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Linklater’s Scotland - Kelvingrove
Magnus Linklater
Columnist, Scotland on Sunday
This article, which
was originally published in the Spectrum section of Scotland on
Sunday
on 24th April 2005, is reproduced on Land-Care with the kind permission
of the author and the newspaper
Filed 29 Apr 05
©Magnus Linklater
WHEN New York's Museum of Modern Art reopened
last year after a £200 million facelift, it was hailed as
a metaphor for the renewal of the city. Not only did its newly designed
galleries excite worldwide interest, it inspired New Yorkers themselves.
Already, in six months, a million visitors have been through the
doors, despite local outrage at its new $20 admission charge. John
Updike described it as "breathless with inspired expanse".
Can the Kelvingrove's restoration do the same for Glasgow? It might
seem, on the surface, an absurd comparison. After all, we're talking
here about the refurbishment of a dignified Victorian museum rather
than a cutting-edge new building, an upgrade rather than an architect's
commission. It's costing £28 million, a tenth of its Manhattan
counterpart.
Magnus Linklater
(©magnus linklater)
Look closer, however, and the Kelvingrove
New Century Project, as it is called, suggests much more than a
spring clean. Not only has the museum itself undergone a remarkable
transformation, it represents just one part of a multi-million-pound
investment made by the city itself in its cultural heritage, a gesture
of confidence that conveys a sense of civic ambition not seen since
the heady days of 1990, when Glasgow was named European City of
Culture.
Next month, on time and within budget, Kelvingrove
will begin installing the 12,000 pictures and objects that, for
the past two years, have been distributed around the city or sent
on tour abroad. They include great masterpieces such as Bellini's
Madonna and Child and Rembrandt's Man in Armour, the museum's fabulous
collection of 19th century French art, its Charles Rennie Mackintosh
furniture, and one of the four greatest assemblies of arms and armoury
in the world. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, making up
barely 6% of its 200,000 works of art, which together represent
one of the finest civic collections in the world.
Kelvingrove has always been loved by the
people of Glasgow. In 1998 it was voted their favourite building,
and the 1.2 million visitors it received made it one of the most
popular city galleries in the world. Next year, when it opens its
doors again, these figures are bound to be exceeded. Inside, what
was a somewhat dark and sombre building has been opened up to the
light, its stone restored to its original honey colour, its doors
widened, its access hugely improved.
No longer will visitors have to climb those
daunting front steps up from the park (although they still can).
Instead, they will walk straight in to the ground floor, where they'll
find a new entrance space welcoming them into the main hall. Downstairs,
a floor that was once just used for storage, has been transformed
into a new exhibition area, with a restaurant and cafe. The latest
technology will help guide visitors around the objects. They will
see everything, quite literally, in a new light. "There will
be a contemporary feel to it, without, we hope, interfering with
its essential Victorian grandeur," says Alan Horn, Kelvingrove's
head of development. "We are very conscious that this isn't
our building – we are merely temporary custodians. People love
it for what it is, and we have taken that into account."
None of this would have happened unless
the city itself had united behind the project. Glasgow's council
leader, Charlie Gordon, and its energetic Lord Provost, Liz Cameron,
have demonstrated a remarkable commitment not just to Kelvingrove
but to a far wider cultural strategy. Councillors and officials
have come round to the view that this kind of investment is an essential
ingredient in the city's revival. Business leaders such as Sir Angus
Grossart, Lord Macfarlane of Bearsden and Tom Hunter, who might,
ten years ago, have turned their backs on a city that seemed in
almost terminal decline, have supported the project with enthusiasm
– and hard cash.
Two years ago, the Heritage Lottery Fund
committed nearly £13 million to the project – the largest
grant it had ever made in Scotland. It did so because it was impressed
by the investment that the city itself had made in its buildings
and its collections. Grossart, the fund's chairman, was no great
admirer of local government, but he and his colleagues were won
round by Glasgow's determination to make the project work. "We
wanted to see not just aspirational waffle but real achievement,"
he says.
