It is 3am. You are the director of a gallery and you are woken by the phone call you dread. Your gallery is on fire. Each work of art inside is worth millions, perhaps tens of millions. Which objects do you save?
This is the world of “grab lists”—though not everyone calls them that. The Louvre in Paris prefers the more considered-sounding “priority lists”; others call them “salvage lists” or “snatch lists”. The Natural History Museum in London refers to the whole process as “salvage planning”. But whatever term an organisation uses, it comes to the same thing. These are the lists of holdings that—when the fire starts to burn, the floodwaters rise or the terrorist bomb explodes—will be saved first.
Deciding what to put on a list, says Mr Knatchbull, with the air of a man who has witnessed some spats, is “a really hard decision”. In a single museum you might have several heads of collections, “all saying their items are just as important as the others’.”These are not the sort of arguments curators are used to having.
“Every single National Trust property will have a priority list,” says Hannah Mawdsley, the curator in charge of this rehearsal. After all, staff in historic buildings have seen the fires at Notre Dame cathedral, Windsor Castle and Clandon Park, a Palladian mansion in Surrey. Tom Conlon, commander of the fire station conducting the drill, is sceptical about the idea that some buildings are safe. “Everything burns,” he says grimly.
Money is only one criterion for grab lists, though. A unique object, such as a pen that signed a peace treaty, might have a sentimental or political value that wildly exceeds its financial one. Compiling the lists forces curators to calibrate such trade-offs. More mundane factors must also be weighed—not least weight itself.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Deere, Gap, Nordstrom, VMware, HP & moreThese are the stocks posting the largest moves before the bell.
Read more »
Family Saving Time This Thanksgiving By Making Oak Dining Table Day BeforeWALDORF, MD—Vowing not to repeat the same mistakes of years past, sources confirmed Wednesday that the Stanchfield family was saving time this Thanksgiving by making their oak dining table the day before. “Grandma insists it’s better fresh, but making everything ahead this year is going to save a whole lot of stress,”…
Read more »
BTS Called Out James Corden For Making An Ageist Joke About Their Fanbase Earlier This Year'We just wanted to clear the air.'
Read more »
Ellen DeGeneres Teases Jared Leto About 'Making Whoopie' and Eating Croutons NakedIn a fiery game of 'Burning Questions', the talk show host playfully probed the actor about items in his house and what he does while naked.
Read more »
Help! My Dad Is Making Brisket for Thanksgiving and I Don’t Know What to Bring as a Side.Do mashed potatoes belong on a Thanksgiving table? How many pies do you really need? And what’s a good vegetarian main dish that isn’t lame?
Read more »