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| City of Lisbon, Portugal |
In April 2013, I participated in a conference in Lisbon on the funding crisis facing museums in Europe, which was sponsored by ICOM. I was also invited to speak on “the Canadian experience”.
I was eager to attend this conference and to learn more
about how museums in Europe are dealing with the massive cuts. While there, I heard many
horror stories but felt the hope of my museological colleagues. There have been
many closures of museums, aggressive programs for merging museums, rushed
privatization of some sites, and many layoffs. These extensive changes have even
paralyzed many museums. The seriousness of the situation was very
evident in Lisbon where youth unemployment is over 50% and the economy is stagnant.
