Is the art crunch coming?

One of the Guardian's bloggers talks about the end of the art bubble, describing an analogy about how talent in the art world today is as overvalued as subprime loans a year ago. What got me thinking was how the credit crunch may affect the cultural heritage world in much more tangible ways than this somewhat far-flung analogy.

In my previous posts, I've written about how financial incentives can often undermine the good cause of preserving, spreading and creating cultural heritage. One need not look far to encounter examples of culture being turned into caricatures because of a heavy financial bias. But like it or not, museums need money to function and today this is becoming more apparent than ever before, not only in the private sphere but in public museums as well - governments are cutting off funding, endowments are shrinking and people are less willing to donate. This will change things - for instance donors will feel more compelled to impose their will on the museums, since the museums are more inclined to accept donations - but this may well be the least significant change. Some museums will probably have to close up, others will have to reduce the opening times and so on.

The logical questions follow: If you are forced to reduce your budget, will you decrease opening times or spend less on restoration? Will you increase emphasis on "blockbuster" exhibitions or stay with the hardline no-nonsense educational approach? If these fundamental questions could be ignored, if not by all, then at least by some museums five years ago, then today they may become life-or-death issues. And quite possibly, upholding the ideals of the museologists may then no longer be a viable option.

Of course, one may debate that this is not such a bad thing after all. In the end, even if some museums eventually bite the dust, the economic situation will force many museums to actually deal with such fundamental questions that they may have ignored otherwise. In the end, people start thinking more. And that can never be a bad thing.