Museums hamstrung by financial rules, say critics
A lack of creativity and financial incentives have prevented museums generating more revenue and running more attractive programmes, critics said yesterday.
The comments came after the government auditor said many museum exhibitions under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department failed to hit the target of 30 per cent cost-recovery.
Benny Chia Chun-heng - Hong Kong Fringe Club founder and director, and a member of the advisory group on museum facilities under the West Kowloon project - singled out museums' obligation to return all revenues to the government treasury as a fundamental flaw in their management. Under government regulations, income and donations received by public museums are regarded as general revenues and cannot be retained.
'The current system does not give any incentives to the museums to market their franchise,' Mr Chia said. 'This is way behind internationally renowned museums, which rely on sales revenues as a main source of income.'
He also said some museums should try opening late on some dates to attract more visitors, instead of always opening from 10am to 6pm during weekdays and weekends, and to 7pm on Sundays and public holidays.
The auditor released a critical report on 14 museums managed by the department on Wednesday. It found that more than 700,000 artifacts at three museums have not been documented, while 209,000 copies of unsold publications costing $24 million to print are being kept by six museums. It also found that for exhibitions costing more than $2 million, museums recovered only 17.8 per cent and 13.4 per cent of the costs in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 fiscal years, respectively.
Danny Yung Ning-tsun, founder and art director of theatre group Zuni Icosahedron, said curators and directors of government-run museums needed to be more proactive in offering venues and promoting diverse art forms.
'As art institutions, museums should have been ideal informal venues for experimental performing art performances,' he said.
'In reality, it is not happening. The museums are too rigid in their management. I wish they would open up and bring more vibrancy to the museums.'
A department spokesman said it would study the feasibility of opening up museum facilities for public hiring, including for weddings and private parties.
He said more promotions would be made in the mass media and shopping malls, while projects were under way to renovate exhibition halls and construct more buildings.
