Kickstarter is an interesting new website where crowdsourcing meets fundraising, you will find films, comics and arts projects all asking strangers to help make projects happen by donating money towards the project.
Each project is given space on Kickstarter to give a pitch, explaining the aims, financial goals and what is in it for the person donating (limited edition print etc). The website seems to be doing a great job of linking projects with generous individuals and a quick flick through Kickstarter shows large sums of money have been donated (if a project doesn’t reach it’s fundraising goal within a limited timeframe then the money is returned to the people who donated it).
At the AMA Museum & Galleries Day which I attended yesterday, everybody was talking about the funding cuts which are going to hit the cultural sector in the UK (though the funding crunch is an international problem for museums) and I wondered if the Kickstarter model is one way of making the museum more sustainable and more relevant to it’s audiences.
Could a museum invite members of the public to propose exhibitions to be held within a gallery space over a set space of time and then ask people to vote with their money for the exhibition which they would like to see. The money would be like an advance ticket purchase with even those who pledge just £1 receiving a free ticket to visit the show.
I don’t know, perhaps it is crass and the public should not be able to buy an exhibition, but looking at Kickstarter, I think the result could be really interesting.
I’d love to hear what you think!