Slovenian Museums Evaluation Final Report

Transcription

1 Netzwerk für Kulturprojekte 2009 Final Report Part 1 for the Office for Movable Cultural Heritage and Museums in the National Museum of Slovenia in Ljubljana February 2010 Dr. Renate Goebl & Mag. Christian Waltl MA

2 Table of Contents Table of Contents Preface... IV 1 Slovenia s Government Funded Museums and Galleries at a Glance Evaluation Process Data Gathering Process Phase Phase Museum Categories Performance Indicators Data Verification Report Structure Cultural Policy Context Registry of Museums Assessment of Current Status Status Quo of Government-funded Museums in Slovenia Financial Situation & Context Income from Public Subsidies Self-generated Income Operating Budget (Expenses) Human Resources Operation Size and Staffing Levels Staff positions Staff Expenses Staff Ratio Staff Training The Role of Volunteers Buildings Condition General Use of Floor Space Storage Exhibition spaces Collections Main Focus of Collections and Collections on Display Acquisition Documentation Conservation Publications...82 Kulturagenda, February 2010 I

3 Table of Contents 4.5 Visitors & Visitor Services Visitors Visitor services Programming Temporary exhibitions Educational Programmes Marketing & PR Conclusions & Recommendations Analysis of Main Outcomes Finance & Operations Human Resources Marketing Museum Building s Condition and Facilities Slovenian Movable Heritage Collections Management Slovenian Movable Heritage Presentation & Dissemination Visitors Conclusion/Summary New Slovenian Museums Standards The Way Forward Slovenian Museums Accreditation Scheme Improvement through Professional Standards A Funding Scheme for maximum Impact Performance Evaluation Funding Options Lists List of Diagrams List of Tables List of Photos Kulturagenda, February 2010 II

4 'A healthy society, and a democratic society, needs citizens who have the education, understanding, political consciousness, confidence and skills to participate effectively. Through active participation in cultural activities, children can learn not just how to design and make a pot or a painting or a film. They also learn that it is their own right to participate in cultural activities. A model of learning, and of museums, which fails to encourage wider participation by the public - cultural citizenship - is antithetical to the development of a strong and healthy democracy.' David Anderson (Victoria and Albert Museum) Final Report Kulturagenda, February 2010 III

5 Preface Preface Kulturagenda 1 is pleased to submit the final report of the first evaluation of Slovenia s 47 government-funded museums. It was a great honour for Kulturagenda to have been able to work on this interesting project which was commissioned in March 2009 by the Office for Movable Cultural Heritage and Museums. The dimension and extent of the project only slowly evolved throughout the survey process and proved to be a veritable challenge for all of the people involved. Nevertheless a representative outcome has been achieved and compiled in a 3-part report. Over a lengthy process all data were compiled in a data file that can be used for further interpretation and comparison. We want to cordially thank all of the museum directors and staff members for their time and effort, and also patience when filling in the questionnaire or giving details during the interview process. Sincere thanks are given to our client, Dr. Marjeta Mikuž, Mag. Maja Oven Stanič but also to Dr. Mateja Kos and Miroslav Vute. They in turn visited all museums and galleries and gathered data which had to be partly translated into English before Kulturagenda could do the data input and start with a comprehensive analysis. A big thank you also to the Ministry of Culture for the brave decision to initiate and fund such an important evaluation process in the first place. Kulturagenda is looking forward to the discussions of the survey results and the recommendations and feels positive that the Minister of Culture will fully support the process of quality improvement and build on the process initiated in 2008 by the Ministry of Culture through the Cultural Heritage Protection Act (CHPA). 1 Dr. Renate Goebl and Mag. Christian Walt MA with Mag. Michael C. Niki Knopp, who did all the data input for the general data file, produced the appendices and the museum data fact sheets, all diagrams and the layout of the report. Final Report Kulturagenda, February 2010 IV

6 1 Museums at a Glance 1 Slovenia s Government Funded Museums and Galleries at a Glance In 2008 the government of Slovenia spent in total almost 31 million on museums and galleries: about 15 million on the 12 national and 16 million on the 35 regional museums. Government subsidies rose from 2006 to 2008 by 14.3% whereas local subsidies decreased by 22% to 4,051,914. In 2008, the average operating budget for national museums was 1,370,274 and 662,660 for regional museums. 70% of all 47 government-funded Slovenian museums are located in historical buildings defined as older than about 120 years and only 15.9% of all edifices were purpose-built. Many of the buildings are in a critical condition. About 60% are multipurpose museums (only one is a national museum), 19% specialized museums (all nine are national museums) and 21% art galleries. 36% each of all government funded museums are large or medium and 28% small. 67% of all museums (all are national museums) provide additional services for visitors with special needs. 53% of all museums (around 92% are national museums) are at least partly barrierfree accessible for wheelchairs. Only 26% of all museums provide a cloakroom and lockers (18% of the regional museums) and only 22% have baby changing facilities (12% of the regional museums). 74% of all museums run a museum shop (in some museums items are for sale at the reception desk and not in a separated space for their shop) and 29.8% or 14 museums state that they offer a café restaurant buffet for their visitors. The total floor space of all 47 government funded museums is about 150,000 m 2. All public-funded Slovenian Museums have a total of 61,300 m² permanent exhibition space, an average of 1,495 m² per museum, and a total of 19,900 m² temporary exhibition space, an average of 463 m² per museum. In 2008, all government-funded Slovenian museums had around 1,244,000 visits (visits of dislocated units not included). School groups comprise in all museums around 40% of all visits. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

7 1 Museums at a Glance The up to 20-year-olds are, with 38%, the largest age group, the over-60-year-olds with 18% the smallest. In the surveyed museums 449 temporary exhibitions were shown that were produced by the museums themselves or with partners on average of nine per museum. 38 museums displayed 134 different permanent exhibitions, 29 of which were shown in the nine national museums and 105 in the 29 regional museums that provide collections presentations. The majority of exhibitions have been changed from 2000 onwards. About 96% of all museums state that they provide educational programmes (97% of regional and 92% of national museums). In 2008, about 6.8 million objects were entrusted in the 47 government-funded museums care. 2.1 million of them (31%) are in the collections of the national museums. About 4.7 million objects (69%) are in the care of 35 regional museums. A total of 862,082 new objects were acquired in % of these objects were acquired by national and 94% by regional museums. The majority of these objects (91%) came from archaeological excavations and only 35,789 objects or 4% were purchased. The remainder came in via donations (4.4%), legacies and other sources. The total acquisition expense of all museums surveyed in 2008 was 731,666, 53% of which was financed by the national government. In 2008, all museums had about 30% of all their objects documented in a traditional (analogue) method and about 10% in a digital one. In national museums 56% are documented analogue and 17% digital, in regional museums 18% analogue and 6% digital. On average only about 16% of all objects are on display, the other 84% are stored in in-house and off-site storage facilities of around 41,300 m². There are two national and five regional museums with no in-house storage at all. Curators constitute the highest number of all museums professionals in the Slovenian museums sector: national museums employ in total 80 curators (average of 6.6 per museum) and regional museums employ curators (average of 4.7 per museum). 27 museums (57%) employ documentation personnel. Around 62% of all museums have an employed conservator; 83% of the national and 54% of the regional museums. In 2008, a total of 31,767 objects around 0.5% of all Slovenian museums objects and an average of 836 items per museum were conserved, restored, or preventively treated. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

8 2 Evaluation Process 2 Evaluation Process Museums have changed radically over the past decade and Slovenia is no exception, albeit the change process is very slow. As museums have to justify their funding and benefit to the public they also have to redefine their role in society where an active dialogue with potential and existing audiences is as important as other core museum activities such as collecting, documenting, preserving and research. Museums can play a strong role in the public realm especially in societal development and life-long learning. They represent cultural achievements and preserve and celebrate history and heritage. Museums are also part of the wider leisure/tourism industry and in order to keep up with their competition it is vital that they are receptive to visitor needs and requirements and at the same time follow professional standards and guidelines. In this context Kulturagenda was commissioned in 2009 by the Office for Movable Cultural Heritage and Museums to evaluate 47 publicly funded Slovenian museums and review the current status of their services. Data was collected and analysed mainly for 2008, however data for 2006 and 2007 were also compiled to allow better comparisons to be made. The museums surveyed follow the official RAZVID list: 12 national and 35 regional museums with up to 80% national funding: 1. Narodni muzej Slovenije 2. Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije 3. Slovenski etnografski muzej 4. Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije 5. Slovenski gledališki muzej 6. Slovenska kinoteka 13. Posavski muzej Brežice 14. Pokrajinski muzej Celje 15. Muzej novejše zgodovine Celje 16. Mestni muzej Idrija 17. Gornjesavski muzej Jesenice 18. Medobčinski muzej Kamnik 19. Pokrajinski muzej Kočevje 20. Pokrajinski muzej Koper 21. Gorenjski muzej Kranj 22. Galerije in muzej mesta Ljubljane 23. Muzej narodne osvoboditve Maribor 24. Pokrajinski muzej Maribor 25. Belokranjski muzej Metlika 26. Pokrajinski muzej Murska Sobota 27. Goriški muzej Kromberk - Nova Gorica 28. Dolenjski muzej Novo Mesto 29. Pomorski muzej Piran 30. Notranjski muzej Postojna 7. Tehniški muzej Slovenije 8. Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem 9. Slovenski šolski muzej 10. Muzej športa 11. Narodna galerija 12. Moderna galerija 31. Pokrajinski muzej Ptuj Ormož 32. Muzeji radovljiške občine Radovljica 33. Miklova hiša Ribnica 34. Koroški pokrajinski muzej Slovenj Gradec 35. Loški muzej Škofja Loka 36. Tolminski muzej 37. Zasavski muzej Trbovlje 38. Tržiški muzej 39. Javni zavod Muzej Velenje 40. Pilonova galerija Ajdovščina 41. Galerija Božidar Jakac Kostanjevica na Krki 42. Arhitekturni muzej Ljubljana 43. Mednarodni grafični likovni center Ljubljana 44. Umetnostna galerija Maribor 45. Galerija Murska Sobota 46. Obalne galerije Piran 47. Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti Final Report Kulturagenda, February

9 2 Evaluation Process The evaluation process was based on the following hypothesis: Many museums in Slovenia which receive public funding from the national government struggle with fulfilling basic professional standards and work within their own set agendas without proper monitoring and reporting procedures. The current amount of funding is often based on historical achievements and does not relate to measurable performance indicators. 2.1 Data Gathering Process Although there was some initial bureaucratic resentment from within the Ministry of Culture that the survey should include site visits to each of the 47 participating museums, the minister made a clear and supportive decision in favour of these visits by staff from the Office for Movable Cultural Heritage and Museums so that data could be gathered first-hand. As part of the methodology, with the help of the client Kulturagenda developed a comprehensive two-part questionnaire for data gathering which included questions based on current funding criteria and requirements 2. As the client s time schedule was very ambitious and interview dates were already confirmed, data collection started with the draft questionnaires, which had implications for the subsequent data gathering process. During the project the decision was taken by the client to postpone the evaluation of the 12 national museums until autumn 09 (Phase 2). As a direct consequence, the interim report delivered in July 2009 fell short of one of its main aims which was to compare the national museums with their regional counterparts Phase 1 The first part of the Questionnaire (Part 1) was to be sent by the client to all participating 35 regional museums 3. Data gained from part 1 focussed on: Location and type of museum (focus of collection), Size (number of branches/dislocated units, percentage of objects on display), Exhibition and publication activities, Opening times and entrance fees, Visitors, Marketing activities, Facilities and Educational programmes and interpretation tools. 2 Please see also Chapter 3 3 Please see full questionnaire part 1 in the appendix I/A in part 2 of the report. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

10 2 Evaluation Process Questionnaire Part 2 4 was to be discussed during personal interviews at each of the participating museums and data were gathered and documented by staff from the Office for Movable Cultural Heritage and Museums 5. Data gained from part 2 focussed on: Museum organisation Human resources Budget Collections Facility management Security Insurance It also included a follow-up series of questions to questionnaire part 1: Library Publications Shop Educational programmes Some questions (for example on educational programmes) were to be filled in by the museums themselves at a later stage and sent back to the client. Financial data were taken out of the official financial reports of individual museums. In addition to this two-part questionnaire, Kulturagenda developed a standardised guideline for the client so that interviewers could get some personal feedback from directors and staff members on their most pressing needs. Interviewers were also encouraged to express personal comments and impressions about their visit to each museum. The interviewers documented their visits with photos which also form part of the data gathering process and some of them were used in the report Phase 2 Based on the experience with the regional museums it was decided to revise the questionnaire for national museums and develop a more user-friendly questionnaire 6. A specialist was engaged to help develop an interactive questionnaire template 7 that allowed an easy transfer of data into a database 8. With this approach Kulturagenda was able to analyse key data using a special analysing software (SPSS). 4 Please see full questionnaire part 2 in the appendix I/B in part 2 of the report. 5 dr. Marjeta Mikuž and mag. Maja Oven Stanič supported by dr. Mateja Kos and Miroslav Vute 6 Please see a1ppendix I/C and I/D in part 2 of this report. 7 Kondeor Marketinganalysen GmbH, 1180 Wien 8 The data transfer was done by Kulturagenda using Excel 2007 also for phase 1. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

11 2 Evaluation Process It must be noted that many data inconsistencies were found while transferring data into the general data file. This meant that institutions had to be approached again which is also partly the reason for the delay in the report. Thanks to the office s huge support, many of the data could be clarified, however some data still remain problematic Museum Categories For data analysis several criteria were defined and museums were divided into specific categories based on their budget size and staff resource as well as the focus of their collection. In detail, the interim report differentiated between large-, medium- and small-sized regional museums and in addition to budget size the other deciding factor was the number of staff employed by an institution. Small museums were defined as museums with an operating budget of up to 400,000 and not more than 10 employees. Medium sized museums were defined as museums with an operating budget of between 400,001 and 800,000 and between 10 and 20 employees. Large museums were defined as museums with an operating budget of over 800,000 and more than 20 staff. While there were some exceptions to this formula (i.e., budget fell into one category and staff numbers in another) it proved to be a valuable categorization for comparison. With the evaluation of the national museums in this final report, this categorisation system, although still valuable, has only been highlighted when results showed significant deviations. Museums Category Total % Nationals Regionals Large museums Medium museums Small museums Table 1: Museums Category/Size In addition to the size of a museum a categorisation on collection focus was added to explore differences and peculiarities: Museums Category Total % Nationals Regionals Multipurpose museums Specialised museums Art Galleries Table 2: Museums Category/Collection Focus 9 Some of these remaining inconsistencies are highlighted in the report Final Report Kulturagenda, February

12 2 Evaluation Process 2.3 Performance Indicators To be able to review the museums operations for this survey, provisional performance indicators have been introduced according to the main goals of the survey. Most of these indicators are widely used internationally and should help both the museums and the government to be able to assess and compare services, make improvements, strengthen the effectiveness of museums services and processes and help set fair and mutually agreed standards and policies on which future funding criteria can be based. For the purpose of this evaluation, museums have been compared within the different categories mentioned above and baseline data and performance indicators were used for analysis according to the list below: 1. Volume of income generation (ratio of all income generation activities) 2. Volume of public subsidy 3. Subsidy per visitor and subsidy per staff 4. Staff ratio per 1,000 visitors 5. Self-generated income as percentage of total income 6. Ticket income per visitor 7. Shop income per visitor 8. All cost factors as percentage of expenditure (staffing, running costs, collection, marketing, programmes, building, research, library, shop) 9. Wages spent per staff 10. Budget spent on training for staff as percentage of total budget 11. Number of visitors 12. Cost (gross expenditure) per visitor 13. Marketing spent per visitor In analysing these indicators it has to be clearly stated that the quality of a museum and the quality of the visitor experience is very complex and cannot be judged on quantitative data alone. Number of visits and usage can however give an indication of what can be achieved in specific circumstances but need to be verified in the context of the museum s collection, its mission and purpose, its target group needs but also in the context of its local/regional environment. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

13 2 Evaluation Process Thus soft indicators have to be examined such as: 1. Collections policy, care, documentation and presentation 2. Visitor surveys & statistics 3. Visitor services & facilities 4. Exhibitions 5. Publications 6. Interpretation tools 7. Educational programmes 2.4 Data Verification Data gathering and verification has proved to be a difficult and time-consuming process. Careful cross-checking indicated that some of the data are not robust enough and are somewhat inconsistent. For example, most museums confirm the use of various marketing materials and advertising activities but have no or very low marketing expenses. Similarly, for conservation data often do not indicate any expenses for conserved or restored objects even though some of the work has been outsourced. Another example concerns visitor statistics: some museums seem to have very detailed visitor statistics but most of the surveyed museums do not carry out any visitor surveys, nor do they have a sophisticated ticketing system. In trying to overcome those challenges this report has compiled a vast number of baseline data that can also be used as a benchmark against any future evaluations. The report presents an overview of the actual situation of the 47 government-funded museums, highlights high and low performances and also places them in an international context. 2.5 Report Structure The report consists of three parts: a main part which includes the data analysis and contextual framework. All corresponding tables are compiled in an appendix together with the questionnaires used. In addition Kulturagenda has developed so called data fact sheets which highlight the main performances of each museum. Since this data fact sheet has 8 pages per museum it will be printed double sided as part 3. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

