Roald Dahl Museum
Hello MuseumPeople!
There has been a bit of a kerfuffle over the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre's campaign to save the garden hut where the author wrote his stories. The hut and its contents have been untouched since his death 21 years ago, and is now in a state of disrepair. The campaign hopes to raise £500,000 to move it to the Museum where the contents can be conserved and displayed.
Sadly for the Museum, it's all gone horribly wrong.
Here's the original radio programme link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9589000/9589401.stm and for those of you outside the UK, a report from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14896735. It generated so many complaints to the BBC that the radio show interviewed the Museum director later on to have her answer some of the criticisms.
The campaign's spokeswoman is none other than Dahl's millionaire granddaughter Sophie, model and TV presenter and wife of successful jazz musician Jamie Cullum. Roald Dahl's books are still in copyright and have been turned into hugely successful films in recent years. The general feeling amongst the public is that the family and estate could and should cover the costs if it is so important to them. The campaign has also not articulated terribly well what the £500,000 is for, and is now struggling to explain over the outrage why conservation is so expensive. There are lots of comments that it's a lot of money to hire a man with a van and buy some children's chairs for an exhibition room.
The issue has united the left (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/sep/13/roald-dahl-fund-hut?intcmp=239) and right (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8760530/Do-it-yourself-outcry-over-Roald-Dahls-shed.html) of the press and public. It's sad to see such high-profile hostility directed at a museum, especially as the sector is vulnerable in a recession. Frankly, I have to agree that as it was the family that let it rot for decades, then they ought to responsible for the damage their neglect caused.
Your thoughts?
There has been a bit of a kerfuffle over the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre's campaign to save the garden hut where the author wrote his stories. The hut and its contents have been untouched since his death 21 years ago, and is now in a state of disrepair. The campaign hopes to raise £500,000 to move it to the Museum where the contents can be conserved and displayed.
Sadly for the Museum, it's all gone horribly wrong.
Here's the original radio programme link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9589000/9589401.stm and for those of you outside the UK, a report from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14896735. It generated so many complaints to the BBC that the radio show interviewed the Museum director later on to have her answer some of the criticisms.
The campaign's spokeswoman is none other than Dahl's millionaire granddaughter Sophie, model and TV presenter and wife of successful jazz musician Jamie Cullum. Roald Dahl's books are still in copyright and have been turned into hugely successful films in recent years. The general feeling amongst the public is that the family and estate could and should cover the costs if it is so important to them. The campaign has also not articulated terribly well what the £500,000 is for, and is now struggling to explain over the outrage why conservation is so expensive. There are lots of comments that it's a lot of money to hire a man with a van and buy some children's chairs for an exhibition room.
The issue has united the left (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/sep/13/roald-dahl-fund-hut?intcmp=239) and right (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8760530/Do-it-yourself-outcry-over-Roald-Dahls-shed.html) of the press and public. It's sad to see such high-profile hostility directed at a museum, especially as the sector is vulnerable in a recession. Frankly, I have to agree that as it was the family that let it rot for decades, then they ought to responsible for the damage their neglect caused.
Your thoughts?