Museums plan to sell collections to survive

by Sean McLachlan on


Museums in The Netherlands have received some bad news–national funding for arts and culture will drop from 900 million euros to 700 million in 2013. Now museums and other institutions are scrambling to figure out how to survive.

The Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam has come up with a controversial plan. They’re going to sell off their African and American collections in order to raise money.

While this has caused an understandable uproar, it makes sense in some ways. The Wereldmuseum’s main collections are in Asian and Pacific art, such as the Korwar figurines from New Guinea pictured above courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. These will not be sold. Other museums in the country are known for African and American art, so the Dutch and the tourists won’t be left without. It’s also a major opportunity for museums that still have decent funding for new acquisitions, assuming there are any.

There are still plenty of downsides. The Wereldmuseum and any other institution that tries this tactic will lose some of the diversity of their collections. It makes it harder for them to participate in the exchanges of artwork that help create bonds between different museums and the creation of major exhibitions. The sale will probably also see some of artifacts leave the country or go into private hands, and out of sight of the general public.

For the Wereldmuseum in particular it means losing some of its unique character. The collection is partially made up of objects brought back by Dutch traders, who in past centuries were one of the major economic powers on the high seas and traded to all corners of the globe. At the moment the collection reflects that. To secure its future, the Wereldmuseum will have to discard some of its past.

It may even undermine its own name. Wereldmuseum translates to “World Museum”.

Christopher Robin’s bookshop closing

by Sean McLachlan on

A bookshop opened by the original Christopher Robin of Winnie the Pooh fame will close, the BBC reports.

The Harbour Bookshop in Dartmouth, England, was opened in 1951 by Christopher Robin Milne, son of Pooh author A.A. Milne. The bookshop became a destination for Pooh fans, even though Christopher Robin often hid from visitors. He died in 1996, and the current owners say that a slump in sales and a rise in rent has led them to close.

This sad story is being repeated in bookshops all over Europe and North America. As sales move online, bookstores are having a tougher time dealing with the economic crisis than most businesses. Many towns are being left without an independent bookshop, as indeed Dartmouth will be once The Harbour Bookshop shuts its doors. Some towns don’t have any bookstores left at all. Earlier this year, Laredo, Texas, with a population of a quarter of a million, saw its last bookstore close.

That’s sad. Bookstores add to the cultural value of their neighborhood and can even be tourist attractions. Gadling’s own David Farley has written about why bookstore tourism matters. Books make great souvenirs or gifts. Looking through my own shelves I often recall the trips where I bought certain titles.

So the next time you hit the road, please, drop into the local bookshop. You’ll be doing good for the local economy and you’ll bring home a nice memento of your trip.

[Photo of courtesy Celine Nadeau]

Trekking Nepal’s Tsum Valley

by Kraig Becker on

Nepal is, without a doubt, one of the top trekking destinations in the entire world. The hike to Everest Base Camp is a favorite with many adventure travelers and the Annapurna Circuit is widely considered to be one of the best long distance treks in the world. But those two well known hikes aren’t the only options for travelers, as there are a number of other great treks to be had as well. Take for example the Tsum Valley, Nepal’s “Hidden Valley of Happiness.”

Located in the shadow of Manaslu, the world’s eighth tallest mountain, the Tsum Valley is considered a sacred destination for Buddhists seeking spiritual progress on their path to enlightenment. Situated in north-central Nepal, the region has only been open to visitors for the past three years, and as a result, there isn’t much travel infrastructure, such as traditional tea houses, in place just yet.

Travelers will find a number of remote villages to explore however, many of which have centuries old monasteries that few outsiders have ever seen. They’ll also discover a unique destination that seems nearly untouched by the outside world, as most of the inhabitants of the Tsum Valley continue to grow their own food and raise their own yak herds, much like their ancestors have done for generations. Of course, the valley also offers plenty of the trademark Himalayan landscapes as well, with stunning views of snowcapped peaks and idyllic mountain meadows around every turn.