14 3 Cultural Policy Context 3 Cultural Policy Context The Slovenian government is making a strong effort to establish cultural heritage as an important instrument of modern cultural policy. It sees cultural heritage not only as being key to national identity but also as a chance for social change and economic growth that needs to be explored and developed further 10. One of the main goals is to enhance public services in the field of cultural heritage. The Ministry of Culture has therefore focussed on reviewing the role of museums as a public entity and also on optimising museums operations and services following the Cultural Heritage Protection Act (CHPA) from 2008 and its principles 11 : Definition of public interest New dimensions of heritage Definition of rights and responsibilities The main themes of the principle public interest correspond to the most important tasks of a modern and integrative museum in the 21st century: Identification of heritage, documentation, study and interpretation Conservation of heritage and prevention of harmful effects on heritage Enabling access to heritage or relevant information to anyone, in particular to young people, the elderly and disabled persons Inclusion of knowledge relating to heritage in education and training Promotion of cultural diversity, with due regard for the diversity of the heritage and its interpretations Participation of the public in matters relating to protection of cultural heritage 3.1 Registry of Museums Article is dedicated to the registry of museums. (1) The registry of museums shall be a public document registering those museums which comply with the basic spatial, financial and staffing requirements for conserving and protecting heritage. (5) A museum shall meet the requirements for entry in the registry of museums if: it provides public access to its collections, 10 Resolution on the National Programme for Cuture Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia 16/2008 of 15. February 2008 and Jelka Pirkovič, Power point presentation, 12/ In IX. Public service for protection, chapter 3: public museums service Final Report Kulturagenda, February

15 3 Cultural Policy Context has elaborated a plan of physical and technical protection, and of damage insurance for collections within the museum which is confirmed by the founder, and meets other minimum professional, physical and technical requirements as provided for with the regulation referred to in Article of this Act. According to the new cultural law there are two different lists for registration. The first one is the so called RAZVID list 14 in which national funded museums were automatically listed. So far there are 47 museums on this list 15. RAZVID registration means that the museum qualifies to apply for project funding from the Ministry of Culture and it is a pre-condition for applying for the second list: status for state public service. Museums on this second list also have to fulfil certain criteria 16 and have to deliver several documents proving the successful performance requested in the respective paragraphs of the cultural law mentioned above. Only museums registered on this second list can get government funding of up to 80% of their total operating budget. In Article 90, one of three possible conditions for removal from the registry of museums is that it has ceased to meet the requirements as provided for the fifth paragraph of Article 87 of this Act. From this aspect it is interesting to note that national museums are not obliged to prove that they meet any of the criteria at all. 3.2 Assessment of Current Status To assess the actual situation of cultural heritage and to work on effective strategies for establishing and securing high standards of work in museums and galleries corresponding to CHPA s principles, the Office for Movable Cultural Heritage and Museums was established and organised as a separate entity within the national museum of Slovenia in Ljubljana. The office has to: Assist the minister by giving opinions in administrative procedures regarding movable heritage and museums Carry out an analysis of museums activity, and make annual reports Prepare technical standards 13 Article 52 (storage of national treasures): (1) The owner or possessor of national treasures shall be obliged to meet the minimum requirements for their storage. (2) The national or an authorised museum shall check the suitability of storage conditions for national treasures, provide their owners or possessors with instructions and advice for protecting such treasures, and provide for their conservation 14 For criteria see appendix II/A in part 2 of the report. 15 Please see the list of museums in Chapter 2, page 3 16 See list of criteria for this registration in appendix II/B in part 2 of the report. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

16 3 Cultural Policy Context Assist museums in coordinating their work Coordinate programmes of training and lifelong learning. One of its main tasks was to administer and assess the applications of all RAZVID registered regional museums that applied for the status of state public service in order to receive their government funding. To be able to give sound and reasonable recommendations to the Ministry of Culture, early in 2009 the office started planning a major museums evaluation process based on an extensive survey. Data gathered from the survey was to provide information about the status quo of the operations of individual museums, highlight best practice models in different areas of museums work and help to set mutually agreeable professional standards to improve the quality of the museums sector in Slovenia, both in terms of visitor experience and museums core activities and responsibilities. The outcome of this planning phase was that the office decided to embark on a comprehensive evaluation scheme that included some quality data gained through site visits and interviews. The office also brought Kulturagenda on board to help with the development of the questionnaires, to carry out the data analysis but also to ensure external, impartial expertise. Ultimately a survey was devised taking into consideration the different listed criteria but also important aspects of the National Programme for Culture , proclaiming again ambitious tasks concerning the mission and performance of Slovenian museums. They include 17 : quicker and improved access for youth and disabled persons improving availability of museum collections and information presentation of items of movable cultural heritage to promote identification and educational potential improvements in the proportion between operating and programme and project costs together with the founders of public institutes provide the most necessary spatial conditions for depots for nationally important collections18 reaching a higher level of professional competence of employees better financial control of the funders of public institutes integration of those institutes into the environment with simultaneously better responsibility of the founders for successful functioning of the public service of protection (mergers, restructuring of public institutes). 17 National Programme for Culture , Ljubljana 2008, page 36, 38 and 69ff 18 See respective measures of this objective in appendix II/C in part 2 of the report. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

17 4.1 Financial Situation 4 Status Quo of Government-funded Museums in Slovenia 4.1 Financial Situation & Context Slovenian museums in the past have been very strongly reliant on public funding, as is the case in other countries in central Europe. All in all there are 47 government-funded museums in Slovenia which comprise about 20% of the Slovenian museums sector (out of around ). As public funding becomes increasingly tighter and public spending is more scrutinized and harder to come by, museums have to prove their effectiveness and strongly promote their service to society in general and the community in particular. To be able to develop additional funding opportunities museums have to clearly understand the basic principles of income generation. One aim of this report is to provide a basis for an efficient financial management system for government-funded museums and facilitates the implementation of processes that ensure that every effort is made to generate additional income to help museums to prosper and deliver high quality programmes and public services. It is important for museums as not-for-profit institutions to not lose sight of the core activities such as preserving, collecting and interpreting. However museums have been lagging behind in taking advantage of economic potential through maximizing their income activities and at the same time improving professional standards. Overall, the analysis of data shows that all museums surveyed depend heavily on public subsidies either from national or local government, as can be seen in the diagram below. The relationship between the local subsidies, national subsidies and self-generated income is highlighted in different colours and compared in three categories (all museums, national museums and regional museums). 19 Guide to Museums and Galleries in Slovenia (Rihter and Ciglenečki, 2001) Final Report Kulturagenda, February

18 4.1 Financial Situation Income from Public Subsidies Government-funded museums in Slovenia comprise 12 National Museums that in general receive almost all of their operating budget from central government and 35 Regional Museums that receive up to 80% as per government directive. National Subsidies Government subsidies for the 12 National Museums increased from 2006 to 2008 by 13.2% to 14,837,936 which is around 47.8% of the total government spending on museums. In comparison government subsidies for the 35 regional museums also rose from 2006 to 2008 by 14.3% to just over 16 million (52.2% of government funding) whereas local subsidies decreased by 22% to 4,051,914. National Museums receive their core funding mainly from the Ministry of Culture and smaller amounts from the Ministry of Education. The highest subsidy is received by the Narodni muzej Slovenije (2008: 3,042,881) followed by the Narodna galerija (2008: 2,330,685) which also reflects their status of being the largest and most important museum and gallery, respectively, in the country. Despite government directives 10 regional museums received more than 80% of their operating budget in 2008 from national government sources. List of regional museums with government funding over 80% % % 1. Koroška galerija likovnih Umetnosti Pokrajinski muzej Celje Posavski muzej Brežice Koroški pokrajinski muzej Slovenj Gradec Zasavski muzej Trbovlje Pokrajinski muzej Koper Galerija Božidar Jakac Kostanjevica na Krki Pokrajinski muzej Ptuj Ormož Galerija Murska Sobota Goriški muzej Kromberk - Nova Gorica 80.3 Table 3: Regional Museums with government funding over 80% The highest national subsidy was awarded to the Koroška galerija likovnih Umetnosti with 88.9% followed by the Posavski muzej Brežice with 84.9%. In 2008 the government of Slovenia spent in total almost 31 million on museums (+ 14.6% compared to 2006). Final Report Kulturagenda, February

19 4.1 Financial Situation The diagram below shows that there has been an increase in national funding over the period of 3 years to 2008 however local government funding has decreased substantially over the same period Subsidies National Subsidies All Museums National Subsidies National Museums National Subsidies Regional Museums Local Subsidies Regional Museums Diagram 1: Subsidies Local Subsidies As mentioned before local government subsidies have decreased over the last 3 years (2006-8) and it seems apparent that national funding had covered part of this decrease without any major funding crisis. Three museums are more or less entirely funded by local government, i.e., the Gornjesavski muzej Jesenice which receives 92%, the Tržiški muzej which receives 84% and the Miklova hiša Ribnica which receives 70% of its total operating budget from local government. The first two museums have significantly high numbers of dislocated units. The highest local subsidy in terms of absolute value by far is received by the Galerije in muzej mesta Ljubljane (2008: 582,000) followed by the Gornjesavski muzej Jesenice (2008: 397,040) and the Gorenjski muzej Kranj (2008: 253,435). In 2008 local governments spent in total just over 4 million on regional museums (- 22% compared to 2006). In total public subsidies to museums in Slovenia reached 35 million in Final Report Kulturagenda, February

20 4.1 Financial Situation Performance Indicator - Subsidy per Visit Our research into the status quo of government-funded museums reveals that the subsidy to national museums per visit is on average more than double the figure of regional museums (nationals just over 73 and regionals only about 34) which is a significant difference. The interim report already showed that larger museums tend to have significantly higher subsidies per visit than smaller institutions. The factor public subsidy in relation to visitation is one of the performance indicators which are necessary to establish useful benchmarks for museums operations. Although this benchmark is inter-related with other parameters such as size of collection, research output, educational activities, size of museums in terms of physical space and human resources it gives a certain indication of value for money for public funding bodies. The lower this benchmark the better, however, it needs to be seen in perspective. National and mainly larger museums generally have more staff, the research output is higher, floor space is often larger and they tend to have more valuable collections (but not necessarily more items). These influencing factors seem to be most relevant however cross referencing showed that the only significant influencing factor is the number of special exhibitions. The more special exhibitions a museum offers the lower is the public subsidy per visit. Performance Indicator Public Subsidy/visit (average in ) National Museums (Average) Regional Museums (Average) high level 1 Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem Loški muzej Škofja Loka Narodna galerija Muzeji radovljiške občine Radovljica Tehniški muzej Slovenije Muzej novejše zgodovine Celje 9.85 low level 1 Slovenski gledališki muzej Pokrajinski muzej Maribor Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije Goriški muzej Kromberk - Nova Gorica Muzej športa Pokrajinski muzej Celje Table 4: Performance Indicator: Public Subsidies/visit As shown in the Table 4 national museums have on average significantly higher subsidies per visit than regional museums. Museums and galleries with a low figure indicate good value for money however there are some institutions which have an exceptionally high ratio such as the Slovenski gledališki muzej, the Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije and the Muzej športa. The first and the latter have extremely low visitor numbers; in fact they are the lowest of all 47 museums and galleries. Similarly the regional museums with high ratio figures also have very low visitor numbers. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

21 4.1 Financial Situation Self-generated Income The self-generated income (in green) comprises only a small fraction of the total operating budget as can be seen in the diagram below. Self-generated income of all museums together increased between 2006 and 2008 in absolute terms only slightly (+ 2%) despite a substantial decrease at regional museums (- 6.5%). 100% Percentages of Income 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% Other Income Self-generated Income Local Subsidies National Subsidies 20% 10% 0% All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 2: Percentages of Income Besides receiving subsidies, identifying sources for generating additional income has proved a challenge for many museums and it is often easier to generate additional income for capital (building) projects. It is only in the last 10 years that museums in central Europe have developed a more business-like approach to generating income, partly because of higher expectations of visitors and the declining public funds, but also because of the cost increases in providing a high quality service. The diagram below reveals the absolute figures of self-generated income over the last three years. In total in 2008 Slovenian museums generated around 4,658,010 up from 4,563,478 in 2006 (+ 2%). This is largely due to the effort of the national museums which were able to increase their self-generated income in those years whereas the income in regional museums slightly declined. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

22 4.1 Financial Situation Self-generated Income All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 3: Self-generated Income Performance Indicator Self-generated Income Generating additional income through other means can help institutions to provide better service and further meet the needs of visitors. Thus the percentage of self-generated income in relation to the total operating budget is a key performance indicator for operating a museum; it shows how well an institution can maximize income and at the same time improve services and programmes. An important indicator for a successful museum operation in the future will be a sustainable ratio between government subsidies and self-generated income. Self-generated income refers to the gross income received through fundraising and admissions, and the profit from trading activities, and is generated by museums through different activities. It does however exclude any public subsidies. It includes income from: Ticket sales Guided tours Shop sales (including publications or outsourced license fees) Educational programmes (workshops, activities, etc.) Fundraising (donations, legacies etc.) Sponsorship Events Facility hire/rentals (birthday parties, corporate hires, etc.) Licensing Lending fees Catering (Café or outsourced license fees) Other services (consultancy, parking etc.) Final Report Kulturagenda, February

23 4.1 Financial Situation The average self-generated income in Slovenian museums is around 12% of the operating budget. Regional museums generate on average 12.5% of their budget while the national museums on average only 10.7%. None of the national museums has a higher percentage than 17.8% (2008, Narodna Gelerija) however four regional museums managed to self-generate over 20% of their operations budget in 2008: the Mestni muzej Idrija, the Arhitekturni muzej Ljubljana, the Miklova hiša Ribnica and the Pokrajinski muzej Murska Sobota (see table below). Hardly any income is generated by the Muzej športa (0.3%), the Slovenski gledališki muzej and the Pilonova galerija Ajdovščina with 2.6%, respectively. Both the Slovenski gledališki muzej and the Muzej športa do not charge any admission which is only one of the reasons for the low amount of self-generated income. Performance Indicator Self Generated Income (in % of operating budget) National Museums (Average) 10.75% Regional Museums (Average) 12.48% high level 1 Narodna galerija 17.8% Mestni muzej Idrija 28.1% 2 Tehniški muzej Slovenije 17.3% Arhitekturni muzej Ljubljana 24.6% 3 Narodni muzej Slovenije 11.8% Miklova hiša Ribnica 20.8% low level 1 Muzej športa 0.3% Pilonova galerija Ajdovščina 2.6% 2 Slovenski gledališki muzej 2.6% Koroška galerija likovnih Umetnosti 4.5% 3 Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije 3.9% Zasavski muzej Trbovlje 4.8% Table 5: Performance Indicator: Self generated Income The data show that in general the national museums tend to generate their income mainly from ticket sales (32%), events (16%) and other means (18%), whereas regional museums generate most of their income from ticket sales (25%), fundraising (13%) and rentals (11%). (See Diagram 4) Final Report Kulturagenda, February

24 4.1 Financial Situation 35% Average Self-generated Income 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 4: Average Self-generated Income The next diagram compares art galleries with multipurpose and specialised museums. As can be seen, art galleries do generate significantly more income from rentals and slightly more from the shop compared to the other two categories. Only the specialised museums seem to generate any income from a café. 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Average Self generated Income Art Galleries Multipurpose Museums Specialised Museums Diagram 5: Average Self-generated Income - A-M-S It is interesting to note that there is no significant difference between charging or noncharging museums in terms of the amount of self-generated income. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

25 4.1 Financial Situation Shop Income Museums shops provide an additional income but also function as an extension to the museum and have an important educational, social as well as public relations role. The success of a museums shop very much depends on a variety of factors such as the right setup, the optimum location and design of the shop area, and the right price and stock of merchandise. However, a successful shop needs sufficient visitor numbers to be sustainable. The museum shop should make a profit whether it is run as an own entity or handled within the ticket service to contribute effectively and significantly to the museum s income. The survey reveals that 75% of the national museums and 71% of the regional museums do have a shop. All of the national museums who have a shop run them as an integrated shop/ticket area which proves to be in general quite a resourceful and efficient set-up. Only the Slovenski šolski muzej runs the shop as a separate entity. 100% Museums with Shop 80% 60% 70% 67% 71% 40% 20% 0% All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 6: Museums with Shop Final Report Kulturagenda, February

