing to visit theso-called minor museums, which areoften only minor in name.WHITE PAPER ON CREATIVITY 272