Stop Amassing Cruts and Stones!

Deaccessioning is one of the most controversial issues of museum management. Over the years, however, it has enjoyed increasing recognition. Major museum associations worldwide now acknowledge and regulate the practice, considering it an essential instrument of collections management. Nevertheless, in countries such as Italy it is still fiercely opposed on the grounds that it thwarts the vocation of museal institutions. Our study intends to determine whether this allegation is due to the sector’s conservativeness or the actual perception of the public, which we argue to be of utmost importance in policy-making. In addition, we investigate specific facets of deaccessioning from a public-oriented perspective, including item-related factors that may make the practice more acceptable, terms and conditions that may be desirable for the selling process, and possible destinations for the final proceeds. Through a quantitative enquiry, we find out that the Italian public does not oppose deaccessioning in principle, although it is paramount that future visitability is ensured and sales occur through public negotiations. Furthermore, we discover that a widespread assumption of academic and professional literature, i.e. that the betterment of collections is the sole acceptable destination for deaccessioning income, does not apply to the Italian context, as several others emerge as relatively more desirable.