Examining Local Museum Policy and Practice: a Case Study of the Renaissance in the Regions, UK

• Main Authors: Lin, HUI-JU, 林慧如
• Other Authors: 張譽騰
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/28161511535217813153

碩士 === 國立臺南藝術大學 === 博物館學研究所 === 97 === Thanks to the advocacy and support of the central government in the past six years (2002-2007), local museums in Taiwan had not only mushroomed in number, but also taken roots in communities. While their existences facilitated the preservation and presentation of the rich cultural diversity on the island, many of them were lack of adequate funds, professional workforce and operational capacity. The second phase of the local museum plan, is intending to map together individual museums into a contextual cultural district, commenced earlier this year (2008). At this turning point, this dissertation attempts to take a holistic viewpoint to analyze the formation of local museum policies in different countries in order to further review and reflect upon Taiwan’s own future. In 2002, the UK launched the Regional Renaissance Programme to directly help out its long-suffering local museums. It is the first of its kind in terms of central government stepping in to systematically provide funding for non-national museums, and the objectives are clear: improving the fragmented infrastructure, leadership vacuum and lack of capacity. Because of its scale and unprecedented nature, it merits an in-depth investigation and makes a suitable candidate for our comparison study. I will first discuss the cultural administration, the emergence and the development of the local museums in the U.K.. I will then proceed to examine the Renaissance policy framework, and use West Midlands region as an example to explore the policy implementation and outcome. The scenarios between the U.K. and Taiwan are not entirely the same, but it is hoped that this study will shed new lights on local museum policy. Based on the research results, I suggest that for Taiwan’s local museums to grow, we may focus on: 1. Build a strong local network and reinforce the role of regional museum societies as a hub to draw closer the members and exert a collective impact; 2. Continue educating museum professionals to meet the needs of the sector; 3. Lobby the central government to create a strategic approach and policy for the sustainable development of local museums.