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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Andrew McCabe, post: 3181280, member: 90666&quot;]Museums are collections just as ours are. Simon Bendall&#039;s Byzantine collection has been stolen twice I recall (different collections), most recently last year, and none of the great rarities are likely to appear again anytime soon. Perhaps even melted. It&#039;s a story we&#039;ve heard often enough.</p><p><br /></p><p>I also think that some small and mass produced items such as coins are better preserved by being as widely scattered among collectors as possible, whereas other resources such as the Parthenon Marbles or other large or unique items are actually better in a dedicated world class museum. I wouldn&#039;t be in favour of the BM selling off bits of the Parthenon Marbles.</p><p><br /></p><p>The generic solution to world museums especially in countries with resource constraints (ehh… that&#039;s every country) is some form of resource sharing among all interested parties. The collections in the ANS and BM are doubtless well secured and are also marvelously accessible to everyone. But wouldn&#039;t it be nice if there were a world body that could levy very small amounts to help provide basic security and physical protection (physical conservation, fire, weather etc.) to outstanding world heritage sites and museums. Switzerland and Norway might then pay a little more and Botswana and … Brazil … a little less to help ensure mankind&#039;s heritage is preserved. One such body exists. UNESCO. It&#039;s got essentially zero budget ($4m last year. Not billion but million) and the US withdrew in 2011. When there&#039;s basic crises of poverty at a museum&#039;s doorsteps such as in Brazil it&#039;s a terrific dilemma to send more money to museums. So we should all help. For the future, this time all is lost.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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