tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35183976.post4044650657782512511..comments2023-10-26T06:35:55.278-05:00Comments on Illicit Cultural Property: Navigating the Deaccessioning CrisisAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00815004368881797395noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35183976.post-1426159553071037382009-09-10T11:00:22.413-05:002009-09-10T11:00:22.413-05:00"Current guidelines require that deaccession ..."Current guidelines require that deaccession proceeds be used only to purchase more art"<br /><br />I'm curious about this. The AAM Code of Ethics states funds should be used for further acquisition OR for the "direct care of collections." As a history museum curator, I always believed that any proceeds made from auctioning off parts of the permanent collection would/should be used to go back into preservation of the collections (and in the museums where I've worked and interned, we had no money to purchase items). Is this an art museum practice only to use that money for purchasing more objects? <br /><br />When you say the limitation on how these funds are used should be lifted, do you think the funds should be used for anything in the museum's budget--operational and salary expenses, etc.? <br /><br />I do think funds from deaccessioning should continue to be restricted for preservation/collections care. Whether that means helping to pay for a new HVAC system or keeping a registrar or other collections position working--or buying new items for the collection--is a narrower part of that question and could perhaps lead to further ethical questions.<br /><br />Concerning selling items to another museum or institution in the public trust before putting them up for public auction--again, I've always been taught that that is the best practice. You offer items you wish to dispose of because they no longer fit your institution's collections to other institutions; it's the same courtesy when being offered something that doesn't fit your institution's collections. You suggest the potential donor ask that other institution whether they would want it. Where I worked we didn't always follow that practice, but we tried. Again, though, I've worked in history museums, not art museums.<br /><br />-Marcella W.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com