26 4.1 Financial Situation Performance Indicator - shop income/visits To verify the relative success of a shop a performance indicator is defined as the ratio between shop income and the number of visits. 1,80 Average Income Euros per Visit 1,60 1,40 1,20 1,00 0,80 0,60 0,40 0,20 0,00 1,59 1,04 0,89 0,66 0,70 0,55 n = 45 n = 11 n = 34 n = 42 n = 9 n = 33 Shop Income Ticket Sales n All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 7: Average Income Euros per Visit The diagram above shows that the average income per visitor is significantly higher from ticket sales than from sales in the shop. The average income from shop sales at national museums is 0.55 whereas the average income at regional museums is slightly higher at 0.70 (for details see table below). This difference is not significant, however, comparisons between individual museums show that the national museums tend to be less successful with their shop enterprise than their regional counterparts. Performance Indicator Shop Income/Visit (average in ) National Museums (Average) 0.55 Regional Museums (Average) 0.70 high level 1 Slovenski gledališki muzej 1.56 Galerija Murska Sobota Narodna galerija 0.96 Miklova hiša Ribnica Slovenski šolski muzej 0.64 Pokrajinski muzej Celje 2.03 low level 1 Slovenska kinoteka 0.21 Obalne galerije Piran Tehniški muzej Slovenije 0.31 Loški muzej Škofja Loka Moderna galerija 0.36 Pokrajinski muzej Ptuj - Ormož 0.04 Table 6: Performance Indicator: Shop Income/Visit The Galerija Murska Sobota is a special case - shop sales at the gallery seem exceedingly high with an income per visitor of 7.39 far beyond the average of The high figure of Final Report Kulturagenda, February

27 4.1 Financial Situation sales income is due to the fact that the gallery sells artwork on commission where it gets 10-20% of the purchase fee. This fact also explains why the gallery does not have any substantial expenditure on the shop. In total, slightly under 500,000 are generated through shop sales and it is apparent that Slovenian museums are only generating moderate additional income through their shop enterprises. Ticket Sales 83.3% of the national and 88.6% of regional museums charge admission (see Diagram 8). Income from ticket sales is directly related to visitor numbers but it is also heavily dependent on the ticket pricing and admissions policy, such as concessions and free entry allowance. On average admissions are the largest self-generated revenue stream for both national (average 32.4%) and regional museums (average 24.7%). 100% Museums Charging Admission 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 87,2% 83,3% 88,6% All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 8: Museums Charging Admission Only two national museums do not charge admission: the Muzej športa and the Slovenski gledališki muzej. Full price tickets at national museums range from 3 7 (average 4.17). Full price tickets at regional museums are on average 32% lower and range from (average 2.84). The Narodna galerija generates the highest income from ticket sales of all museums with 224,395, followed by the Pokrajinski muzej Ptuj Ormož with a total income from ticket sales of 129,145, and the Tehniški muzej Slovenije with 102,522 (all figures are for 2008). Final Report Kulturagenda, February

28 4.1 Financial Situation Performance Indicator ticket sales/visits The performance indicator ticket sales/visit is defined as the ratio between total income from admissions and the number of visits. The average income from ticket sales per visit at national museums is 1.59 whereas the average income at regional museums is at 0.89 considerably lower (for details see table below). Performance Indicator Ticket Income/Visit (average in ) National Museums (Average) 1.59 Regional Museums (Average) 0.89 best level 1 Slovenska Kinoteka 2.59 Pokrajinski muzej Maribor Narodna Galerija 2.52 Javni zavod Muzej Velenje Tehniški Muzej Slovenije 2.27 Pokrajinski muzej Ptuj - Ormož 1.90 worst level 1 Slovenski Solski Muzej 0.71 Pilonova galerija Ajdovščina Slovenski Etnografski Muzej 0.92 Umetnostna galerija Maribor Narodni Muzej Slovenije 1.07 Obalne galerije Piran 0.15 Table 7: Performance Indicator: Ticket Income/Visit It is not surprising that because of the lower admission charges the average income from admissions for regional museums ( 21,465) is only a third of national museums figure ( 64,331) and thus the performance indicator is lower. Another factor which influences this performance indicator is the ratio of free entry versus paid entry. Good performers such as the Narodni galerija or the Tehniški muzej Slovenije have given free entry to 45.8% and 16.7% of their visitors, respectively. In comparison the Slovenski etnografski muzej gives free admission to 57% of its visitors which is certainly one of the reasons why it has a lower performance indicator in this category. The charts below give details on the average ratios between free admission, concession and full-price admissions. As can be seen, national museums have on average, with 12%, a significantly lower proportion of full-price tickets compared to regional museums where this segment is 37%. However, the national museums have a higher proportion of concessions (45% versus 8%). In the national museums free entries make up just under half of all admissions and in the regional museums just over half. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

29 4.1 Financial Situation Regional Museums National Museums All Museums 55% 37% 8% 44% 12% 45% 51% 30% 19% Full-price Tickets [n = 8 (national) n = 31 (regional)] Free [n = 11 (national) n = 31 (regional)] Concessions [n = 8 (national) n = 15 (regional)] Diagram 9: Free Admission/Concessions/Full-price Admission Other Income Activities As stated above (see Diagram 4 and Diagram 5) there are other income streams for museums to consider for generating additional income. Cafe It is always necessary for museums to consider the needs of its visitors and thus providing a cafe is part of good customer service. However operating a café also very much depends on the location, visitor numbers, personnel resources and space and licensing restrictions. There is a very wide spectrum of options in the provision of food and drink by museums, ranging from a vending machine with drinks and snacks and a few tables to a full restaurant where food and drinks are served. In total 14 museums (or 29.8%) stated in the questionnaire that they have a café however only 4 museums indicated corresponding budget figures from the café operation (see Diagram 4 and Diagram 5). This means that overall income from cafés is very marginal, however the Slovenski etnografski muzej generates 21.7% of its self-generated income ( 31,475) through its café. Fundraising & Sponsorship In terms of generating income through fundraising and sponsorship the collected data show that regional museums tend to have a higher average income from those two sources (12.9% % - see again Diagram 4 and Diagram 5) than the nationals with an average of 4.7% and 2.3%. Again the only active national museum in terms of fundraising is the Slovenski etnografski muzej ( 32,405) whereas very active regional museums such as the Mestni muzej Idrija ( 137,973) and the Dolenjski muzej Novo Mesto ( 46,750) generate even higher absolute figures. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

30 4.1 Financial Situation Events The Narodni muzej Slovenije leads the way in generating income from events. In 2008 the largest museum in Slovenia generated almost 50% of its self-generated income ( 188,703) through events, followed by the Obalne galerije Piran 20 with 41,242 and the Narodna galerija with 31,597. Overall it is noteworthy that the national museums tend to generate a higher proportion of income through events than their regional counterparts. Lending fees Three institutions generate considerable income through lending fees such as the Arhitekturni muzej Ljubljana with 115,195 (45.9% of its self-generated income), the Narodna galerija with 92,550 (18.3%) and the Muzej narodne osvoboditve Maribor with 33,000 (46.7%). The figures from the first two institutions imply a very active policy of collection lending, very likely with an international appeal because of their valuable collections. Rental fees A good opportunity to generate additional income for museums with excellent facilities is to make their facilities available to outside organizations. To be successful in this strict policies and procedures need to be in place and each museum needs to consider ethical as well as programmatic and image issues so that the museum s integrity is not in danger of discreditation. It is interesting to note that the regional museums tend to make better use of their facilities and rentals make on average 11.1% of their self-generated income, compared to national museums where it is only 2.2%. This figure correlates with the fact that art galleries seem to generate significantly higher revenues through rentals than the other two museum categories. The highest income through rental fees is generated by the Galerije in muzej mesta Ljubljane which generates 130,013 or 44.6% of its income. The fact that this gallery is located in Ljubljana does certainly have an impact on the amount of generated revenue indicating that museums can expect higher revenue figures when located in major cities or in the capital city. 20 Budget data are not trustworthy Final Report Kulturagenda, February

31 4.1 Financial Situation Operating Budget (Expenses) The main goal of sound financial management is to develop and maintain a sustainable financial situation that allows a museum to work towards its mission-related objectives and provide high quality service to all its stakeholders. Thus one of the fundamentals of museums management responsibility is to set a robust yearly operating budget that guarantees a smooth day-to-day running of an institution that also reflects the relationship between operating expenditure and income. While the operating income includes all subsidies from funders and the self-generated income, the operating expenditure is the money which needs to be paid for producing all museum services and includes costs for staff salaries, maintenance, collections management, marketing and programming, etc. The difference between income and expenditure should be balanced and not run into deficit. In 2008 the average operating budget for national museums was 1,370,274 and varied from between 61,583 (Muzej športa) to 3,504,212 (Narodni muzej Slovenije). The total operating budget for national museums increased between 2006 and 2008 by 13.1%. ( 14,533,002 to 16,443,285). In 2008 the average operating budget for regional museums was 662,660 and varied from 167,349 (Pilonova galerija Ajdovščina) to 2,023,672 (Galerije in muzej mesta Ljubljane). The total operating budget for regional museums increased between 2006 and 2008 by 5.4% ( 22,010,021 to 23,193,103). Budget Criteria According to the criteria of government-funded museums in Slovenia, institutions were supposed to have positive financial results in the last two years. 21 However only 19 museums (or 40.4%) fulfilled this requirement and only two of them are national museums (Tehniški muzej Slovenije and Narodna galerija). It seems that this criteria needs to be re-examined and it would probably be better to consider a time frame of three years and to make it feasible to include an allowance of a certain percentage of the operating budget by which a museum can be overdrawn. The museum however would need to prove how it will deal with this overdraft and cover the negative balance in the following years. 21 see appendix II / A in part 2 of the report (RAZVID) Final Report Kulturagenda, February

32 4,9% 5,4% 4,6% 12,7% 16,3% 10,2% 1,0% 1,2% 0,9% 5,6% 2,1% 8,1% 1,5% 3,6% 0,1% 0,2% 0,5% 0,1% 0,5% 0,7% 0,3% 3,8% 4,1% 3,6% 16,5% 17,1% 16,1% 53,1% 49,0% 56,1% 4.1 Financial Situation Expenditure by different Cost Categories 60% Expenditure 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 10: Expenditure As expected, Diagram 10 above clearly shows that the main budget expense is for staffing. National museums spent on average 49% on staffing whereas regional museum spent a slightly higher proportion (56%). Diagram 11 clearly shows that art galleries in general spend less on average on staffing than museums in other categories. The second highest expense with no real significant differences between the national and regional museums is spent on programming (17.1% and 16.1%). It is also evident that art museums spent on average significantly more on programming than other museums (see Diagram 11). Other significant cost factors are running costs, costs for building and special projects and costs for collections management. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

33 10,1% 5,7% 3,8% 6,8% 1,9% 0,6% 1,0% 6,6% 6,7% 1,7% 1,7% 1,2% 2,3% 0,0% 0,3% 0,2% 0,4% 0,3% 1,0% 1,1% 5,2% 3,5% 15,7% 15,5% 13,5% 15,8% 23,2% 43,8% 52,1% 58,2% 4.1 Financial Situation Expenditure 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Art Galleries Multipurpose Museums Specialised Museums Diagram 11: Expenditure A-M-S Staffing Costs (salaries, insurance etc.) In general staffing costs in the museums sector in Europe are normally between 45% and 65% depending very much on individual and regional circumstances and the type of museum. Proportions of over 65% are regarded as an imbalanced budget since there would be very little budget for what a museum is actually supposed to do. The variation in national museums is between 22.3% (Slovenska kinoteka) and 96.7% (Muzej športa). The highest staffing cost of all surveyed museums in relation to the operating budget seem to occur at the Muzej športa however these data are slightly questionable since the museum does not state any further expenses except for running the premises. It is also interesting to note that amongst the larger museums and galleries the Narodna Galerija has the lowest staffing cost with 33% which relates directly to the fact that the gallery has comparatively low staffing resources (see performance indicator staff/1,000 visitors on page 42 (Table 10). As we can see from the data, larger museums tend to have on average lower overall staffing costs as a proportion of the total operating budget. The variation in regional museums is between 40.6% (Obalne galerije Piran) and 77.1% (Notranjski muzej Postojna). The highest staff cost in regional museums is incurred by the Notranjski muzej Postojna which spends 77% of its budget on staffing followed by the Posavski muzej Brežice with 75.2%. The museum in Postojna although categorized as a small museum does have a large Final Report Kulturagenda, February

34 4.1 Financial Situation and diverse collection in comparison to other museums in this category. To meet the needs, staffing is relatively high it employs 4 curators, one conservator and one member of staff for documentation. This example shows clearly that once staff costs are well over 70% of the total expenditure a museum has very little budget flexibility and therefore has extremely limited options to improve services and deliver engaging programmes. Obalne galerija Piran has the lowest spend on staffing as a percentage of the operating budget with 40.6% and then Mestni muzej Idrija with 40.7% - both of them are categorized as large museums, 22 however they have less than 20 members of staff (Obalne galerije Piran with 10 staff; Mestni muzej Idrija with 13 staff). In addition the Obalne galerije Piran has one of the smallest collections of all the museums surveyed (just over 1,000 objects). Running Costs In the survey museum running costs were defined as costs for rent payment, maintenance (building & equipment), utilities (electricity, telephone, etc.), IT and equipment, and costs for administration including procurement of stationery and necessary equipment. Overall all museums on average spent about 12.7% on running costs which is very much in line with comparable museum figures (in general between 10% and 15%). In comparison national museums seem to have significantly higher running costs (16.3%) than regional museums (10.2%) (see Diagram 10). It is clear from the survey that operating budgets depend on the amount museums need to pay for the rent of their premises or buildings. In 2008, 75% or nine national and 83% or 29 regional museums paid rent for their premises or buildings. As one good example to better compare running costs the diagram below has been compiled to compare running costs in absolute numbers between the Narodni muzej Slovenije and the Tehniški muzej Slovenije. Data reveal that the Narodni muzej Slovenije as the largest museum in Slovenia pays far less rent than the Tehniški muzej Slovenije. Although the Tehniški muzej Slovenije has an almost two-thirds larger total floor space than the Narodni muzej Slovenije the maintenance costs are considerably lower ( 67,915 compared to 20,502). Interesting also that expenditure for IT and equipment is far less at the Tehniški muzej Slovenije ( 17,075) compared to the Narodni muzej Slovenije ( 102,417). One would expect that these costs are considerable higher especially when considering the larger floor space and the fact that usually technical museums have high maintenance costs for equipment and especially interactives. 22 See chapter on page 26 for the categories small, medium and large museums. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

35 Financial Situation Comparison Running Costs Rent Maintanance Utilities IT & Equipement Administration Other Narodni muzej Slovenije Tehniški muzej Slovenije Diagram 12: Comparison Running Costs Rent Rental payments differ hugely and it is apparent that only a few museums pay substantial rents which has an effect on budget needs, such as the Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije ( 109,477) or the Moderna galerija ( 150,806). Some museums even don t pay any rent: three nationals (Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem, Muzej športa, Narodna galerija) and five regionals (Gornjesavski muzej Jesenice, Pokrajinski muzej Koper, Tržiški muzej, Javni zavod Muzej Velenje, Arhitekturni muzej Ljubljana). A better way is to compare rents on a square meter basis: the Slovenski šolski muzej pays the highest rent of all museums with 37.4 per square meter followed by the Moderna galerija with The highest rental payments of the regional museums are paid by the Miklova hiša Ribnica with 12.9 and the Dolenjski muzej Novo Mesto with Miklova hiša Ribnica spends about 20% of its operating budget on running costs (this includes rent payment) whereas the Tržiški muzej only spends 4%. The running costs of the Tržiški muzej seem surprisingly low since the museum services 7 branches, however it does not pay any rent and is a locally-funded museum. It is apparent that those museums which pay a substantial rent have way above average running costs in each of their categories, which has an impact on overall budget and subsequently on funding requirements. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

