Tate’s National Photographic archive ‘rescued from skip’ after internal tipoff - An art charity saved the crucial collection after employee’s call, but another archive was dumped by the V&A
This article reveals how the Tate (UK’s museum collection of British art) had secret intentions of tossing out photographic research archives that the museum felt was no longer valuable research material. Fortunately, an unnamed employee from the Tate calls Brian Allen, director of the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art (UK educational charity), to inform him of the disposal of the archives: “Someone said...you might like the curatorial photo archive because we’re about to throw it on to a skip.” During the removal process, Allen found confidential material and sensitive documents that he asked the Tate to take back. The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) had no such savior - all archives were dumbed. Although the Tate or the V&A may not have found these archives to be of value to their museums, it does not mean it would be invaluable to any other art museums, educational institutions, scholars, etc. had they just asked.
How does this relate to technology, you may ask? Well, with all the technological advancements that have been made in the twenty-first century, it makes me wonder whether we need a platform in which professional organizations can exchange information. As opposed to tossing out information in which no one will ever have access to again. An idea may be to create a secured website or web-based collections software that is linked to a community of trusted museums, educational institutions and scholars who would subscribe to such a resource. Sure investing in such a platform, if it even exists, takes time, money and human-resources, but wouldn’t it be worth it for future generations?
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