Danes love a good flea market, and a proposal from opposition parties could see museums getting in on the act.
A number of opposition parties, with Venstre leading the charge, are proposing that Danish museums should be able to sell artefacts from their collections, but the Culture Ministry is strongly opposed to the idea, Politiken reports.
Michael Aastrup Jensen, Venstre’s culture minister, believes the move could be a welcome economic boost for museums. “It would be a prize for Museumsdanmark, so the collections can be newer and broader,” he said.
Cultural heritage at stake
Along with Venstre, three other parties – Liberal Alliance, Dansk Folkeparti and Konservative – support the proposal.
Lars Barfoed of Konservative said that care should be taken. “You need to be careful because our cultural heritage is at stake, ” he said.
“But to some extent it should be allowed.”
Marianne Jelved, the culture minister, is resolutely opposed to the idea. “I think it’s a bad idea that verges on the irresponsible,” she said.
“It would obviously be against what museums are for. They should preserve things from our past and they should do it in such a way that they also benefit future generations.”