36 4.1 Financial Situation Collection Acquisition 23 In 2008 all but three national museums acquired new objects and spent in total just under 440,000 (on average 48,800 per museum or 2.7% of the total operating budget). The average figure is almost five times higher than average spending at the regional level where 9,700 was spent per museum. In 2008 regional museums spent 291,000 on acquiring new objects. In the national museum category the Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem had the highest spend on collection acquistion with 15.8% of its total operating expenditure followed by the Slovenska kinoteka with 9.1% and the Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije with 6.3%. Collection acquisition through purchases seems to take an even smaller role in most of the regional museums surveyed. It is obvious from the data that specifically art galleries spend more on object acquisition than other museums with more diverse collections however the average spending on acquisitions was 1.3% of the operational budget for regional museums. The highest spender on object acquisition amongst regional museums is the Galerija Murska Sobota which spent just over 7.2% in 2008 followed by the Mednarodni grafični likovni center Ljubljana which spent 5.4% and the Pokrajinski muzej Celje which spent 4.7% of its total budget on acquisition. It is interesting to note that larger museums and galleries on average spend significantly less on acquisitions than smaller and medium sized museums. The available data also suggest that due to budget constraints most of the museums spent only moderate sums on collection purchases. Conservation/Restoration 24 From the 12 national museums only four (or 33%) stated expenses in 2008 for conservation and restoration. Costs amounted in total to 154,400 with the Narodni muzej Slovenije and the Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije stating the highest figures. It is interesting to note that both the Narodna galerija and the Slovenski etnografski muzej do not indicate any costs for restoration. One reason might be that they have eight and four restoration staff respectively which means they do their own restoration and do not need to outsource any services however there should be at least some material costs. Only seven regional museums (20%) stated expenses in 2008 for conservation which were between 0.03% (Mestni muzej Idrija) and 3.8% (Gornjesavski muzej Jesenice) of the total expenses. However 28 museums confirmed in the questionnaire that they had conserved, 23 for further details please also see chapter page 70ff 24 for further details please see chapter on page 78ff Final Report Kulturagenda, February

37 4.1 Financial Situation renovated or preventively treated objects from their collections. These museums also specified the numbers of objects which have been treated. Publications Publications play an important role in the Slovenian museums sector. Half of the national museums stated specific costs for publications and on average they spent about 2.2% of their operations budget on publications which indicates that these museums have a strong academic focus. In 2008 the Narodni galerija spent the most with 122,361, followed by the Narodni muzej Slovenije with 74,258. Small regional museums tend to have a slightly higher proportion of costs for publications (average 5%) than larger ones. In some museums it is even beyond 10% of the total operating budget such as at the Pilonova galerija Ajdovščina or the Zasavski muzej Trbovlje. The Miklova hiša Ribnica is the only regional museum that did not indicate any costs for publications. Special exhibition catalogues normally also fall under publications budget however it is assumed that some of these costs might have been paid for from the programming budget. Programmes 25 Data show that in Slovenia programmes are on average the second largest cost factor after staffing. There is no significant difference between national museums, which spent on average 17.1% of their operations budget on programming, and regional museums, which spent on average 16.1%. However there is much variation in spending with a range from 1.1% to almost 25% of the total expenditure. Needless to say, the expenditure is directly related to the quantity and variety of programs offered and is an indicator for lively and active museums. Most of this cost factor is related to special exhibitions and related costs. Data suggest that large museums spend more on programming than smaller museums. Most of the museums who have stated very low expenditure on programming (below 10%) did not provide any data on their activities, however it seems apparent that museums who offer various programs also have higher costs. 25 for further details please also see chapter 4.6 page 98ff Final Report Kulturagenda, February

38 4.1 Financial Situation Performance Indicator - Expenditure per visit Data reveal that there is a significant relationship between visitor numbers and total expenditure of museums. The higher the visitor numbers, the higher the total costs and vice versa. The factor expenditure in relation to visitation is one of the chosen performance indicators and is on average in Slovenia. Performance Indicator Expenditure/Visit (average in ) National Museums (Average) Regional Museums (Average) low level 1 Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem Loški muzej Škofja Loka Narodna Galerija Muzej novejše zgodovine Celje Tehniški Muzej Slovenije Pokrajinski muzej Kočevje high level 1 Slovenski gledališki muzej Pokrajinski muzej Maribor Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije Goriški muzej Kromberk - Nova Goric Moderna galerija Pokrajinski muzej Murska Sobota Table 8: Performance Indicator: Expenditure/Visit Similar to the performance indicator subsidy per visit, the lower the factor the better the value for money. It is apparent that national museums have a significantly higher ratio: average spending at national museums is with per visit considerably higher than per visit spent on average by regional museums, as can be seen in the table above. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

39 4.2 Human Resources 4.2 Human Resources An efficient and effective organisation that can engage audiences in the long term needs skilled and well-trained people from different backgrounds and professions which are vital for the success of a museum in the 21 st century. This need is not different in Slovenia, thus the move to a more open and visitor-centred institution must also be reflected in the way museums are structured and staffed. The survey also tried to evaluate the provision of staffing position on the background of government directives 26 which formed part of museums funding criteria. According to these criteria government-funded museums had to provide organisational charts as well as employ three or more museums professionals such as: Conservation staff (unless outsourced and only when the collection contained sensitive objects) Documentation staff Education/PR staff Visitor service staff Technician Librarian (when over 15,000 books) While the survey focused on positions, staffing levels and size of operation it did not specifically look into managing human resources or the effectiveness of the individual institutions organisational structure. This can be part of another phase in the evaluation process and recommendations will be made later in the document on the development of effective organisations and how this can enhance museums services. Directors were asked during the survey what their most pressing needs are. 67% of all national museums directors ranked staffing issues first and 51% of all regional museums directors a close second after problems with storage space. They are concerned about staffing levels and how budgets can be raised to increase service delivery and effectiveness Operation Size and Staffing Levels Data from the survey show that there is no significant relationship between the number of branches and the number of staff employed at any particular museum. Thus museums that have a large number of branches do not necessarily have significantly higher staff quotas. A good example is the Tržiški muzej, which has 7 branches but only 4.5 members of staff which is one of the smallest staff teams of all the museums surveyed. The same seems to 26 see also appendix II / 1 in part 2 of the report (RAZVID) Final Report Kulturagenda, February

40 6,3% 10,5% 14,9% 19,6% 26,6% 27,0% 47,5% 47,6% 4.2 Human Resources apply to the Goriški muzej Kromberk - Nova Gorica with 17 branches and only 23 members of staff. Both museums have services partly outsourced, such as security, IT or maintenance. As can be seen in the diagram below museums and galleries in Slovenia seem to be very much curator-led institutions. Staffing resources in the category Collection & Exhibition which includes curators, conservators, documentation personnel, research assistants and exhibition designers make up on average almost half of all human resources (48%). It is interesting to note that there is hardly any difference between national and regional museums. 50% Staffing Resources 40% 30% 20% National Museums Regional Museums 10% 0% Operation & Administration Collection & Exhibition Programmes & Education Other Services Diagram 13: Staffing Resources The second highest proportion of staff are in the category Operations & Administration. This category makes up just over a quarter of all human resources (26.8%) with similar proportions in national and regional museums; the majority of staff in this category are working in maintenance. Only slight differences between nationals and regionals do occur in the category Programmes & Education and it seems that national museums have on average higher staff numbers in education than regional museums however this difference is not significant (nationals: 1.6 education staff per museums; regionals: 1.1 per museum) The category Other Services also reveals some differences, albeit not significant. This category includes librarians, archivists, photographers, handymen, security and janitorial staff but also staff for other services such as cleaning, shop or the café. Comparing art museums with multipurpose and specialised museums one can see that art museums tend to have on average a significantly lower proportion of staff in the category Collection & Exhibitions but a slightly higher proportion of operations/administration staff. In all other categories the differences are not significant (see diagram below). Final Report Kulturagenda, February

41 , , ,5 8,9% 9,7% 7,1% 18,3% 15,8% 17,2% 23,2% 29,0% 33,9% 39,0% 46,7% 51,4% 4.2 Human Resources Staff Comparison 60% 50% 40% 30% Art Galleries 20% Multipurpose Museums Specialised Museums 10% 0% Operation & Administration Collection & Exhibition Programmes & Education Other Services Diagram 14: Staffing Comparisons A-M-S Staff positions As mentioned above, curators constitute the highest number of all museums professionals in the Slovenian museums sector. National museums employ in total 80 curators (average of 6.6 per museum) and regional museums employ curators (average of 4.7 per museum). Collection & Exhibition - Staff National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 15: Collection & Exhibition Staff Cross referencing of data showed that there is a significant relationship between the number of curators and the number of objects, i.e., with an increasing number of objects there is a higher number of curators and vice versa. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

42 4.2 Human Resources On average each curator is responsible for 27,966 objects while each documentation staff handles on average 153,029. In contrast to the situation with curators, there is no correlation between the number of documentation staff and the number of objects, i.e., with increasing numbers of objects the number of documentation staff does not necessarily increase. On average documentation officers handle 142,611 objects in national museums and 158,327 objects in regional museums. Objects / Curator Objects / Documentation Officer Objects / Documentation Officer National Museums Objects / Documentation Officer Regional Museums Diagram 16: Objects per Curator & Objects per Documentation Officer While a registrar is important for museums with large collections this position is only mentioned once in the survey (Narodna galerija; see Diagram 15). 27 museums (57%) have documentation personnel employed, however cross-referencing data do reveal that there is no significant relationship between the number of staff working in documentation and the average rate of documented objects regional (46%) and two national (17%) museums do not have a conservator (or assistant) in-house. Each of the total 78 conservators (or assistants) (34 national and 44 regional museum conservators) looks after about 87,300 items on average with a higher figure for regional (106,151) than for national museums (62,917). 35 museums state that they outsource part of their restoration work. 27 see chapter Documentation, Table 22 on page 76 Final Report Kulturagenda, February

43 , Human Resources Objects / Conservator All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 17: Objects per Conservator Of concern is the low level of personnel working in education. 14 out of 35 regional museums (40%) and five out of 12 national museums (42%) do not have any staff on board solely dedicated to education. However data from Part 2 of the questionnaire show that even those museums which do not have education staff employed do offer a variety of educational programmes for schools and other target groups. This suggests that curators are also very much engaged in educational activities, however the roles of a curator and an education professional differ enormously in their skill base and scope of work. The diagram below provides some absolute numbers of staff positions for education, events and guiding services Programmes & Education - Staff Education Events Guides National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 18: Programme & Education Staff The lack of visitor focus is further highlighted by the limited number of personnel dedicated to visitor services (see diagram below with absolute figures). Only 10 out of 35 regional Final Report Kulturagenda, February

44 , Human Resources museums (28.5%) and 6 national museums (50%) employ visitor service personnel. It is obvious that these positions become more relevant once a museum is considered a medium or large museum, but even in these categories visitor services do not seem to be a priority. In total national and regional museums have 21.5 full-time visitor services staff, which when calculated on average for the 47 museums surveyed is not even one 50% full-time position. Operation & Administration - Staff National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 19: Operation & Administration Staff Another area where staffing levels are very low is marketing and PR. Only five regional museums (14%) and four national museums (33%) have a dedicated marketing professional amongst their staff (in total there are only nine marketing staff). This directly relates to the small amount of budget dedicated to marketing. However, the majority of museums carry out various marketing activities 28 which suggest that other personnel have supplementary marketing responsibilities in their scope of work. Two museums, the Slovenski gledališki muzej and the Slovenska kinoteka, have indicated that their director and other senior staff are carrying out marketing activities. At the Slovenski šolski muzej the whole staff team contributes to marketing efforts and at the Moderna galerija marketing is part of the education department s responsibility. Eight out of 35 regional (23%) and nine out of 12 national museums (75%) employ a librarian. The expenses stated in the budget sheets for libraries were very moderate, however museums with librarians do spend significantly more than museums without. It is also the larger museums which tend to have librarians on their staff team, since larger museums are more likely to have substantial book collections. Government funding policy also requested one librarian once the book collection is beyond 15,000 items. 28 see Diagram 60 on page 107 Final Report Kulturagenda, February

45 , ,5 8, ,5 21,5 32,5 4.2 Human Resources Other Services - Staff National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 20: Other Services Staff With regards to security services and staffing only two museums, the Narodni muzej Slovenije and the Mestni muzej Idrija have their own in-house security staff, eight museums have some sort of combination between in-house and outsourced services and the vast majority of museums (37 museums = 79%) have their security outsourced. 34 museums (72%) have their own in-house cleaning service (this includes three museums with a combination of in-house and outsourced), thus it is not surprising that this category has one of the highest staff numbers. Cleaning staff numbers can vary from 1 to 5 per museum. Only 2 national museums and 18 regional museums have a janitorial in-house service with a maximum of 2 staff members. It is interesting to note that 6 national museums (50%) employ a total of 9 photographers. The Narodna galerija, the Moderna galerija and the Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije have 2 photographers each, and the Narodni muzej Slovenije, the Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije and Slovenski etnografski muzej employ one each Staff Expenses In 2008 the average human resource expenditure in national museums was 26,426 per member of staff and not very different to regional museums which spent 25,663 per staff (see table below). However there is a substantial variation at national museums from 14,760 at the Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem to 32,637 at the Slovenski gledališki muzej. Variations in regional museums are between 15,731 (Pilonova galerija Ajdovščina) and 35,055 (Obalne galerije Piran). Final Report Kulturagenda, February

46 Human Resources Performance Indicator HR Expenditure / staff National Museums (Average) 26,426 Regional Museums (Average) 25,610 high level 1 Slovenski gledališki muzej 32,637 Obalne galerije Piran 35,055 2 Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije 31,105 Tolminski muzej 30,984 3 Muzej športa 29,769 Goriški muzej Kromberk - Nova Gorica 30,768 low level 1 Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem 14,760 Pilonova galerija Ajdovščina 15,731 2 Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije 23,770 Pokrajinski muzej Kočevje 20,742 3 Narodna galerija 25,223 Koroška galerija likovnih Umetnosti 21,381 Table 9: Performance Indicator: HR Expenditure/Staff From the diagram below it appears that art galleries have slightly lower staff costs than any other museums category. Expenditure Human Resources per Staff All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Art Galleries Multipurpose Museums Specialised Museums Diagram 21: Expenditure Human Resources per Staff Staff Ratio The staff ratio per 1,000 visitors is another performance indicator that needs to be considered and indicates staffing resource levels at any particular museum or gallery. One can say that government funded museums and galleries in Slovenia have on average one staff member per 1,000 visitors. It is interesting to note that the ratio is lower in regional museums (0.93) compared to national museums (1.51). International comparables show this number in visitor focused museums can be about 0.20, which indicates that other museums internationally operate successfully with even lower staff resources. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

47 4.2 Human Resources In national museums the ratio varies between 0.41 at the Narodna galerija and 5.04 at the Slovenski gledališki muzej which is also the highest ratio of any museums surveyed. In regional museums the ratios tend to be slightly lower, with a range from 0.15 at the Obalne galerije Piran to 4.37 at the Pokrajinski muzej Maribor. Performance Indicator Staff / 1,000 Visits National Museums (Average) 1.51 Regional Museums (Average) 0.93 high level 1 Slovenski gledališki muzej 5.04 Pokrajinski muzej Maribor Muzej športa 2.74 Goriški muzej Kromberk - Nova Gorica Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije 2.70 Pokrajinski muzej Murska Sobota 2.32 low level 1 Narodna galerija 0.41 Obalne galerije Piran Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem 0.49 Loški muzej Škofja Loka Slovenska kinoteka 0.57 Muzeji radovljiške občine Radovljica 0.28 Table 10: Performance Indicator: Staff/1,000 Visits 18 of the directors of regional and 8 directors of national museums voiced great concern about their current staffing level and it is of interest to examine the staff ratio per 1,000 visitors in these museums more closely. Of those who have raised concerns it appears that the regionals such as Pokrajinski muzej Maribor (4.37), the Goriški muzej Kromberk - Nova Gorica (3.10), the Pokrajinski muzej Celje (2.25) and the Galerija Murska Sobota (1.11) have a much higher ratio than average and in those cases it is very likely that the wish for more staff can be contested. The same applies to three of the national museums such as the Slovenski gledališki muzej (5.04), the Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije (2.70) and the Moderna galerija (1.75). On the other hand there are museums with very low ratios such as the Loški muzej Škofja Loka (0.21), the Muzeji radovljiške občine Radovljica (0.28), the Muzej novejše zgodovine Celje (0.30), the Belokranjski muzej Metlika (0.32) and the Pomorski muzej Piran (0.38) from the regional category, and nationals such as the Narodni galerija (0.41), the Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem (0.49) and the Tehniški muzej Slovenije (0.73) here it looks very likely that their request for more staff is genuine and thus very urgent for further details please see Part 2 Appendices III Data comparison Final Report Kulturagenda, February

