As a new decade begins, Scotland’s museums and galleries have big plans to further their innovative work in creating meaningful experiences and spaces for their communities and visitors to explore, and those managed by Culture Perth and Kinross are no exception…
2020 brings good news for Culture Perth and Kinross as the cultural trust is one of nine organisations to be awarded funding from Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS), the national development body for Scotland’s museums.
Today MGS has announced that the projects will be supported through a share of over £300k of funding from the Museum Development Fund. This funding will support ambitious redevelopment, international partnership projects, and the preservation of important collections for the next generation.
The projects range from celebrating local family history through the refurbishment of a resource centre in Nairn Museum to creating meaningful international relationships through connecting David Livingstone Birthplace with organisations in Malawi, Botswana and Zambia. Future innovation will be at the forefront of a new interactive and immersive gallery space exploring robotics in surgery at The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. The range of the funded projects highlights the diversity of objects and stories in the care of Scotland’s museums and galleries.
Lucy Casot, CEO of Museums Galleries Scotland said:
“We are delighted to support museums and galleries in Scotland to continue their ambitious approach to making the fascinating collections in their care accessible to everyone. The nine funded projects are looking to the future to create museums that are relevant and responsive to their communities and visitors. Many of the museums are using the grant to strengthen their position in these changing times through developing their financial sustainability, increasing use of digital technology in exhibitions, and creating peer to peer learning opportunities.”
Gillian Findlay, Interim Head of Museums and Collections said:
“This award is extremely good news and a great way to start 2020! The funding enables the team at Culture Perth and Kinross to progress vital conservation work on many of the key exhibits destined for display in the new City Hall Museum. We can now commission specialists with experience in conserving archaeological, social history and world cultures materials, to work closely with us on Perth and Kinross’ fabulous museum collections which are not just of local significance, but of national and international importance. We are very grateful to Museums Galleries Scotland for their ongoing support and look forward to sharing the results of this major investment with local residents and visitors to the City when the Museum opens its doors a few years from now.”
Culture Perth and Kinross receives over £59,000 to conserve more than 450 objects from the region’s Nationally Significant Collections of unique archaeological, social history and world cultures material. These items tell the story of Perthshire and its people at home and abroad, from the earliest times to the present day. The objects will be conserved before many of them go on display in the new permanent galleries at City Hall Museum.
MGS has recently announced changes to their grants programme in order to further support museums and galleries through removing barriers for funding projects.