Art not Oil, Museum Ethics Update needed

Responding to the Museum Association's draft Code of Ethics Art not Oil Fri, 31st July 2015

 The Museums Association has been consulting to revise its Code of Ethics, and the new draft code is currently open for consultation until 7 August. The Art Not Oil coalition has been engaging with some museums on the specific issue of whether they should be taking money from oil companies. [...]  The revision of the MA Ethics Code is welcome, because it hasn’t been fully evaluated since 2002, and a great deal has changed in the world since then, not least the increase in severe climate change impacts. The Code is important because the MA represents professional standards for the museum sector [...]  The Code also applies to anyone working with museums, including artists, freelancers and companies providing services.

Art Not Oil  invite public participation in the debate on the Code (closing date for comments 7th August). The Code has elements relevant to the artefact hunting issue. This includes some new principles concerning 'Access and public engagement, Stewardship and Integrity' as well as the  wishes and rights of people who contributed to collections, including heirs, descendants and representatives.