48 4.2 Human Resources Staff Training The amount spent per staff on training at Slovenian museums is generally very low. It seems that staff training was not an issue for two national museums notably the Tehniški muzej Slovenije and the Muzej športa and also two regional museums the Medobčinski muzej Kamnik and the Pilonova galerija Ajdovščina where no money was spent in 2008 on staff training or development. Regional museums expenses on staff training varied between 393 (Pokrajinski muzej Murska Sobota) and 20 (Pomorski muzej Piran), whereas national museums spent considerably less, here figures vary from 217 (Slovenski šolski muzej) to 44 (Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije). In regional museums staff training seems to be taken slightly more seriously in larger museums, however in total only 7 museums (20%) namely the Loški muzej Škofja Loka (1.1%), the Pokrajinski muzej Murska Sobota (1.6%), the Galerija Božidar Jakac Kostanjevica na Krki (1.2%), the Muzej novejše zgodovine Celje (1.2%), the Pokrajinski muzej Ptuj - Ormož (1.5%) and the Galerije in muzej mesta Ljubljane (1.3%), dedicate over 1% of their staff budget for training. None of the national museums spent more than 1% of their human resource budget on staff training The Role of Volunteers 22 museums (47%) use volunteers in their day-to-day operations, albeit at a very low level with regard to numbers. The largest volunteer force has the Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije with 60 volunteers 30 alone and the remainder of the 22 museums engage around 4 volunteers as part of their workforce. Recommendations on volunteer participation and further development and will be highlighted in chapter For birdwatching Final Report Kulturagenda, February

49 4.3 Buildings 4.3 Buildings 70% of all 47 publicly-funded Slovenian museums are located in historical buildings defined as older than about 120 years and only 15.9% of all edifices were purpose-built (see photos below). Overall there is a significant difference between art galleries and museums: 30% of art galleries but only 8% of museums are in purpose-built buildings. Differences occur between the 12 national and 35 regional museums. Half of the national museums are in pre-20 th century buildings, (two of them were built as museums in the late 19 th century), but 77% of the regional museums are in historical buildings, including about a third in castles, and none of the regional museums in pre-20 th century buildings are in purpose-built buildings. Photo 1 Tehniški muzej Slovenije Photo 2 Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije Photo 3 Miklova hiša Ribnica Photo 4 Javni zavod Muzej Velenje Final Report Kulturagenda, February

50 4.3 Buildings Photo 5 Notranjski muzej Postojna Photo 6 Medobčinski muzej Kamnik The remainder eight of the regional museums 31 is housed in buildings from the 20 th century, and only two of them purpose-built. These factors have a strong impact on museums operations since space capacity barely meets functional requirements, both in terms of achieving high quality standards and also in meeting visitor needs and expectations. Building insurance 10 of the national and 30 of the regional museums answered the question concerning the insurance of their building. From the available data we can conclude the following: Nine of the national museums have their buildings insured however only six indicate their value: it starts at 332,965 (Slovenski gledališki muzej) and goes up to 14,000,000 (Narodna galerija). Amongst the 30 regional museums, 26 have building insurance and the values of the 19 who indicate values are between 116,851 (Pilonova galerija Ajdovščina) and 5,882,569 (Pokrajinski muzej Ptuj Ormož). The value distribution is as follows: up to 200, ,000 to 500, ,000 to 1,000,000 1,000,001 to 10,000,000 more than 10,000,000 maximum 6 National Museums Regional Museums Table 11: Value of Buildings for Insurance A fact that needs to be considered when comparing operating budgets is that 14 of the 26 regional museums indicated that they pay their insurance rates from their own budget. For 31 Muzej novejše zgodovine Celje, Pokrajinski muzej Kočevje, Galerije in muzej mesta Ljubljane, Pokrajinski muzej Murska Sobota, Notranjski muzej Postojna, Pilonova galerija Ajdovščina, Galerija Murska Sobota, Obalne galerije Piran Final Report Kulturagenda, February

51 4.3 Buildings 10 museums the owner / the municipality / the city pays the rate, and in two cases insurance payments are funded via different sources. Dislocated Units/Branches Six of the national museums (or 50%) have dislocated units (branches) and of these, three have one branch and another two have three branches. In contrast, 80% of the regional museums have branches: 75% have between one and five, and 18% have six or seven. The remainder (7%) are extreme examples such as the Goriški muzej Kromberk - Nova Gorica with 17 and the Koroški pokrajinski muzej Slovenj Gradec with 35 branches. It is not very surprising that five of the seven regional museums with no dislocated units are small museums Condition The survey showed that many regional museums are in a critical condition, some of which are waiting for renovation projects to start, others for projects to be finally finished, with both circumstances having a major impact on operations. The photos below illustrate some examples of the current situation. Asked for the three most urgent/pressing problems or needs, 26% of the regional museums directors mentioned renovation and maintenance of their museum buildings as one of the top priorities, ranking third after the need for proper storage and better staff resources. In the questionnaire, a sample of 26 institutions rated the buildings condition with an average grade of 2.2 on a scale of 1 (excellent) to 4 (very critical). That sounds less alarming than it is, however there are 35% museums in poor or very critical condition and museums with obvious problems (for example the Pokrajinski muzej of Maribor) or under renovation for quite a long time (for example Pokrajinski muzej Celje) are not included in the sample of the 26. Nevertheless in total 67% of this sample have a restoration plan for their building. Photo 7 Umetnostna galerija Maribor Photo 8 Pokrajinski muzej Celje Final Report Kulturagenda, February

52 4.3 Buildings Photo 9 Pokrajinski muzej Maribor Photo 10 Obalne galerije Piran Photo 11 Gornjesavski muzej Jesenice Photo 12 Posavski muzej Brežice The need for renovation and new space seems endless, and it is a problematic issue even in museums which did not highlight these as problems. Only two of the 12 national museums directors mentioned the bad condition of their building as one of their three most urgent problems. It is obvious that there is an urgent need for a multitude of renovation tasks at the Tehniški muzej Slovenije. Photo 13 Tehniški muzej Slovenije Photo 14 Tehniški muzej Slovenije Photo 15 Tehniški muzej Slovenije Final Report Kulturagenda, February

53 1. Exterior Shell / Walls 2. Roof 3. Windows 4. Floors 5. Interior Walls / Ceilings Average for questions 1 to 5 6. Electrical Installations 7. Water Installations 8. Heating 9.Toilet & Wash Room Facilities Average for Questions 6 to Buildings As the data obtained from the regional museums (Phase 1) did not seem to accurately reflect the actual status, the national museums questionnaire went into more detail. Here are the average figures obtained from the questions grading building structure and building installations (apart from Moderna galerija whose renovation was still ongoing): Building Structure Building Installations Table 12: Building Conditions graded on a scale of 1 (excellent) to 4 (very critical) With an average total mark of 2 the rating of national museums is slightly better than the one for regional museums with 2.2. The table above shows that building installations get worse marks than the building structure. Fire detection system and security systems get the best marks with 1.91 and One museum admitted to a lack of an escape system. 32 Four national museums have a restoration plan for their building, however it must be noted that those institutions where directors indicated building renovation as an urgent need do not have one. Ongoing restoration projects Apart from the Moderna galerija which is under total renovation, only two national museums indicate projects (one concerns a climate-control system for storage) but 15 regional museums provide some information about renovation projects. All in all 11 museums declared project costs and 10 even the funding source, however information on both aspects is not available for all museums. Project costs range from 6,000 (Belokranjski muzej Metlika) up to 4,013,000 (Moderna galerija) General Use of Floor Space The total floor space of all 47 government funded museums in Slovenia is about 150,000 m 2. When assessing floor space and usage it is important to look into best practice and standard models. A standardised norm for museums space distribution as a benchmark is that around 32 For the status of security equipment see chapter Storage and Exhibition spaces. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

54 4.3 Buildings 60% of floor space is public zones and 40% non-public zones (see diagram below). These two zones can be further broken down into four categories with ideal space ratios: public non-collection (20%) non-public collection (20%) public collection (40%) non-public non-collection (20%) The public zone has a public collection zone which includes permanent and temporary exhibition spaces and a public non-collection zone which includes entrance and lobby areas, hallways, shop, cafe, education rooms etc. The non public zone is divided into a non-collection zone which includes offices or plant rooms and a collection zone for storage, collection handling or conservation. Museum Zones: Standardised Norm Slovenian Museums public non-collection 20% 20% 13,5% 9,8% public collection non-public collection non-public non-collection 20% 40% 21,7% 55,0% 40% 60% 35.2% 64.8% Diagram 22: Museum Zones: Standardised Norm Slovenian Museums Data show that on average 55% or slightly more than half of the museums space in the survey is dedicated to exhibition space which is significantly higher than the standard space recommendation. About 10% is dedicated to visitor services space, including lecture halls but also rooms for educational activities, shop and café/restaurant. Only about a third is for non-public use, the larger of which is dedicated to collection (for example, for storage) and the smaller to offices (13.5%). Museum Zones National Museums Regional Museums 16,4% 10,3% 11,8% 9,6% public non-collection 24,2% 49,1% 20,2% 58,4% public collection non-public collection non-public non-collection Diagram 23: Museum-Zones for National and Regional Museums Final Report Kulturagenda, February

55 4.3 Buildings Comparing the space segmentation of national museums with regionals one can see that there are nearly no differences in the proportion of public non-collection spaces but there are some differences in all other segments. The regional museums have on average, with 58%, a higher percentage of exhibition space than the nationals with only 49%. On the other hand there is less non-public collection space for the regional museums and also less space for offices than for the national ones Storage The total storage space of all 47 museums is 26,934 m² and they have another 14,400 m² of rented storage space. 33 National museums ratio is 9,282 m² owned and 4,035 rented storage space. Regional museums possess 17,652 m² and are renting around 10,366 m². This means about 85% of all 6,800,000 objects have a storage space of around 41,300 m² and the remainder of 15% is on display. 34 It has to be mentioned that there are two national and five regional museums with no inhouse storage at all. 35 Off-site storage (rented or museum owned) are also a frequent solution for insufficient inhouse possibilities: 64% of all museums use off-site ones (or there is one in preparation). All in all, % of the national museums used offsite storage facilities and 66% of the regional ones. The provision of proper storage space seems to be one of the most pressing issues amongst the museums surveyed for many directors this issue is paramount, be it to create new storage space or even to renovate and modernise existing space so that collections can be secured, safely stored and properly looked after. Since the situation is not new, collections have already suffered and objects are in real danger of further damage, which in some cases is irreparable. Just over half of regional museums declare storage problems as one of their most urgent issues, which, together with staff problems, have the highest quota. In the national museums, storage issues take second place (at 33%) behind staffing, together with space and infrastructure problems. 33 Data come from the storage question and not from the floor space question in questionnaire 2. There are some deviations. 34 see also chapter Permanent Exhibition Spaces on page Slovenski gledališki muzej, Slovenska kinoteka and Mestni muzej Idrija, Galerije in muzej mesta Ljubljane, Goriški muzej Kromberk - Nova Gorica, Tolminski muzej, Javni zavod Muzej Velenje Final Report Kulturagenda, February

56 4.3 Buildings Photos below taken from the site visits demonstrate the alarming status of some of the storage facilities. Photo 16 Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije Photo 17 Tehniški muzej Slovenije Photo 18 Obalne galerije Piran Photo 19 Pomorski muzej Piran Photo 20 Muzej narodne osvoboditve Maribor Photo 21 Slovenska kinoteka Final Report Kulturagenda, February

57 4.3 Buildings Storage problems and space issues are not surprising considering that most of the museums have vast collections and the ratio of available space (in m 2 ) and number of objects is very low as the table below shows: % of Objects stored Average Storage Area m² / Museum (owned and rented, in-site and off-site) Average Number of Objects stored / Museum m² per Object National museums 90.83% 1, , Worst case Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije Best case 98% 524 (1.000m² storage is in preparation) 1,248, Tehniški muzej Slovenije 80% 3,117 12, Regional Museums 82.68% , Worst case Pokrajinski muzej Celje 70% 3,000 1,799, Notranjski muzej Postojna 97% 92 51, Best case Obalne galerije Piran 76% Table 13: Stored Objects Another problem for existing storage facilities is the sometimes very poor climate control and security standards. Note that 30% of the regional museums did not answer this question. According to available data two thirds of the on-site and only 20% of the off-site storage facilities are climate controlled. The table below gives further details: not climate controlled On-Site Storage partly climate controlled climate controlled national regional national regional national regional not climate controlled Off-Site Storage partly climate controlled climate controlled national regional national regional national regional Table 14: Climate Controlled On-Site and Off-Site Storages Final Report Kulturagenda, February

58 4.3 Buildings All these data confirm that space availability and condition of storage facilities are serious problems for the safety of the Slovenian cultural heritage. The problem is certainly critical for regional museums; national museums seem to have in general a better storage infrastructure Exhibition spaces 46 of the 47 Slovenian publicly funded museums 36 have altogether about 81,300 m² of exhibition space (permanent and temporary). Permanent Exhibition Spaces According to data from questionnaire 2, one national and five regional museums have no permanent exhibition spaces (Slovenski gledališki muzej and Notranjski muzej Postojna, Mednarodni grafični likovni center Ljubljana, Umetnostna galerija Maribor, Galerija Murska Sobota and Koroška galerija likovnih Umetnosti). Quite a few regional museums are waiting for additional spaces to be restored, and others have restored exhibition spaces but until now were not able to finance the installation of new permanent exhibitions as the photos below demonstrate. Photo 22 Belokranjski muzej Metlika Photo 23 Notranjski muzej Postojna Seven directors of regional museums declared the lack of space for permanent exhibitions as one of the three most urgent problems, ranking this as fourth on the list of urgent problems. 36 The Notranjski muzej Postojna has at the moment no exhibition space at all. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

59 4.3 Buildings All government funded Slovenian Museums have a total of 61,300 m² permanent exhibition space, an average of 1,495 m² per museum. 11 national museums have 17,724 m² permanent exhibition space. The smallest is in Slovenski šolski muzej (90 m²), the largest in Tehniški muzej Slovenije (7,646 m²). The average size is 1,611 m². The 30 regional museums with permanent exhibition space have areas of between 81 m² (Tržiški muzej ) and 3,967 m²( Koroški pokrajinski muzej Slovenj Gradec ) - a total of 43,576 m² and an average of 1,452.5 m² per museum. For better comparison the permanent exhibition space was split into five categories according to floor space (in m²): up to 100 m² 101 to 500 m² 501 to 1,000 m² 1,001 to 2,000 m² 2,001 to 3,000 m² over 3,000 m² Maximum 11 National Museums 30 Regional Museums m² 18.2% 18.2% 18.2% 18.2% 18.2% 9% m² 3% 17% 30% 23% 7% 20% Table 15: Permanent Exhibitions Floor Spaces Half of the regional museums and 55% of the national ones have less than 1,000 m² permanent exhibition space. More significant is the difference in the category 3,000 m² plus, in which we find six (20%) regional museums but only one national museum (9%). Temporary Exhibition Spaces Data reveal that two national museums notably the Slovenska kinoteka and the Muzej športa have no special exhibitions space and the same applies for two regional museums - the Notranjski muzej Postojna and the Pomorski muzej Piran. Public-funded Slovenian Museums (n=43) have a total of 19,900 m² temporary exhibition space which comprise an average of 463 m² per museum. The sizes of temporary exhibition spaces at the 10 national museums range from 90 m² (Slovenski šolski muzej) up to 2,225 m² (Narodna galerija). The total area is 7,094 m² and the average size is 709 m². The 33 regional museums have a total of 12,896 m², an average of 391 m² per museum. The size ranges from about 30 m² (Miklova hiša Ribnica) up to 1,800 m² (Galerije in muzej mesta Ljubljane). Final Report Kulturagenda, February

60 4.3 Buildings For a better comparison of the distribution of temporary exhibition space, see the table below: up to 100 m² 101 to 500 m² 501 to 1,000 m² 1,001 to 2,000 m² over 2,000 m² Maximum 10 National Museums 33 Regional Museums ,225 m² 10% 50% 30% 10% ,800 m² 9% 67% 18% 6% Table 16: Temporary Exhibitions Floor Spaces The results document that 60% of the 10 national museums and 76% of the 33 regional museums possess exhibition space of up to 500 m². The difference is even more evident in the larger spaces: Four national museums (40%) but only two regional museums have more than 1,000 m² for special exhibitions. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

