By Kan Yaw Chong THE July 26-Aug 6 trip to China was a euphoric experience.
One of the reasons was that we were free to take pictures inside all the museums we visited.
So, there wasn’t any gap in the experience. No museum staff ever accosted (i.e. approach aggressively) me on account of my Canon RDS1200 camera slung over my neck.
On the contrary, they say: “Feel free to take whatever photographs you want” and didn’t say “you can’t use the flash!”
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So I am able here to share some of the pictures taken inside three museums at Ningxia, Fu Xian (Sian) and Tianjin.
That unrestricted liberty to photo shoot across China came as a complete surprise vis-a-vis Sabah Museum.
Because my experience in Belgium and Sabah was blanket camera ban and I thought no one else can bend that policy.
For example, after taking shots in the Brussels’ aviation museum in 1987, somebody ran after me and demanded to check my camera.
At Sabah Museum, I was accosted once for entering with a camera.
The worst part was the day I wanted to take a picture of the 70ft-long skeletal exhibit of the Bryde’s whale the Daily Express had fought very hard to convince the State Government to turn it into a showcase at the Museum, after the whale had beached at Lok Arai, Gaya Island, on Dec 17, 2006 and then dragged away to its burial ground in the South China Sea.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman ordered the foul carcass to be hauled back, and I practically reported the preparation on a daily basis for weeks.
After all that effort, Sabah Museum said, “sorry: you can’t take any picture” when it was up for show at the foya!
Examine an outdated policy?
No wonder many people criticise the forbidding countenance at traditional museums as “unfriendly” and it’s time for the Sabah Museum to examine what some call an “outdated” policy in this era of social media.
Online images would encourage visit and raise the financial capacity of museums because the value museums get from free publicity of the images of their collection would be greater than staying largely hidden.
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Also, taking pictures is part of the experience for the masses of travellers and banning it inside museum reinforce “a stereotype of out-of-touch museums,” some argued.
Others say photographs are important on how people form memories of exotic trips, allow people to remember and share experiences and hence museum photography should be allowed unless there are specific reasons.
Some invoke ethics, saying they always find it odd that public-funded or publicly-owned items cannot be photographed as part of a visit.
All reasons for blanket photo bans have been questioned
All said, we are also aware of the traditional arguments for blanket photographic ban.
One key is curators worry breach of copyrights where there are contractual agreements with artists.
But even as compelling as copyrights may sound, some would still ask how dodgy amateur photos of questionable quality constitute a copy.
Like the awesome 70-foot Bryde’s whale skeletal exhibit, whose copyright is it – the people of Sabah or the Sabah Museum?
The answer is probably common property of Sabahans and, if so, how can the Sabah Museum ban Sabahans from taking pictures of it and limit Sabah’s own exposure through either mainstream or social media.
Selfies and wefies may do Sabah Museum wonders!
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We are sure the selfies or wefies of this massive skeletal exhibit spread around the world could raise a lot more visitor numbers.
Another oft cited reason for camera ban is the light damage from flash photography.
But again, critics agree only in part, such as flash lights might damage some dyed fabrics, very early photos and any other really ultra violet ray sensitive dyes but not paintings such as that of Mona Lisa which had been photographed thousands of times, and also sculptures and ceramics, socio history, natural history, archaeological artefacts etc.
A further photo ban argument is the quest to maintain atmosphere, citing overzealous lensmen who photograph everything and irritate everybody.
But rather than stop the photography and generate negative feelings, why not concentrate on positive visitor care, that is, management of annoying photography, some argue.
So, Sabah Museum should learn from the “long comings” of China, or other countries like Germany, do a policy rethink and refine those blanket photo restrictions which ends up making potential visitors from far or near feel : why should we visit such a camera-unfriendly museum.
I like what one Chinese official in Yin Chuan told the Sabah China Trip Media arranged by the Chinese Consulate in Sabah: “Learn from the ‘chang chu’ (long comings) of anybody.”
And Sabah Museum can easily change that variable to win hearts.