At the moment, the Tsum Valley remains a bit of a hidden gem –far off the radar for all but a few adventurous travelers. But those hoping to make the journey for themselves are in luck, as Mountain Madness, one of the top adventure travel companies in the world, is organizing an expedition for late 2012. The 27-day trip includes 16 days of trekking, cultural and historical tours of Kathmandu, and some of the most breathtaking scenery on the planet.

For more information, including a detailed itinerary, gear list, and pricing, click here.

[Photo credit: Deana Zabaldo]

Photo of the day: Marina Beach, Chennai, India

by Elizabeth Seward on

This shot of Marina Beach in Chennai in India evokes numerous desires within me–ones that can be easily reduced to a checklist:

1. Visit India.
2. Visit Marina Beach in Chennai.
3. Fly kites more often.
4. Go to beaches at night more often.
5. Take photos more often.

Funny how much want a simple photo can initiate…

Be that wanting as it may, I really love this photo. Taken by Keith Pennington, the photo offers up a nice representation of how popular Marina Beach is in Chennai.

Have you been to Marina Beach or any other beaches in India? Tell us where you went and why it was good or bad in the comments. And, as always, if you’d like to submit a photo for Photo of The Day, just upload it to the Gadling Flickr Pool.

A rural ride through Oxfordshire

by Sean McLachlan on


Yesterday was my birthday, and now that I’m halfway to 84 I figured the best way to spend it was with other decaying leftovers from ages past. I mean medieval buildings, not my travel companions.

Oxfordshire offers plenty of hikes, historic buildings, and good restaurants. To celebrate my increasing decrepitude, some friends drove my wife and I from Oxford to the nearby village of Great Coxwell to see a rare survival from the Middle Ages–the Great Coxwell Barn. While there’s no shortage of medieval churches and castles still standing in England, there aren’t many well-preserved medieval barns. This one was owned by the Cistercian Beaulieu Abbey and was built around 1300 AD. It was part of a grange (farm) owned by the abbey and worked by lay brothers and servants. The barn stored the produce of the grange as well as the tithe of the parish farmers.

The exterior looks remarkably churchlike, while the interior is a vast open space with a slate roof supported by an impressive system of wooden posts, beams and rafters, all connected by pegs or slots and tabs. Metal was expensive back then, and not a single nail was used in the construction of this massive roof.

%Gallery-130852%Great Coxwell also has a small church that’s about a hundred years older than the barn. It’s just up the hill in the middle of a churchyard filled with moss-covered gravestones that centuries of weathering have pushed over into crazy angles. Just the thing to see on your birthday! On a happier note the churchyard is a managed wildlife area with a colorful variety of wildflowers. These folks are pushing up more than just daisies.

The church has been much restored but has some interesting early inscriptions and a tiny winding passageway behind the pulpit that I could barely squeeze into. Sadly it led around a single turn and straight into a wall made of rubble and mortar. My mind conjured up all sorts of legends and ghostly walled-up monks, but the more likely explanation for this barrier is that it’s to keep nosy visitors from going up the steps.

For lunch we visited The White Hart in Fyfield. This restaurant/pub (called a “gastropub” over here) is in the old Hospital of St. John the Baptist, built in the mid-to-late 1400s. The “hospital” was actually an almshouse, housing five poor people as well as a priest whose job it was to say masses for the benefactor. We ate in the main hall beneath old wooden beams. Beyond the bar was a huge medieval fireplace.

The food was as good as the atmosphere. Many of the ingredients are locally sourced, some from as close as their own garden. I had the slow-roasted belly of Kelmscott pork, apple, celeriac puree, carrots, crackling, and cider jus. Utterly delicious. For dessert I had a roast peach with raspberry sorbet, topped with a spider’s web of spun sugary something. Sorry, I’m not a foodie writer, just trust me that it was good. My companions’ meals looked equally good and we washed it down with real ale from the Loose Cannon Brewery from nearby Abingdon.

Not a bad way to grow older!

The number 66 bus runs regularly between Oxford and Fyfield. This bus stops at Faringdon, where you can take the number 61 to Great Coxwell.