61 4.4 Collections 4.4 Collections Collections are at the core of museums work and constitute the individual museum s profile as well as determining all activities and programmes around them. Museums can strengthen their profile and attractiveness with the acquisition of new objects and artefacts. These new acquisitions should however relate to the museums mission and objectives and must also further enhance the collection. The importance of continuous collecting is obvious but seldom occurs, possibly because of budget constraints. However the demands of the existing collections in Slovenian museums, above all documentation, conservation and storage, predominate. In addition, there are needs for certain publications and research articles that assist the proper dissemination of information Main Focus of Collections and Collections on Display In 2008 the 47 public-funded museums took care of about 6.8 million objects. 2.1 million of them (31%) are in the collections of the national museums. The Narodna galerija has the smallest collection (13,908 objects) and the Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije the biggest (1,274,015 objects) 37. About 4.7 million objects (69%) are in the care of 35 regional museums. The smallest number of objects can be found in Galerija Murska Sobota (567), the largest in Pokrajinski muzej Celje (2,571,110). The table below gives details of the numbers of museums categorised by number of objects as well as the average number of objects per museums in those categories. up to 20,000 20,001 to 50,000 50,001 to 100, ,001 to 200, ,001 to 500,000 over 500,000 Maximum Number of National Museums / Average Number of Objects per Museum Number of Regional Museums / Average Number of Objects per Museum ,000 22, , ,000 1,274,015 1,274, , ,600 72, , ,000 1,500,000 2,571,110 Table 17: Object Numbers 37 Most of these objects are images Final Report Kulturagenda, February

62 4.4 Collections Main Focus of Collections Following the diversity of collections three main categories of museums have been defined, which are art galleries, other specialised museums and multipurpose museums. Only one of the 12 national museums is a proper multipurpose museum: the Narodni muzej Slovenije; two are art galleries (Narodna galerija and Moderna galerija) and the other nine are specialised museums. The profile of the 35 regional museums is completely different: Most of them are multipurpose museums with a broad range of quite differently focused collections and eight are art galleries (all of them small and medium museums). 38 The following diagram shows the distribution of the main collection focus in the three regional museum categories. In small and large museums History (with Pre- and Proto-history, Middle Ages, Early Modern and Modern History and including Social History ) is predominant with 100% representation, followed by Art ( Old Masters, Modern and Contemporary Art", Folklore and Applied Arts ) and Ethnology. In the medium museums category, History with 85% comes second after Art and Ethnology (both 92%). Archaeology holds the fourth position in all three categories (with about 60% in small and medium and 50% of all large museums). 17% of all museums declared that they have in addition other collections which have only partly been specified. It is interesting to note that Natural History & Geology and Science & Technology collections are very scarce and only featured in 26% of all regional museums. The low Natural History & Geology percentage seems particularly surprising, as many local and regional museums normally feature those collections as part of the local coverage of a region. 38 Arhitekturni muzej Ljubljana could be categorized as a special museum following the predominant quantity of items of its specialised collection. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

63 8% 15% 8% 17% 25% 25% 30% 26% 26% 25% 26% 38% 49% 58% 62% 74% 79% 79% 75% 80% 86% 4.4 Collections 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Regional Multipurpose Museums Collection Focus Small Museums Medium Museums Large Museums Art & Applied Arts Archaeology Ethnology History Geology & Natural History Science and Technology Other Diagram 24: Regional Multipurpose Museums Collection Focus A look at all 47 museums and comparing the national and regional museums (next diagram) documents the higher degree of representation of all subjects in the regional museums collections not very surprising when taking into consideration the predominance of multipurpose museums. 100% Collection Focus 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Art & Applied Arts Ethnology Archaeology History & Social History Natural History & Geology Science & Technology Other All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 25: Collection Focus Final Report Kulturagenda, February

64 4.4 Collections This perspective does not provide information about the percentages of objects within the categories in relation to national and regional museums. This ratio is visualized in the following diagram. The most evident deviation can be found for the subject archaeology : as seen in the diagram above about 49% of all regional museums have archaeological collections but they house 98% of all archaeological items; the one national museum with an archaeological collection houses the remaining 2%. For detailed comparisons one has to consider that 31% of all objects are in the national museums collections and 69% in regional museums. In this context the fact that Ethnology is represented in nearly three quarters of all regional museums the 78% ratio of all ethnology objects in regional museums seems to be not surprising. Together with the other fact that 31% of all objects are in national museums we observe an under-representation of ethnological objects in the national museums. On the contrary the amount of natural history & geology objects (94%) and history (77%) is in the national museums far above average. 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% Percentages of Objects within Category 0% Archaeology History Ethnology Art & Applied Arts Natural History & Geology Science & Technology Other National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 26: Percentages of Objects within Category Final Report Kulturagenda, February

65 4.4 Collections Total objects per category To recognise the full extent of the collection it is important to take a look at absolute object numbers and see the distribution of all objects assembled in all publicly funded museums. The diagram below provides an insight: Number of Objects - Archaeology History Ethnology Art & Applied Arts Nature & Geology Science & Technology Other All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 27: Number of Objects The largest object group is archaeology with about 3,860,000 items, 98% of which are in the 35 regional museums collections. History follows with about 1,750,000 objects 77% of which in national museums. In the third largest group, art & applied arts with about 400,000 objects, the distribution of objects is about 47% in the regional and 53% in the national museums. Another unbalanced distribution is to be found in the natural history & geology collections with about 94% of all objects in the care of national museums, largely due to the Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

66 4.4 Collections Collections on Display On average only about 15% of all objects are on display, the other 85% are stored. 39 In regional museums the percentage of displayed objects is around 17% which is about 7% higher than in national museums. 100% 90% 80% 70% Objects on Display / in Storage 60% 50% 84,8% 90,8% 82,7% % in Storage 40% % on Display 30% 20% 10% 0% 15,2% 9,2% 17,3% All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 28: Objects on Display/in Storage The very low percentage of objects on display in art galleries (8.4%) is obviously also dependent on the fact that four of the ten galleries currently have no permanent exhibition space. 100% 90% 80% 70% Objects on Display / in Storage 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 91,5% 81,1% 88,8% 8,5% 18,9% 11,2% Art Galleries Multipurpose Museums Specialised Museums % in Storage % on Display Diagram 29: Objects on Display/in Storage A-M-S 39 see details in chapter 4.3 on page 44 Final Report Kulturagenda, February

67 4.4 Collections Permanent Exhibitions This section addresses the focus of permanent exhibitions and their correlation with the collection focus. It is important to note that this survey analyses only the permanent exhibitions available in the main buildings of a total of 38 museums but not those in the dislocated units. Why 38? Because three of the national museums and six regional museums do not have objects on display or did not provide any collection presentations for 2008: the Slovenska kinoteka, with 350m² for presenting films, the Slovenski gledališki muzej with no permanent exhibition space and the Moderna galerija, which in 2008 was still under renovation and reorganisation. The Gorenjski muzej Kranj, one of the six regional museums that had no objects displayed in permanent exhibitions in 2008, was in a similar situation: located in a textile factory while two museum buildings were renovated. The other five are: Notranjski muzej Postojna, 40 Mednarodni grafični likovni center Ljubljana, Umetnostna galerija Maribor, Galerija Murska Sobota and Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti. All in all the 38 museums display 134 different permanent exhibitions on a floor space of about 59,000 m² permanent exhibitions are shown in the nine national museums on about 16,500 m². 105 permanent exhibitions are shown in the 29 regional museums on about 42,600 m². There are small exhibitions of 9 or 14 m² ( protheus anguinus or Zois s collection of minerals ) both in the Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije. Others cover 1,000 m² and more: Transport collection (1,500 m², Tehniški muzej Slovenije), Applied arts (1,481 m², Narodni muzej Slovenije) or Painting and Sculpture in Slovenia from the 13 20th century (1,390 m², Narodna galerija). 42 The representation of collection focus in permanent exhibitions is shown in the next two diagrams. The first diagram details subject-wise how many exhibitions are located in national and how many are in regional museums i.e., it shows for example what percentage of all history exhibitions are in national and regional museums. 40 see Photo 23 on page Note that the square meter figures in this chapter do not always correspond with the ones in chapter because museums stated sometimes different figures when asked for exhibition space sizes in different questions. 42 For more information see the individual museums data fact sheets. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

68 4.4 Collections Permanent Exhibition Focus 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% History Archaeology Ethnology Art & Applied Arts Natural History & Geology Science & Technology National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 30: Permanent Exhibition Focus The diagram below visualizes the distribution of exhibition subjects within the three main museums categories (all museums, the national and the regional ones.) Both approaches offer partly expected and partly surprising results. Permanent Exhibition Focus 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% Science & Technology Natural History & Geology Art & Applied Arts Ethnology Archaeology History 0% All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 31: Permanent Exhibition Focus within Museum Categories It is obvious that the collection sizes do not always correspond with the number of exhibitions dedicated to these collections on display. For example, archaeology has the largest Final Report Kulturagenda, February

69 4.4 Collections collection of objects within the surveyed museums but has the lowest number of exhibitions in permanent exhibition spaces. This is described in more detail below: Archaeology, the largest collection is unsurprisingly highly underrepresented in the exhibitions of all museums: with a total of eight exhibitions (6%) it has the same (smallest) amount of exhibitions than natural history & geology. Interestingly two of all archaeological exhibitions are in national museums with only 2% of all archaeological items in their collections. History, the second largest collection with a wide range of historical subjects including social and cultural history and very special segments such as sport and religion is number one exhibition wise with a total of 63 exhibitions (47%). In the national museums we find eight history-focused exhibitions, which comprise 13% of all history exhibitions, and 55 (87%) in regional museums. According to the size of collections it should be exactly the other way around because 77% of all history objects are in the national museums. Art and applied arts, the third largest collection, but far behind history is on rank three with a total of 19 exhibitions (14%). Despite the fact that slightly more than half of the respective objects are in the national museums collections 84% of all the actual exhibitions are in regional museums. Renewal or updating of permanent exhibitions Another point of interest are dates of creation and later renewal of permanent exhibitions. 30 Numbers of created / adapted Exhibitions created adapted created adapted created adapted before National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 32: Numbers of created/adapted Exhibitions Final Report Kulturagenda, February

70 4.4 Collections The table below gives details of exhibitions that have either been unchanged or later adapted. 43 The table reveals that the majority of exhibitions have been changed from 2000 onwards. 44 Year Permanent Exhibitions /National Museums Permanent Exhibitions /Regional Museums not adapted since creation adapted not adapted since creation adapted in in in in in in in in in in?? 2 in in (a) 1 in 1990/ in in 1990/ in in in in *) 3 in ? in 2009 *) in in in Table 18: Permanent Exhibitions Dates of Creation & Adaption *) there are more than 12 exhibitions created in the 1990s and some of them were adapted in 2009 Despite the fact that there are still exhibitions from the forties, fifties and sixties of the last century on display (in particular archaeology and ethnology in Posavski muzej Brežice, 1948, permanent collection in Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije, 1950, forestry in Tehniški muzej Slovenije, 1960), the percentage of exhibitions created or renewed from 2000 onwards is impressively high: more than two thirds of the national museums and about 62% of the regional museums. 43 For exhibitions of the national museums only one date of creation and adaptation is missing. Nearly all regional museums have indicated data, but not all of them are complete, so we could only analyse about 80%. 44 The survey does not normally include data from 2009 but for this question we made an exception. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

71 4.4 Collections This survey did not however focus on questions of the degree of renewal and can thus not provide a quality assessment. Changes may consist of technical (such as lighting) or educational (such as interpretation tools) changes, or an extension and almost complete reinstallation of an exhibition with a new concept and new design. This would have to include a detailed analysis of a whole range of aspects concerning storyboard, choice of objects and media and interpretation tools of all kinds as well as exhibition and graphic design with all their implications. The comments and photos of the interview team give an idea of the museological status of some of the exhibitions. They also show that a more recent creation does not guarantee automatically a higher quality of exhibition. An uncommented selection of photos illustrates the scale of the current situation. Photo 24 Posavski muzej Brežice Photo 25 Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije Photo 26 Narodna galerija Photo 27 Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem Final Report Kulturagenda, February

72 4.4 Collections Photo 28 Belokranjski muzej Metlika Photo 29 Zasavski muzej Trbovlje Photo 30 Pokrajinski muzej Maribor Photo 31 Muzej novejše zgodovine Celje Photo 32 Slovenski etnografski muzej Photo 33 Muzej športa Interpretation tools Almost all surveyed museums have object labels which offer basic information: 91% of the national and 94% of the regional museums provide them. Surprisingly high is the percentage of other text information: Text panels for specific themes and topics can be found in 89% of all museums (91% of the national and 88% of the regional museums). Text panels for rooms are provided by 75% of all museums this time more at regional museums (79%) than national museums (64%). Final Report Kulturagenda, February

73 4.4 Collections The significantly higher rate of film and video usage in national museums (91%) compared to regionals (72%) is almost entirely due to the concentrated use of this medium at specialized museums. PC terminals are used in 45% national and 33% regional museums, whereas there is no difference between regionals and nationals when it comes to audio stations. Only three museums have indicated to have an audio guide: Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije, Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije and the Umetnostna galerija Maribor. It is interesting to note that the use of text sheets, a classic information tool, which are usually available in gallery rooms, are not that common (only in 34% of all museums). Interpretation Tools (n = 44) 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Object Labels Text Panels (topic) Text Panels (room) Room specific Sheets Film / Video All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Audio-stations PC-Terminals Audioguide Diagram 33: Interpretation Tools The quality and usage of interpretation tools could not be assessed from the data gathered, however it does give an indication of service provision. A qualitative assessment can only be made once a comprehensive visitor survey has been conducted. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

74 4.4 Collections Acquisition Museum collections grow even when no items are purchased. There are acquisitions via donations, legacies or archaeological excavations. In particular this can create problems when those artefacts do not correspond with the collection focus or policy of the individual museums and also when the condition of the objects given to the museum is not very good. Further pressure is added when trying to store these objects, especially if there are vast numbers of objects acquired after archaeological excavations. In 2008, Slovenian museums acquired a total of 862,082 new objects 6% of these objects were acquired by national and 94% by regional museums. The large majority of these objects (91%) came from archaeological excavations and only 35,789 objects or 4% were purchased. The remainder came in via donations (4.4%), legacies and other sources. The total acquisition expense of all museums surveyed in 2008 was 731,666, 53% of which was financed by the national government 45. Ten of the 12 national museums spent in total 439,932 on the acquisition of 32,548 objects. 28 of the 35 regional museums spent in total 291,734 for the purchase of 3,241 objects. National museums acquired a total of 48,622 objects, 6% of the overall museums acquisitions of the year 2008, of which 32,548 objects or 67% - were purchased. 46 The fewest acquisitions were made by the Slovenska kinoteka with 73 objects 47 followed by the Moderna galerija with 78 objects. The Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije acquired the highest amount of objects of all national museums with 38,836 items 48, followed by the Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije with 4,002 objects. 49 Regional museums acquired 813,460 objects or 94% or of the total objects, of which only 3,241 or 0.4% were purchased. The majority of the acquired objects came from archaeological excavations (96% - see Diagram 34). The fewest acquisitions were made by the Koroška galerija likovnih umetnosti with 1 object and the Pokrajinski muzej Ptuj - Ormož with 19 objects. 45 Please note, purchase figures given here are the ones stated by museums in the acquisition section of the questionnaire and do not always correspond with the acquisition figures given in the expenditures section 46 For the detailed acquisition ratios following acquisition methods see Diagram plus a not specified amount of DVDs and books 48 Most of these items were images 49 For details of the respective budgets please see Table 19. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

75 4.4 Collections The highest number of objects were acquired by the Pokrajinski muzej Celje with 781,504 items, however 99.93% of which were items from archaeological excavations, followed by the Miklova hiša Ribnica with 8,319 items. The table below provides details on acquisition methods for the three national and regional museums with the highest acquisition budget in 2008: National Museums Total Number of Acquired Objects Purchases Donations Archaeological Excavations Legacies Other Budget Slovenska kinoteka 73+DVD+books 100% ,042 Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije 38,836 81% 19% ,795 Moderna galerija 78 91% 9% ,363 Regional Museums Total Number of Acquired Objects Purchases Donations Archaeological Excavations Legacies Other Budget Mednarodni grafični likovni center Ljubljana Pokrajinski muzej Celje Umetnostna galerija Maribor % % - 40, , % 0.0% 99.9% , % 55% ,188 Table 19: Performance Indicator: Acquisitions/Highest Budgets 2008 As the table above indicates, most of the listed museums except the Pokrajinski muzej Celje purchased significantly more of their newly acquired objects than the average national (67%) or regional (0.4%) museum which was to be expected. The diagram below shows the average acquisition methods for national and regional museums in All Museums (n = 39) 0,1% 0,6% 4,2% 4,4% National Museums (n = 10) 7,1% 1,4% Regional Museums (n = 29) 0,1% 0,3% 0,4% 3,2% Purchase Donations 90,7% 24,5% 66,9% 96,1% Archaeological Excavations Legacies Other Diagram 34: Acquisition Methods As can be seen in Diagram 34, regional museums received their newly acquired objects mainly from archaeological excavations and only a small proportion by donations or Final Report Kulturagenda, February

