Tricky: A new museum for Birmingham?

The question posed by Matt Price in a recent Guardian article asking ‘Does England really need another contemporary art museum?’ has put me in quite a difficult position, especially as the proposed location for said museum is in Birmingham, my home turf. The project, being led by the Director at Ikon, Jonathan Watkins, is to build a new museum for art that is no more than 9 years old (it would show only pieces made in the 21st Century). It is a somewhat exciting and problematic proposal. On the one hand it would be fantastic for Birmingham to have such an internationally important collection of contemporary art. It would generate a tourist trade, create more jobs (especially in the creative industries), ideally provide opportunities for recent graduates and allow Brummies to experience first hand some amazing pieces of art. Eastside Projects are already aspiring to do exactly this but the new museum would have a much larger potential audience due to their bigger budget and potentially massive marketing campaigns.

But by establishing the new museum will other established organisations have to incur massive funding cuts to release money so the city can realise this monumental project?

Watkins recently spoke at Art of Ideas II, regarding his Museum for the 21st Century and I must say he had me fairly convinced. He spoke eloquently and ardently about the project and made me think for a moment that this is what Birmingham is missing, an idea heavily backed up by Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery's (BMAG) Head of Museum and Heritage Services, Rita McLean. Her arguments for this new museum didn’t stop the audience from asking some fairly cutting questions. For example, ‘exactly why does Birmingham need this when we already have a fairly dull Museum and Art Gallery that would welcome a facelift, on every level, costing less money than will be needed to create another Museum of Art?’ She could not answer directly, instead she stated she thought this was an unfair comment – unfair for her perhaps, but very true and believed by the majority of Birmingham residents.

Charlie Levine (curator) and Will Clifford (artist) HANDLE WITH CARE, 2009

On further reflection thoughts have crossed my mind, and some of those are echoed in Matt Price’s article, and they oppose Jonathan’s proposal. Specifically I’m thinking about his comments on the big contemporary art galleries in the UK (Baltic, Arnolfini and Milton Keynes Gallery (MKG) for example) not owning much, if any, of the pieces they show. As Matt writes ‘public collections of contemporary art around England simply aren't as good as they should be'. This is something Arts Council England acknowledged in a report in 2006. But Matt suggests that there are other galleries and museums in the West Midlands region that have existing specialised collections that have the potential to grow in terms of a national/international standing, like Wolverhampton Art Gallery? Or those like BMAG that need an injection into their funding to re-establish themselves as relevant and needed within the city? As Teresa Gleadowe commented at Art of Ideas II - there are places for archives and collections like those found at BMAG, particularly for educational and inspirational reasons, so is building a new Museum the answer? What about investing in what we have rather than ignoring it?

This then leads me to ask: what about local emerging artists, shouldn’t local authorities invest in these artists more to create a successful and supportive art economy?. Could Birmingham become a place that can actually retain its creative networks rather than have them disperse repeatedly to other cities around the UK? Will the new museum be another example of Nottingham Contemporary eating up the funding of the more independent, artist-led initiatives in the East Midlands?

Then there is the very relevant question for everyone, does BMAG actually need it? Is this a project to further fuel the ego of a bored Director or will it actually boost Birmingham’s economy and strengthen its cultural standing? Is it going to be yet another Tate franchise seemingly altering the perceived culturally flat landscape of Birmingham? Should we be investing more in the independents, like Springhill Institute, Friction Arts and Grand Union, rather than attempting another project open to massive ridicule and failure like The Public? A project that will take a long time for people to forgive and forget about, locally as well as nationally.

Perhaps there is a silver lining though - at least BMAG is thinking of buying art works, unlike Southampton's museum and its troubling need to sell works from their museum collection to find the additional £5m needed to build a heritage centre. If museums and galleries are being pushed to this extreme level of seeking extra cash there is the possibility that Birmingham may also have to resort to this, eventually, to realise its Museum of 21st Century Art.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Ikon
Baltic
BMAG
Eastside
Arnolfini
Milton Keynes Gallery
Wolverhampton Art Gallery
Springhill Institute
Friction Arts
The Public

Charlie Levine on Axis