Monday, February 09, 2009

Burrell Collection at centre of row re neglect

Scotland on Sunday (Marc Horne)

I posted about this in September 2008. Clearly nothing has happened to resolve the situation since then.

ONE of Scotland's greatest art treasure houses is at the centre of bitter accusations that ministers are allowing it to fall apart while finding millions to save Titian paintings for the nation.

Culture chiefs are complaining that the Burrell Collection is "battered" and struggling to raise funds to fix its leaky roof but pleas for financial help from the Scottish Government have been ignored. . . . .

When it opened quarter of a century ago, the glass-based design of the public museum won awards and national recognition. But in recent months staff have had to rescue priceless artefacts after water seeped in through leaks in the roof.

The problem means that visitors to the flagship cultural building now have to negotiate puddles of water after staff run out of buckets to catch the persistent drips.

The worst affected areas include a gallery showing ancient Egyptian treasures, many of which are more than 5,000 years old. As a result some cases had to be emptied and their items put on temporary display in the museum's mezzanine level.

See the above page for the full story.

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