There is another side to the V&A story. Only three weeks ago they opened a set of ten new medieval and Renaissance galleries at a cost of -L-31 million. The new galleries have garnered fantastic reviews - here's just one example:
[1]http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/nov/30/victoria-and-albert-mu seum-galleries The Guardian points out that this is the first time that many of the objects have been on permanent display, and that others have been in storage for decades. This is a serious issue for museums: too many possessions, not enough space. So they have to make agonising choices about what to display, which can change from time to time. And the new galleries do have a fantastic collection of works: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello.... And this is apparently only the first phase of a -L-120 million redisplay of the whole museum, which should be welcomed whole-heartedly. As for the musical instruments, I fervently hope that they do remain on public display (or should that be 'return to'?) by one means or another. Has there been any reaction from the Horniman museum (etc) about this golden opportunity for them? Peter 2009/12/16 stuart <[2]stuart.mcluc...@blueyonder.co.uk> I recently spent a few hours in the music section of the Deutsches National Museum in Nurnberg. I was last there about 10 years ago and the display is just as good / perhaps better. Nurnberg is not a rich city (e.g. compared to Frankfurt or London). I guess the people who make such decisions in the V&A must be quite ignorant. Cheers - Stuart McLuckie To get on or off this list see list information at [3]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- Peter Martin Belle Serre La Caulie 81100 Castres France tel: 0033 5 63 35 68 46 mob: 0044 7971 232614 e: [4]peter.l...@gmail.com [5]www.silvius.co.uk [6]www.myspace.com/absolute81 (audio and video) -- References 1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/nov/30/victoria-and-albert-museum-galleries 2. mailto:stuart.mcluc...@blueyonder.co.uk 3. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 4. mailto:peter.l...@gmail.com 5. http://www.silvius.co.uk/ 6. http://www.myspace.com/absolute81
