News

Monday 2 March 2009

Mark Jones

Victoria and Albert Museum

The future of museums will be the subject of a Distinguished Lecture given by Mark Jones, the Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Mark will deliver ‘Museums in the 21st Century’ to students, staff and guests of Nottingham Trent University on Wednesday 4 March 2009.

During his lecture Mark will discuss the growth in number, scale and ambition of new museums during the last 30 years, charting their success in becoming world recognised brands, and the contributions they have made to the prestige of contemporary art and design. With world-wide recession threatening to bring this glittering era of expansion and cultural competition to an end, Mark will discuss these trends with particular reference to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Under Mark’s direction since May 2001, the Victoria and Albert Museum has seen the launch of new galleries, the return of free museum entry, a substantial rise in the number of visitors and a renewed confidence in the Museum’s ability to balance historical obligations with its own contemporary aims. It is also playing a key part in the £1.5m, Treasury-funded National Museums Online Learning project that has just been launched.

Mark said: "The late twentieth and early twenty-first century have been a golden age for museums. Growing public interest in art and design has given impetus to the creation of iconic buildings that act as a focus for national and communal identity. But now museums are hard hit by recession. Is the golden age at an end?"

Ann Priest, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Head of the College of Art, Design and the Built Environment at Nottingham Trent University, said: “We’re delighted to have Mark joining us to deliver this lecture. The importance of Museums and Galleries to learning goes way beyond the wealth and heritage that they display. The Victoria and Albert Museum is an exceptional and much loved resource, and amongst the most inspirational places in the world. Mark’s insight into the value and influence of museums in the 21st Century, and in particular the Victoria and Albert Museum will be fascinating and we are very much looking forward to welcoming him to the University.”