MUSEUM ADVISOR AND COMMENTATOR

 

Working together: The British Museum and the New Acropolis Museum have many things in common. Regardless of the location of the Parthenon Marbles, the museums should work together to better serve the public, and the world. There are many ways in which the museums could co-operate, which would also help to build up trust between the museums.

 

Maurice Davies is a leading commentator on UK museums. He is a partner in the Museum Consultancy and head of policy and communication at the Museums Association. He’s recently co-led a research project Evaluating Evaluation, at King’s College London, where he’s a visiting senior research fellow. He’s also a visiting professor at Nottingham Trent University. He’s previously been editor of Museums Journal and had curatorial roles at Manchester City Art Gallery and Tate.

 

He’s been involved in a wide range of initiatives and policy developments including: sustainability and museums, illicit trade in cultural property, human remains in museums, improving use of collections, deaccessioning and sale of collections, the impact of museums and entry to and diversity of the workforce. He led the Museums Association’s Museums 2020 initiative that culminated in the publication of Museums Change Lives in July 2013.

 

Maurice’s international work has primarily concerned cultural property issues, including repatriation (of artefacts and human remains) and illicit trade. He speaks occasionally at overseas museum conferences, mainly on developments in UK museum policy (most recently in Sweden, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands and the US). Recently, as part of the Museum Consultancy, he has been training staff of Qatar Museums Authority, on behalf of University College London.