TALLINN, 18 August 2005 - In the report submitted to the Parliament, the State Audit Office (SAO) declares that the government does not know which cultural goods can be found in museum collections, and there is no common collection policy. There are museums where the last thorough physical inventory was taken 20 to 30 years or even over 50 years ago and thus it is unclear if all museum items have been preserved.

The SAO finds that since there is no uniform collection policy in Estonian museums, everything is collected which is thought to be of any cultural value. At present the museums do not have an overview of the collections of all other museums. Therefore there are lots of similar items in the main collections of museums, whose preservation requires facilities with proper storage conditions. The audited museums several times referred to the problem that there were items in museums gathered throughout the decades which have little value for preservation.

The government lacks a comprehensive overview of all museum collections. In some museums the last thorough physical inventory was taken 20 to 30 years ago. For instance, in the Estonian National Museum the last thorough stock-take was carried out in 1952, seven years after the end of World War II. Therefore one cannot be sure that all collected museum items (things of cultural value) have been preserved in the museums.

For example, in the Tartu County Museum the inventory of museum collections was taken in 2001 in relation to the changing of the director. It appeared in the course of the inventory that there had been no stocktaking since 1959 and the museum assets had not been recorded on the balance sheet as required. On the basis of existent documents, a great shortage of museum items was discovered, however, it was impossible to ascertain, who of the responsible personnel, when and to what extent was liable for that situation.

Not all museums have been able to take a comprehensive scientific inventory (scientific description of things of cultural value) and therefore the government lacks a clear picture of the cultural goods in museum collections. There are museums which collections have been scientifically inventoried at 100 percent, and there are others where only about 22 percent of the collection has been scientifically inventoried.

The Ministry of Culture has only once in the past three years monitored physical inventory in the museums – it was at the Tartu County Museum in 2003 in relation with missing museum items.

Lack of space is a major issue. More than half of the collection storage facilities inspected by the SAO were short of space and the opportunities for acquisitions into the collection were limited. There are museums where part of the collection is stored in a shed closed with a padlock and without any alarm systems; some museums have to store their collections in unheated basements and any kind of warehouses. There are also museums where the items are cleaned in makeshift rooms – in lavatories and the like where there is a washbasin or a sink.

In only one third of the inspected storage facilities could the storage conditions of museum assets be assessed as good or satisfactory. The main problem in the storage facilities is maintaining the suitable temperature and humidity levels. Preservation of museum items is jeopardized by risks arising from old power systems and possible water emergencies. In the estimation of the museum employees, the museum items will preserve in current storage conditions for at least 5 to 10 years and their condition does not worsen significantly. At the same time, it is not known for certain whether the current storage conditions might shorten the life of museum items and what is the condition in 50 years of museum items stored in unfavourable storage conditions.

Of the audited museums, the preservation conditions have partly improved or are improving in the Estonian National Museum, the Estonian History Museum and the Pärnu Museum in relation with the renovation or construction of new storage facilities. Further, the new building of the Art Museum of Estonia is almost completed.

The majority of the museum items of the main collections of museums are kept in storage facilities – they are never displayed or studied. The audited museums displayed only 1.3 percent of their museum items in 2004. Central museums display up to 1.9 percent of museum items, in county museums the percentage of displayed museum items reached 2 to 9.3 percent.

Once accepted, it is not possible to exclude a museum item from the collection (except for the things that are damaged beyond restoration, destroyed or missing) and the existing collections cannot be reorganised.

The SAO also finds that there are too few good reasons for the use of museum assets. Until now, no proper functioning information system of existing museum assets has been developed which would enable to make the information concerning the cultural goods kept in museums accessible to the public. The information system of cultural goods used so far is not functioning as expected, thus the development of a new information system for museums has been started, which is supposed to be more user-friendly and enable access through the Internet to all interested persons. Many museums cannot provide researchers with suitable conditions for examining the museum items.

The SAO underlines in its report that in addition to preservation, the functions of museums include the intermediation of cultural goods. The number of visitors in 2004 was the biggest in the museums of Saare County and in the foundation SA Virumaa Muuseumid. As a rule, the number of visitors to central museums (except for the theatre and music museum) was considerably above that of county museums.

Museums vary a lot in the willingness to put on museum educational and other kind of events. The museums which are active in organising educational and research activities, put on fewer events of other kind and vice versa. However, there are always exceptions, for instance the foundation SA Virumaa Muuseumid is among the first for both the number of educational as well as other activities. As regards other kind of events (concerts, receptions, etc.), the more active ones are SA Virumaa Muuseumid, Estonian Theatre and Music Museum and the Saare County Muuseum. However, there are museums which are more than modest in putting on educational and other kind of events (e.g. Iisaku Museum and Pärnu Museum).

Background information about the museums

According to the latest data, there are 209 museums in Estonia, breaking down by legal status as follows: state museums (76 along with their branches), museums belonging to legal person governed by public law (5), museums owned by local authorities (75), museums belonging to persons governed by private law (53). According to the Statistical Office, the number of visitors to Estonian Museums in 2004 was 1.73 million in total.

At present there are 28 museums within the area of administration of the Ministry of Culture with 3.4 million museum items as of year end 2004.

About EEK 2 million have been allocated each year for the acquisition and maintenance of museum items in the whole country. The Ministry allocates EEK 40,000 a year to county museums for the acquisition and maintenance of museum items. In case of central museums, the resources foreseen for the acquisition of items are different, for instance in 2004, EEK 80,000 were allocated to the Theatre and Music Museum and the Estonian Maritime Museum, EEK 135,000 to the Estonian National Museum and EEK 140,000 to the Estonian History Museum. According to the explanations of the Ministry, the resources are allocated to the museums in proportion with their size.

Toomas Mattson
Communication Manager of National Audit Office
Telephone: 6400 777
Mob: 51 34900
E-mail: [email protected]

• Posted: 8/18/2005 12:00 AM
• Last Update: 9/22/2015 7:59 AM
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