76 4.4 Collections purchase. In contrast, national museums purchased the majority of their newly acquired objects. There are significant differences between art, multipurpose and specialised museums as can be seen in the diagram below. Specialised museums 9 of the 12 national museums purchased nearly three quarters of their new acquisitions, art museums around a quarter and multipurpose museums purchased below half a percent. Art Galleries (n = 8) 75,2% 24,8% Multipurpose M. (n = 24) 0,3% 0,3% 0,1% 3,2% 96,1% Specialised Museums (n = 7) 7,7% Purchase 20,7% 71,6% Donations Archaeological Excavations Legacies Other Diagram 35: Acquisition Methods A-M-S To assess whether the acquisition methods in 2008 outlined so far are a continuation of past years the tables below give details of additional comparisons between 2006/2007 and 2007/ In regional museums over the last 3 years items from archaeological excavations are consistently the largest group of newly acquired objects s characteristic is the extremely high acquisition rate of archaeological items. In all museums the percentage of acquisition, donations and purchase varies from year to year. To provide a more detailed picture the table below highlights the situation of national museums that are not dominated by archaeological entrants like the regional ones. There is a significant increase of purchases from 2006 to 2007 ( %, from 3,400 objects to about ) and between 2007 and 2008 a notable smaller one (+ 27.4% to around objects). On the contrary the number of donations decreased between 2006 and 2007 by 91.5% (from about 52,000 objects in 2006 to 4,400 in 2007). This was largely due to the fact that the Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije received 2006 a donation of 45,800 objects. 50 For further information please consult the individual museum data fact sheets. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

77 4.4 Collections National Museums Purchase Donations Archaeological Excavations 3,357 objects 25,550 objects 32,548 objects % % 52,151 objects 4,440 objects 11,929 objects % % 1,391 objects 231 objects 671 objects % % Legacies Other Table 20: Number of Acquisitions National Museums ,472 objects 3,432 objects 3,474 objects 1.2% + 1.2% Regional museums purchases rates vary too but with less extreme changes as can be seen in the table below: Regional Museums Purchase Donations Archaeological Excavations Legacies Other 4,911 objects 9,570 objects 3,241 objects % 66.1% 25,456 objects 15,963 objects 26,119 objects 37.3% % 140,781 objects 99,597 objects 781,457 objects 29.3% % 4,946 objects 10,412 objects 529 objects % 94.9% 7,429 objects 388 objects 2,114 objects 94.8% % Table 21: Number of Acquisitions Regional Museums Cross referencing these acquisition data with budget data (see Diagram 36 and Diagram 37) provides details on the budget increase from 2006 to 2007 and also proves that the budget was only partly responsible for the significant change in the acquisition method ratios in The acquisition budget for national museums rose from 496,691 in 2006 to 596,387 in 2007 (+ 20%) and decreased again in 2008 to 439,932 (- 26%). 51 This is largely due to the fact that the acquisition budget for the Narodna galerija and the Narodni muzej Slovenije had 51 For details consult the individual museum data fact sheets and respective table. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

78 4.4 Collections been dramatically reduced the impact can be seen in both diagrams below and had an effect on 4 categories in the graphs below: the national museum, the all museum, the art galleries and the multipurpose museum. In contrast, specialised museums have increasing budgets (plus 70% in 2007 and plus 12% in 2008), as did the regional museums. Total Acquisition Budget All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 36: Total Acquisition Budget Total Acquisition Budget Art Galleries Multipurpose Museums Specialised Museums Diagram 37: Total Acquisition Budget 2006 to 2008 A-M-S Final Report Kulturagenda, February

79 4.4 Collections The next diagram shows the source of finance for the purchases: Purchase Financing 100% 90% 80% 70% 17,5% 19,9% 2,1% 3,9% 24,7% 2,6% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 7,3% 53,2% 92,7% 29,7% 10,5% 32,5% Other Private City / Local Authority Regional Authorities National Government 0% All Museums (n = 31) National Museums (n = 10) Regional Museums (n = 21) Diagram 38: Purchase Financing 53% of all museums purchases were financed by government funds, followed by city or local authority (20%), other (18%), and regional authority (7%) funds. About 93% of national museums acquisitions were government-funded which was also the funding source for about a third of the regional museums acquisitions Documentation Digitisation is one of the main priorities for the Slovenian museums sector, however the data suggest that not many museums have enough dedicated staff resources to do this important work. There are also fundamental differences in the work load depending on the size of the collections and number of objects, in particular archaeological collections can be very time consuming with regards to documentation. In 2008, all museums had about 30% of all their objects documented in a traditional (analogue) method and about 10% in a digital one. In national museums 56% are documented analogue and 17% digital. In regional museums the proportions are much lower: 18% (analogue) and 6% (digital) Final Report Kulturagenda, February

80 4.4 Collections 80% Ratio Documented Objects - All Objects 70% 60% 50% 56% 40% 30% 20% 30% documented analogue documented digital 10% 0% 10% All Museums (n = 46) 17% National Museums (n = 12) 18% 6% Regional Museums (n = 34) Diagram 39: Ratio Documented Objects All Objects The much lower percentage in the regional museums is due to several reasons. One of these is the larger amount of objects in most museums especially of archaeological items (see chapter 4.4.2). One could believe that the availability of documentation officers is another reason for this deviation, but the survey data do not confirm this assumption, because there is only one percent difference between national museums (58% seven of the 12 have special staff) and regional museums (57% 20 of the 35). We can also see that some of the best ranking museums in documentation are also ones that have no documentation officers. The table below shows the ranking of museums with the highest and lowest absolute numbers and percentages of documented objects (analogue and digital) in both national and regional categories in relation to museums size, the number of dedicated documentation staff, the total amount of objects and their corresponding rank. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

81 Size Documenta tion staff All objects Rank / Collection Size % analogue % digital Size Documentation staff All objects Rank / Collection Size % analogue % digital 4.4 Collections 12 National Museums Total number of objects documented analogue Total number of objects documented digital Best Performance Slovenski gledališki muzej m 0 30, ,459 97% 705 2% Narodni muzej Slovenije l 4 290, ,965 86% 201,966 70% Slovenski etnografski muzej l 2 30, ,350 84% 25,350 84% Worst Performance Muzej športa s 0 18, ,400 7% 0 0 Slovenska kinoteka l 0 108, ,663 36% 4,953 5% Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije l 0 300, ,377 44% 39,961 13% 35 Regional Museums Total number of objects documented analogue Total number of objects documented digital Best Performance Galerija Murska Sobota m % % Pilonova galerija Ajdovščina Galerija Božidar Jakac Kostanjevica na Krki s 0 1, , % 1,465 95% m 1 7, , % 4,425 58% Worst Performance Pokrajinski muzej Celje m 2 2,571, ,601 2,6% 18, % Belokranjski muzej Metlika Arhitekturni muzej Ljubljana s 1 422, ,078 3% % l 0 117, ,763 12% % Table 22: Performance Indicator: Object Documentation Obviously national and regional museums perform differently: the national museums with the best documentation status are not as one would expect the ones with the smallest collections but those ranking fifth, third and sixth based on collection size, with between 84% Final Report Kulturagenda, February

82 4.4 Collections and 97% of analogue-documented objects. The number one performer has no documentation staff. The three worst performing museums are not the ones with the largest collections but are ranked eighth, fourth and second, with a documentation status of between 7% and 44%. None of them has documentation staff. In contrast, regional museums with smaller collections tend to perform best. All museums with100% documented collections are in the last third according to collection size. The worst performing museums (with between 2.6% and 12% documented) have large collections (first, third and fifth). 11 national museums and 28 of the 35 regional museums with valid data have digital documentation. There is only one museum that has all its objects documented in both methods analogue and digital: Galerija Murska Sobota the museum with the smallest collection. Documentation software Not all of the software programmes used are proper documentation programmes. Several museums indicate the use of WORD (one regional), EXCEL (two regional), EXCEL and WORD (one national and two regional) or ACCESS (one each). GALIS is the most frequently used programme (17 regional and five national museums). For ten of them GALIS replaced MINOK, that still is in use in one national and two of the regional museums from which we got respective data. Four regional museums document with FUNDUS, one national and three regional with Muzejske zbirke. Another four national and five regional museums developed their own programmes and in quite a lot of museums several programmes are in use in the different collections, some of them especially for archaeological items like SITULA or PATINA. Unfortunately about a third of the regional museums delivered more or less inconsistent data, that does not allow further analysis collection-wise See individual museum data fact sheets and additional tables. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

83 4.4 Collections Conservation The proper care of objects is another highly important objective for museums. This includes all preventive measures taken, such as ensuring the right climate (temperature, humidity) or light (intensity, UV percentage) in exhibition spaces and storage facilities and especially in providing the necessary professional treatment of objects (preventive, conservation and restoration). Therefore plans for preventive conservation should be established in every museum only 50% of the national and about 49% of the regional museums stated to have such plans. In 2008, in 38 museums (10 national and 28 regional) a total of 31,767 objects around 0,5% of all Slovenian museums objects and in average 836 items per museum were treated with one of the three methods: conserved (around 47%), restored (about 11%) or preventively treated (about 42%). Around 62% of all museums have an employed conservator; 83% of the national and 54% of the regional museums. The table below shows the ratio between in-house, outsourced and combined conservation activities of the 38 surveyed museums: In-house Outsourced Combined National museums 50% 17% 33% Regional museums 17% 37% 46% Table 23: Conservation In-House Outsourced Combined The percentage of outsourced conservation in regional museums is more than twice as large as in national museums whereas the percentage of in-house conservation in national museums is almost three times higher than in regional museums. Interestingly in a third of all national museums both in-house and external conservators were at work. The next table gives details about the method of treatment and the number of objects treated in 2008: Conserved Amount % of all Museum Objects Restored Amount % of all Museum Objects Preventively treated Amount % of all Museum Objects All museums 14, % 3, % 13, % National museums 9, % 1, % 2, % Regional museums 5, % 2, % 11, % Table 24: Methods of Treatment and Numbers 2008 Final Report Kulturagenda, February

84 4.4 Collections The ratio of restored objects is the same in both museums categories, the one for conserved objects is higher in national museums, and the one for preventively treated objects slightly higher in regional museums. Two thirds of the national museums did not declare any conservation expenses, but only two of them did not conserve, restore or preventively treat objects. The table below lists detailed figures for restoration expenses, 53 treated objects also in relation to the museum s total amount of objects and employed conservators: National Museums with highest Conservation Budgets Narodni muzej Slovenije Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem Budget Objects treated % of all Museum Objects Staff National Museums with highest Amount of treated Objects 64,012 3, % 8+4 Narodni muzej Slovenije 62, % 3 54 zgodovine Muzej novejše Slovenije Objects treated % of all Museum Objects Budget Staff 3, % 64, , % 10, , % 1 Slovenska kinoteka 2, % Table 25: Performance Indicator: Treated Objects/Budget/Staff National Museums As can be seen in the table above the number of treated objects in three museums with the highest conservation budgets varies from 3,376 to 184 objects. The Narodni muzej Slovenije on top has not only the highest conservation budget but also the highest staff number with 8 conservators specified and four assistants and has also the highest figure of treated objects. In comparison the Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije with the second highest number of treated objects has only two conservators and only 16% of the leader s budget. Even more surprising are the Slovenska kinoteka s figures: With one curator and additional outsourcing it states no conservation budget at all. The situation in regional museums is rather astonishing: only 20% in 2008 (seven museums) stated a conservation budget, however 80% of regional museums delivered data for conserved, restored or preventively treated objects. 53 from budget data (expenses). 54 Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije stats to have no conservator but three conservation assistants. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

85 4.4 Collections Regional museums with highest Conservation Budgets Dolenjski muzej Novo Mesto Gornjesavski muzej Jesenice Pokrajinski muzej Ptuj - Ormož Budget Objects treated % of all Museum Objects Staff 18, % 2 15, % 1 10, % 5 Regional Museums with highest Amount of treated Objects Pokrajinski muzej Celje Galerije in muzej mesta Ljubljane Goriški muzej Kromberk - Nova Gorica Objects treated Table 26: Performance Indicator: Treated Objects/Budget/Staff Regional Museums % of all Museum Objects Budget Staff 4, % , % ,5 1, % The Pokrajinski muzej Celje and Galerije in muzej mesta Ljubljane declared to have used both in-house and outsourced services. The Goriški muzej Kromberk - Nova Gorica employs 5 in-house conservators, nevertheless there have to be some material costs. 55 Atmospheric Environment It is a matter of fact that lack of care while handling objects causes much damage. But one often underestimates the sometimes catastrophic consequences of wrong temperature and/or humidity in particular up- and downturns and too much (UV) light: they can generate spoilage and often even destruction of valuable objects. Stable climate conditions are therefore requested for all objects displayed or stored. 56 Only two national museums Slovenski gledališki muzej and Slovenska kinoteka do not monitor the condition of their collection and exhibition spaces. The other ten declare that they regularly measure humidity and temperature with handheld devices (four), fix installed ones (four) or both (Tehniški muzej Slovenije and Narodna galerija). Only six museums also regularly monitor light (UV) levels. Three regional museums do not state that they monitor their collection and exhibition spaces (Muzej narodne osvoboditve Maribor, Notranjski muzej Postojna and Tržiški muzej). Overall it seems that regional museums data are not very consistent. Only 17 museums declare what and how they monitor: all 17 measure humidity (only three with handheld devices), 13 measure temperature (five with handheld devices) and four also monitor light (UV) levels. Another six museums mention machines or curator without providing any more information. 55 For more details please consult the individual museums factsheets 56 For the museums stores please see chapter Storage on page 50 Final Report Kulturagenda, February

86 4.4 Collections Without closer examination, it is difficult to judge what the status of the equipment is and how regularly monitoring happens especially in museums with no conservators. Security Security is an essential component of museums management. Thus the safety and secure storage of objects and the buildings in which those objects are stored or displayed are of paramount concern. This aspect is also considered in the government funding process which encourages all museums to have a security plan. Despite this funding criteria three national museums (Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem, Muzej športa and Moderna galerija) and five regional museums (Gornjesavski muzej Jesenice, Medobčinski muzej Kamnik, Pomorski muzej Piran, Miklova hiša Ribnica and Mednarodni grafični likovni center Ljubljana) indicated that they have no security plan. 75% of the national and 60% of the regional museums indicated needs for improvement. The table below shows the numbers of museums where security devices such as cameras, intruder alarms, or infrared and body heat detectors are installed: 57 CCTV Exterior / Entrance Permanent Exhibitions Special Exhibitions Undefined Museums with CCTV National Museums Regional Museums Intruder Alarms Exterior / Entrance Permanent Exhibitions Special Exhibitions Undefined Museums with Intruder Alarms National Museums Regional Museums Infrared Detectors Exterior / Entrance Permanent Exhibitions Special Exhibitions Undefined Museums with Infrared Detectors National Museums Regional Museums Body Heat Detectors Exterior / Entrance Permanent Exhibitions Special Exhibitions Undefined Museums with Body Heat Detectors National Museums Regional Museums Table 27: Security Devices 57 Lobby/Shop and stores are not included. Undefined reflects inconsistencies in the data. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

87 33% 55% 63% 66% 67% 66% 83% 91% 94% 4.4 Collections Display case alarms wireless or cabled - are stated by two national and five regional museums. Unfortunately security standards are difficult to assess with the data available Publications The production of books and catalogues is an important output of the scientific and academic work of museums and part of the dissemination of knowledge required from museums. Over 90% of all museums surveyed stated that they produce exhibition catalogues, and 55% produce guidebooks. Further data show that two thirds of all museums produce general publications on the individual museum s themes or topics. As the diagram below indicates, more regional museums are publishing catalogues and guide books and slightly more national museums publish books. 100% Publications 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% All Museums National Museums Regional Museums 30% 20% 10% 0% Catalogues Guide Books Books Diagram 40: Publications All art galleries produce catalogues but only half of them produce guidebooks and only 40% publish books. Multipurpose museums have the same ratio as specialised museums for catalogues but a higher one for guidebooks and books than specialised museums as the diagram below shows. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

88 4,4 4,2 5,9 8,0 8,8 10,3 33% 40% 50% 64% 67% 75% 89% 89% 100% 4.4 Collections Publications 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% Art Galleries Multipurpose Museums Specialised Museums 30% 20% 10% 0% Catalogues Guide Books Books Diagram 41: Publications A-M-S The following diagram provides the average numbers of publications in It is interesting to note that national museums are, with an average of about ten publications per museum, more than twice as productive as regional museums, with about four. 12 Average Numbers of Publications All Museums (n = 40) National Museums (n = 10) Regional Museums (n = 30) Art Galleries (n = 9) Multipurpose Museums (n = 24) Specialised Museums (n = 7) Diagram 42: Average Numbers of Publications 2008 Only two national museums stated no figures for publications for 2008 (Tehniški muzej Slovenije and Muzej športa). The most productive national museum was Narodna galerija with 31 titles followed by Slovenska kinoteka (20) and Moderna galerija (12). Final Report Kulturagenda, February

