DEBATE: Should museums and galleries consider auctioning off items to stay afloat?

Anita Choudhrie, philanthropist and founder of Stellar International Art Foundation, says YES

UK museums have long been reticent about deaccessioning. 

Ethical codes for British museums and galleries state that items should be retained within the public domain, but that in exceptional circumstances sales can occur, provided that proceeds are used to benefit the collection. 

No one can deny that the present circumstances are indeed exceptional.

The Royal Academy, faced with an £8m shortfall and huge job losses, has sparked huge public backlash for reportedly considering selling Michelangelo’s Tondo. Most people agree that this is not the answer — this culturally significant piece should remain accessible to the public in this world-famous gallery. 

However, there are situations in which selling some items is appropriate. Small museums and galleries which were struggling financially before the pandemic even began are facing annihilation after months of forced closures and strict social distancing rules. 

Sales of collection items to save staff from redundancy and keep institutions afloat should not be demonised. Is it not better for a small number of sales to be made than for an entire collection to be lost to the abyss? 

If done in a clear, transparent and considered way, selling pieces can be a lifeline for the museum and arts sector.

Dominic Selwood, a barrister and historian, says NO

Public museums and galleries do not own art. They hold it in trust for the people of the nation. Their art is everyone’s, and their founders amassed it for the public to appreciate human creativity. 

As parliament explained when establishing the British Museum, the galleries were to be made freely available “to all studious and curious Persons”.

Suppose parliament changed its mind now and allowed the collections to be sold off? Which items should be offloaded? The masterpieces to raise most money? The unfashionable tat to clean out the cupboards? Who would decide? And what if fashions changed in a generation? 

Either way, the result would be the disappearance of the nation’s heritage into private collections, where few would see it, and even fewer would have the expertise to conserve it properly.

And ultimately, when the collections are depleted, the public will be charged £50 entrance for a family of four, as at Westminster Abbey today. If museums and galleries are struggling, the answer is not to empty them out. It is for everyone to visit them more.

Main image credit: Getty