Stephen
Lifetime Member
Still collecting.......
Posts: 2,718
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Post by Stephen on Mar 11, 2016 14:21:46 GMT -5
In the news today, it looks like the move many years ago to Bradford, from London, of the National Photographic collection is beginning to come apart. The Museum changed it's name to a Media Centre a couple of years ago, but visitors numbers have fallen away dramatically, and parts of the Photo collection are to be returned to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Lots of the collection like the Baird TV equipment is not on display, only in store, and many film items are now storage only, and only available to researchers.
Millions were spent on the pointless move north, equivalent in the US to moving the Smithsonian to the north of say, Nevada, nice for those there of course. It's only asset is a fully equipped Imax cinema, but it is not enough to justify a trip from the south just to visit the Museum.
I suspect the rest of it will return to London but will be split up. The John Logie Baird television items are priceless and include his experimental colour TV from the mid 1930's and his last designs for a 3D colour set, once thought to never have been built, but they found all the parts in the Baird collection. One would think that the inventors world beating early 1920's TV items would be properly displayed, after all Philo Farnsworth's early 1930's electronic TV items are now properly displayed in the Smithsonian.
I hope they do not break up the collection, but find one home for it in London, maybe in the Docklands development area.
Stephen
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Post by Rachel on Mar 12, 2016 5:33:21 GMT -5
Perhaps the change of name did not help. Trying to be trendy I suppose with words like Media? I suppose the aim has been to make things less London orientated by moving museums and government offices and probably other things out of London. However London is still the easiest place to visit from most parts of the country even if it is a long journey from the North of England and Scotland. Having said that I live about 100 miles from London with easy rail access to London but I've not visited there for a long long time. Unfortunately so many museums have most of their collections in store. It has been to some extent, I think, a consequence of modern ideas of display with more emphasis on interactive and child/family friendly layouts. While it's important to make museums more attractive it shouldn't be at the expense of exhibits. Sorry for the rant
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Post by camfiend on Mar 12, 2016 7:54:17 GMT -5
Thats the beauty of being a senior.. ranting is allowed.. in fact encouraged
Bob
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mickeyobe
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Resident President
Posts: 7,280
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Post by mickeyobe on Mar 13, 2016 3:33:51 GMT -5
Perhaps the change of name did not help. Trying to be trendy I suppose with words like Media? I suppose the aim has been to make things less London orientated by moving museums and government offices and probably other things out of London. However London is still the easiest place to visit from most parts of the country even if it is a long journey from the North of England and Scotland. Having said that I live about 100 miles from London with easy rail access to London but I've not visited there for a long long time. Unfortunately so many museums have most of their collections in store. It has been to some extent, I think, a consequence of modern ideas of display with more emphasis on interactive and child/family friendly layouts. While it's important to make museums more attractive it shouldn't be at the expense of exhibits. Sorry for the rant Rachel, It is much better to have those irreplaceable treasures stored safely away than it is to keep them displayed where destructive forces can obliterate them forever as has happened so often in the past decade. Mickey
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Post by Rachel on Mar 13, 2016 5:33:43 GMT -5
Thanks Bob and Mickey Maybe you are right Mickey [sigh]. I heard of a case recently where some low life tried to steal a rhino head from a museum display to get the horn which was quite valuable to dubious medicine makers.
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mickeyobe
Lifetime Member
Resident President
Posts: 7,280
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Post by mickeyobe on Mar 13, 2016 7:32:51 GMT -5
Thats the beauty of being a senior.. ranting is allowed.. in fact encouraged Bob May I please have that in writing? Mickey
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