"I was mightily impressed by the speed
with which the city has got its act together. There has been a reversal
of almost 20 years of relative neglect, and it is a great tribute
to the city that it has recognised the economic benefits of culture.
There is a civic confidence at political level that hasn't been
seen in Glasgow for many years."
He believes that Bridget McConnell, Glasgow's
director of culture and leisure services for the past seven years,
deserves much of the credit. "She is doing an outstanding job,"
he says.
She certainly appears to have transformed
the attitude of managers and staff, as well as that of her colleagues
on the council. When she took up her post in 1998, the city's museums
and galleries were in poor shape. Local government reorganisation
had severely reduced their revenue base, curatorial staff were being
cut back, industrial relations were grim.
McConnell found herself immediately in the
middle of a library strike. "There were some very hard industrial
relations issues that had to be looked at," she says. "But
I realised we had to get better value for people. In those days,
Glasgow was like a great big black hole, swallowing money. We needed
to be more like a business."
This meant tackling old-fashioned work practices,
and changing the culture from one of dependency to one of enterprise.
It also meant winning the support of the private sector. None of
this was achieved without incurring hostility. Only last week, the
council had to pay out £25,000 in compensation to workers
who claimed they had been unfairly dismissed.
The net result, however, has been increased
investment in arts and education, and a consequent expansion of
skilled jobs. Perhaps the most significant gesture has been the
council's decision to invest £7.5 million in a state-of-the-art
Museum Resource Centre at Nitshill. Not only are most of Kelvingrove's
pictures stored here in a specially controlled environment, but
it provides studio space for restorers, researchers and apprentices.
More than 40 new curators have been taken on, with experts in everything
from Chinese painting to metalwork, taxidermy, armoury and gilding.
It is part of what McConnell calls Glasgow's "intellectual
capital", and it has impressed experts from all over the world.
According to Colin McLean, who heads the Heritage Lottery Fund in
Scotland, "Glasgow has set a new benchmark for museum storage
and access in the UK."
"The council understood the argument
about the need to invest in backroom services," says McConnell.
"They were prepared to spend money on something that looked
on the surface unsexy, but they realised that if you do not have
a solid foundation in staff and resources, you could not deliver
something of high quality at the front end."
Success breeds success, and earlier this
year Glasgow pulled off another coup when its new £50 million
Museum of Transport building, to be designed by the Iraqi architect
Zaha Hadid, attracted another huge lottery grant, of more than £15
million. For McConnell this was another gesture of confidence, though
she is just as pleased with her programme of modernising and expanding
the city's libraries, refurbishing the Tramway, the Fruitmarket
and the Mackintosh Rooms, and finding the money to begin once again
buying serious works of art.
Her sights are now set on winning the Commonwealth
Games for Glasgow – and I would not doubt her ability to do
it. "I don't believe there has been an investment like this
in the city since Victorian times," she says. "It speaks
about what Glasgow wants to be."
Kelvingrove may be a monumental achievement
for a once declining city. To McConnell, however, it is just the
start.
©Magnus Linklater
Earlier articles in the series
 1.
Linklater, Magnus (2005). Linklater's Scotland. Scotland on Sunday
20th March 2005
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 24 Mar 05,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
2.
Linklater, Magnus (2005). Linklater's Scotland - Easter in Easterhouse.
Scotland on Sunday 27th March 2005
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 31 Mar 05,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
3.
Linklater, Magnus (2005). Linklater's
Scotland - Farming. Scotland on Sunday 3rd April 2005
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 07 Apr 0505,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
4.
Linklater, Magnus (2005). Linklater's
Scotland - Pitlochry. Scotland on Sunday 10th April 2005
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 15 Apr 05,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
5.
Linklater, Magnus (2005). Linklater's
Scotland - Supermarkets. Scotland on Sunday17th April 2005
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 19 Apr 05,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
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