National Museums Scotland has launched its new National Strategy, strengthening its approach to working nationally with a commitment to taking more of the collections beyond the walls of the National Museums, engaging and inspiring audiences and sharing skills and expertise nationwide.
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs gave her support to the launch at a conference attended by senior staff from across the museums and heritage sector.
Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop said:
“National Museums Scotland can only be truly national if it helps and leads museum activity right across Scotland and this new Strategy will help drive that forward.
“The new touring opportunities which will see the sharing of national treasures at museums across Scotland will help inspire visitors and is a step-change in the role of National Museums Scotland as a national institution.”
National Museums Scotland is already a key part of Scotland’s wider heritage and cultural ecosystem, reaching communities across Scotland in a range of ways.
The new National Strategy prioritises activity which will deliver the greatest benefits to people and places across the country, including increased national touring of exhibitions, local capacity building through partnership working, strategic loans, and developing its leadership of, and support for, nationwide projects.
National Museums Scotland today launched its new National Strategy, strengthening its approach to working nationally with a commitment to taking more of the collections beyond the walls of the National Museums, engaging and inspiring audiences and sharing skills and expertise nationwide.
Image Caption: Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop and Dr Gordon Rintoul, Director of National Museums Scotland examine an Early Medieval massive silver chain from Torvean, near Inverness, AD 400-600. The silver chain will feature in the forth coming national touring exhibition, Scotland’s Early Silver.
The Cabinet Secretary was at the National Museum of Scotland for the launch of National Museums ScotlandÕs National Strategy, Across Scotland.
Neil Hanna Photography
www.neilhannaphotography.co.uk
07702 246823
Dr Gordon Rintoul, Director of National Museums Scotland said,
“We will build upon an already strong track record of sharing the riches of the national collections beyond our walls and supporting the museum sector across the length and breadth of Scotland. We will collaborate with many organisations and communities across the country, sharing skills and expertise to ensure the impact of our collections and programmes is felt as widely as possible.”
Specific commitments in the strategy include:
- annual touring of exhibitions created at the National Museum of Scotland, starting in autumn 2016/17 with Fossil Hunters: Unearthing the Mystery of Life on Land, and continuing in 2017/18 with Scotland’s Early Silver which draws on new findings from the Glenmorangie Research Project
- a strategic programme of object loans to museums across the country, supporting local and regional collections with objects from the national collections
- the development of large-scale national projects to build the impact of work beyond museum walls, such as the Get Energised schools programme, supported by the Scottish Power Foundation.
- a programme of free training opportunities for museum staff from across Scotland, including formal training, subject networks, work placements, and the production of guidance materials to share collection expertise, experience and skills across all areas of museum practice
- the development of innovative digital content and the use of digital channels to engage and inspire new audiences.
- administration of the £150,000 per annum National Fund for Acquisitions, on behalf of the Scottish Government, in support of acquisitions for collections across Scottish museums
Alongside the launch of the Strategy, two new digital apps were released for the first time.
Developed to share the collections and stories gathered by National Museums Scotland and other Scottish museums as part of the Next of Kin First World War Centenary project, users can now download them via the Next of Kin website
www.nms.ac.uk/national-international/sharing-collections/touring-and-lending/next-of-kin/resources and the National Museums Scotland website www.nms.ac.uk/national-museum-of-scotland/discover-the-museum/museum-on-your-mobile/
Photos by Neil Hanna Photography
www.neilhannaphotography.co.uk
07702 246823
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