89 4.4 Collections Of those who provided data, the smallest amount published was three publications (Muzej novejše zgodovine Slovenije). By comparison five regional museums state no publications for 2008: Pokrajinski muzej Celje, Goriški muzej Kromberk - Nova Gorica, Miklova hiša Ribnica, Tolminski muzej and Obalne galerije Piran. The Gornjesavski muzej Jesenice produced the highest amount of publications (16), followed by Muzeji radovljiške občine Radovljica and Galerija Božidar Jakac Kostanjevica na Krki (10 each). Six museums state the production of just one title (Mestni muzej Idrija, Pokrajinski muzej Koper, Muzej narodne osvoboditve Maribor, Belokranjski muzej Metlika, Notranjski muzej Postojna and Koroški pokrajinski muzej Slovenj Gradec). The table below details the publication activities by category: Publishing National Museums 30 Regional Museums 1 Title 2 to 5 Titles 6 to 10 Titles 10 + Titles min Titles max Titles -- 4 Museums 3 Museums 3 Museums 3 Titles 31 Titles 6 Museums 15 Museums 8 Museums 1 Museum 1 Title 16 Titles Table 28: Publication Activities The available data allow neither an analysis of the ratio for types or thematic focus of publications nor a comparison with publishing activities in previous years For figures for 2006 and 2007 of the national museums the database delivered with the report may be consulted. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

90 4.5 Visitors & Visitor Services 4.5 Visitors & Visitor Services In order to comply with government principles and guidelines stated in the Cultural Heritage Protection Act such as: Definition of public interest and enabling access to heritage or relevant information to anyone, in particular to young people, the elderly and disabled persons museums need to know more about their audiences. Where do they come from? How old are they? Are they male or female? When do they come? Do they come in groups, families, alone...? What are their expectations and needs? How can museums best meet these expectations? Do museums programmes and services attract and satisfy their target groups? To be able to know more about your audience, professional audience research needs to be carried out regularly to make informed decisions on programme activities and to efficiently react to changes in behaviour patterns of society. Practically, visitor studies are an important management tool that should feed into all museum areas and lead to improvements in the service quality as a whole. In delivering multiple experiences that are satisfying and engaging museums will have to meet specific needs of different target groups and also help individual audiences in their self-development process. This report has gathered data for selected aspects of actual visitor profiles and highlights the services provided by the individual museums Visitors Visitor numbers Visitor numbers are often given as proof of success and popularity especially with politicians and the media, however they are often overestimated and do not automatically indicate high standards and inform about the quality of a museum. Attendance figures and usage are certainly part of the overall performance to be measured and also important in terms of income generation. In 2008 all public-funded Slovenian museums had around 1,244,000 visits (visits of dislocated units not included). That is an average of 27,043 visits per museum with no significant difference between national and regional museums. Art galleries had 2008 an average of 37,813 visits, multipurpose museums 25,734 and specialised museums 18,998 visits. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

91 4.5 Visitors & Visitor Services The diagram below shows another distribution: 28% of the total visits where made to the 12 national museums, 72% to 34 regional museums. This shows in fact quite an even distribution, since the 12 national museums make up 26% of those museums which stated their visitor numbers Visits All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Diagram 43: Visits The partition in four groups displayed in the following diagram shows that in 2008 the largest category was between 20,000 and 49,999 visits with 30% of all museums in this category; only 17% of museums had more than 50,000 visits. Ratio Categories / Numbers of Visits 30% 17% 24% 28% 0-9,999 10,000-19,999 20,000-49,999 50,000-99,999 Diagram 44: Ratio Categories/Numbers of Visits Final Report Kulturagenda, February

92 4.5 Visitors & Visitor Services The table below shows figures from both national and regional museums by lowest and highest visits: 2008 Minimum Number of Visits Maximum Number of Visits 12 National Museums 34 Regional Museums 59 Muzej športa (s) 730 Narodna galerija (l) 89,209 Slovenski gledališki muzej (m) 1,784 Narodni muzej Slo (l) 72,952 Muzej novejše zgodovine Slo (l) 12,215 Tehniški muzej Slo (l) 45,070 Galerija Murska Sobota (s) 4,485 Galerije in muzej mesta Ljubljane (l) 98,040 Pokrajinski muzej Maribor (m) 4,805 Muzej novejše zgodovine Celje (l) 74,541 Miklova hiša Ribnica (s) 6,566 Pokrajinski muzej Ptuj - Ormož (l) 68,128 Table 29: Performance Indicator Number of Visits. Average Visits Total Amount , ,025 As expected, large museums had the highest number of visits. Overall attendance figures were quite stable over the last three years with only slight deviations in attendance such as a slight peak in 2007 when there were around 0.9% more visits than in 2008, and 3.8% more than in Total Visits All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Visits 2006 Visits 2007 Visits 2008 Diagram 45: Total Visits A comparative look at art galleries, multipurpose and specialised museums show somewhat different developments with specialised museums having the only constantly growing attendance albeit on a low level. Art galleries tend to be more popular: although only 22% of all surveyed institutions they attracted 30.4% of all visits in 2008, and in 2006 this figure was even 36.2%. 59 The Notranjski muzej Postojna did not provide visitor numbers. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

93 21,2% 22,2% 18,5% 27,3% 45,5% 42,9% 57,5% 58,3% 57,1% 58,3% 62,5% 66,7% 4.5 Visitors & Visitor Services Total Visits Art Galleries Multipurpose Museums Specialised Museums Visits 2006 Visits 2007 Visits 2008 Diagram 46: Total Visits 2006 to 2008 A-M-S Visitor Statistics & Surveys The appliance of modern ticketing systems can be an effective and easy way to gather general data on visitor statistics. As a minimum, you can get information on ticketing categories, number of visitors, time of entrance, and methods of payment, and with more sophisticated systems even where visitors come from. 57.5% of all museums surveyed (58% of the national (n = 12) and 57% of the regional museums (n = 28)) confirm the usage of a ticketing system, however visitor statistics do not seem to be widely documented or shared. In addition 27% of all museums (45% of the national (n = 11) and 21% of the regional museums (n = 33)) state that they regularly carry out visitor surveys, however not one visitor survey report nor data sample has been provided by the museums for further analysis. 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% All Museums National Museums Regional Museums Art Galleries Multipurpose Museums Specialised Museums Visitor Surveys Ticketing System Diagram 47: Visitor Surveys & Ticketing Systems Final Report Kulturagenda, February

94 4.5 Visitors & Visitor Services Since no detailed statistics were available it was therefore only possible to document which of the data gathering methods (ticketing system/visitor surveys) were in use. The collected data also show that specialised museums state significantly higher rates of conducting visitor surveys. Surprisingly, nearly all of the museums with no ticketing system stated very precise visitor figures in the questionnaire. So doubts arise as to how reliable the data are, especially for specific categories such as age groups or regional provenance. Visitor Segmentation Interestingly, school groups comprise in all museums around 40% of all visits which is at the high end of comparable international figures. The following diagram shows that nevertheless there are differences: the lower attendance in art galleries (23%) is compensated by significantly higher attendance in multipurpose and specialised museums (around 44%). % of School Groups 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% All Museums (n = 44) National Museums (n = 12) Regional Museums (n = 32) 40,0% 39,9% 40,1% Art Galleries (n = 8) Multipurpose Museums (n = 27) Specialised Museums (n = 9) 23,5% 43,6% 43,9% Diagram 48: Percentage of School Groups Age Groups The data from 33 museums 60 show that the largest group represented in Slovenian museums is the up to 20-year-old segment (38% in all museums), followed by the 41- to 60- year-olds (24%), the 21- to 40-year-olds (20%) and the group of the over-60-year-olds (18%). 60 For 10 museums the figures are missing and for four of the remaining 37 museums the total is not 100% Final Report Kulturagenda, February

95 4.5 Visitors & Visitor Services Age Groups 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 38% < 21 years years 20% 21% 17% 28% 27% 27% 45% All Museums (n = 33) Art Galleries (n = 5) years 18% 20% 24% 25% 35% Multipurpose Museums (n = 20) Specialised Museums (n = 8) > 60 years 18% 18% 20% Diagram 49: Age Groups Specialised museums seem to have the most balanced age structure, multipurpose museums have the highest amount of young visitors up to 21 years and the highest proportion of 41- to 60-year-olds is found in art galleries. Origin of Visitors As the available data on visitor origin are partly inconsistent the results have to be regarded with caution. But it seems that in all Slovenian museums visitors from all over Slovenia are the largest group (35%), followed by locals (33%), then regional visitors (20%) and international tourists (14%). 61 The table below shows a summary of visitor origin and also gives an indication about the lowest and highest figures in respective museums as an example: Visitors Percentage Average Museums that delivered data Lowest % Highest % National Museums From Abroad 14.0% 11 From other Regions of Slovenia From the Region 25.0% 9 Local 32.5% 8 5%: Slovenski gledališki muzej and Slovenski šolski muzej 38.6% 9 10%: Slovenska kinoteka Table 30: Origin of Visitors National Museums 10%: Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem 10%: Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem 30%: Moderna galerija 84%: Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije 70%: Slovenski etnografski muzej 75%: Slovenski gledališki muzej 61 For particular museums consult the individual museum data fact sheets. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

96 21,4% 3,2% 18,2% 9,5% 6,5% 32,3% 41,9% 42,9% 50,0% 72,7% 72,7% 72,7% 78,6% 81,8% 77,4% 90,9% 97,6% 92,9% 90,9% 100,0% 93,5% 4.5 Visitors & Visitor Services Regional Museums Percentage Average Museums that delivered data From Abroad 15.0% 32 1%: Zasavski muzej Trbovlje From other Regions of Slovenia 33.5% 29 From the Region 18.8% 26 Local 33.1% 27 Table 31: Origin of Visitors Regional Museums Lowest % Highest % 8%: Umetnostna galerija Maribor 7%: Arhitekturni muzej Ljubljana 2%: Koroški pokrajinski muzej Slovenj Gradec 40%: Pokrajinski muzej Koper and Goriški muzej Kromberk - Nova Gorica 80%: Koroški pokrajinski muzej Slovenj Gradec 40%: Pokrajinski muzej Murska Sobota 75%:Umetnostna galerija Maribor Main target groups Most of the surveyed museums listed many different target groups therefore the definition of main target groups per museums is problematic. The most important target group are schools over 90% of all museums declare this group as a main target group, followed by pensioners (79%), nursery groups (50%), students (43%), families (21%) and special needs groups (10%). 100% Main Target Groups 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Nursery Groups Primary School Secondary School Students Families Pensioners Special Need Groups All Museums (n = 42) National Museums (n = 11) Regional Museums (n = 31) Diagram 50: Main Target Groups It is interesting to see that families are not seen as a main target group by most of the regional museums. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

97 0,0% 25,9% 7,4% 3,7% 28,6% 40,7% 42,9% 62,5% 62,5% 71,4% 71,4% 75,0% 77,8% 75,0% 87,5% 85,7% 92,6% 87,5% 100,0% 100,0% 100,0% 4.5 Visitors & Visitor Services Comparing the data of the different museum types, one finds interesting deviations (see diagram below): all art galleries state primary and secondary schools as a main target group and they are above average in every regard even for nursery groups. Interestingly multipurpose museums are below average except for primary schools and specialised museums have the highest interest in students and families but almost no interest in groups with special needs. Only with proper visitor surveys one could find out whether visitor segmentation and defined target groups correspond with each other or not. 100% Main Target Groups 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Nursery Groups Primary School Secondary School Students Families Pensioners Special Need Groups Art Galleries (n = 7) Multipurpose Museums (n = 27) Specialised Museums (n = 8) Diagram 51: Main Target Groups A-M-S Visitor services Visitor service is about welcoming visitors and making sure the visitor experience is enjoyable, memorable and of high quality. Data collected on visitor services concern mainly a range of visitor facilities such as the provision of cloakrooms and lockers, baby changing facilities, rooms for events, café/restaurant/buffet, specialist library or a museum shop. Other important service facilities are barrier-free access for visitors with special needs and a range of interpretation tools including the availability in other languages than Slovenian so that international visitors can engage with the collection. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

98 4.5 Visitors & Visitor Services Barrier-free Access 67% of all museums and all national museums provide additional services for visitors with special needs. The diagram below compares the level of provision. 53% of all museums (around 92% of all national museums) are at least partly barrier-free accessible for wheelchairs. As most of the Slovenian museums are housed in historical buildings wheelchair access to all galleries is problematic. Around 27% of all museums provide special facilities for people who are deaf or hearing impaired and around 24% provide special facilities for the blind or visually impaired. Visitors with learning difficulties only find special assistance in the national museums. Barriere-free Museums 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% General 54,5% 66,7% 100,0% Wheelchair 39,4% 53,3% 91,7% All Museums (n = 45) Blind 12,1% 24,4% 58,3% National Museums (n = 12) Regional Museums (n = 33) Deaf 12,1% 26,7% 66,7% Learning Difficulties 0,0% 13,3% 50,0% Diagram 52: Barrier-free Museums Taking into consideration the official focus on disabled people and also finding this group listed as one of the main target groups, for some of the museums, barrier-free access could turn into a major challenge in the coming years. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

99 4.5 Visitors & Visitor Services Special Facilities Museum visitors are more and more used to high quality services especially when it comes to certain facilities. Their lack or low quality might discourage people from visiting. Museums must ensure that all their facilities are well cared for and have certain quality standards, as well as being determined to further develop into a modern, visitor-centred institution. Special Facilities 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Cloakroom & Lockers 26,1% 17,6% 50,0% Baby Changing Events Room 21,7% 11,8% 50,0% 71,7% 66,7% 73,5% All Museums (n = 46) National Museums (n = 12) Specialist Library 80,4% 83,3% 79,4% Regional Museums (n = 34) Shop 73,9% 75,0% 73,5% Café / Restaurant / Buffet 29,8% 25,7% 41,7% Diagram 53: Special Facilities Data show that most of the museums offer a Specialist Library (in 83% of all national and 79% of all regional museums), which is a very traditional facility focussing on the mandate of scientific knowledge and dissemination. Around 72% of all museums have a so-called Event Room (often in their lecture rooms especially in regional museums). Photo 34 Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem Photo 35 Slovenski etnografski muzej Final Report Kulturagenda, February

100 4.5 Visitors & Visitor Services Photo 36 Pokrajinski muzej Maribor Photo 37 Belokranjski muzej Metlika Only 26% of all museums provide a cloakroom and lockers (18% of the regional museums) and only 22% have baby changing facilities (12% of the regional museums). This should be a standard visitor facility and therefore provided by all museums 74% of all museums run a museum shop (not every museum has a dedicated museum shop, however items are for sale at the reception desk). Photo 38 Narodni muzej Slovenije Photo 39 Tehniški muzej Slovenije Photo 40 Dolenjski muzej Novo Mesto Photo 41 Pokrajinski muzej Celje 29.8% or 14 museums state that they offer a café restaurant buffet for their visitors, however only 4 of them (3 nationals) stated a budget income. 11 museums have their café outsourced, 3 museums run a café in-house. Final Report Kulturagenda, February

101 4.5 Visitors & Visitor Services Photo 42 Slovenski Etnografski Muzej Photo 43 Belokranjski muzej Metlika Interpretation tools in different languages Not all visitors are in a position to make contextual links with what they see on display without any interpretative help. With museums broadening their audiences and trying to make collections more accessible to the public, more sophisticated interpretation tools become an important part in the process of engaging the visitor. For museums which also want to cater for tourists as one of their main target audience, interpretation needs to be provided in the main tourism languages. National museums provide their interpretation tools almost only in English as a foreign language, however in one museum films/videos are also available in other languages (Slovenska kinoteka) or German and Italian (Muzej krščanstva na Slovenskem) or an audioguide also in French (Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije). Table below shows how many national or regional museums provide which text information in other languages than Slovenian: National Museums Regional Museums Text panels / topic Text panels / room Room specific sheets 10 English 7 English 2 English 10 English 16 English 1 + Italian 1 + German 1 + Croatian 19 English 2 + Italian 1 + German 9 English 2 + Italian Object labels 16 English Table 32: Text Information Exhibitions Foreign Languages The next table shows the availability of AV media in foreign languages: National Museums Regional Museums Film/Video Audio stations PC terminals Audioguide 10 English 1 German 1 Italian 1 several languages 10 English 1 + German 2 English 2 English 2 English 1 + French 1 English 4 English 1 Italian Table 33: AV media Exhibitions - Foreign Languages Final Report Kulturagenda, February