More Attacks, Good-bye PhDiva, Hello Culture Concierge

.
Dorothy King has announced (Good-bye PhDiva, Hello Culture Concierge) that she's suspending her PhDiva blogging to concentrate on her new project "Culture Concierge" (temporarily housed here, will be moving later, the postal address is her dad's coin shop opposite the BM). "Culture Concierge" aims to provide art and antiquity collectors with "a sort of curatorial concierge service".

Someone who can come in and curate when needed, organise libraries, arrange collections, bid at auction, sort out a scholar who can teach them about art either in London or for a trip abroad whilst still knowing where the good restaurants are, keep them abreast of what's going on in the art world, advise on which groups to support, and so forth. If it's legal, we can do it. Between us we can cover Antiquity to the Contemporary, through the Renaissance - and if we ourselves can't cover an area, then we almost certainly know someone who can. The service isn't cheap - but we're worth it.

She bemoans the current state of "Cultural Property" (treated as a discipline) in its current internet-based form. She has a rather poor opinion of "cultural property fanatics" and decided to keep as far away from them as possible, "there are only a few of them, but trust me, whichever side of the argument they believe in, they are plenty good at causing a nuisance". I am sure there are many in the collecting world and trade that find it a nuisance that not everybody who disagrees with them does so quietly, and say what they think and why. However it seems Ms King has also been the victim of those who wish to use more direct means of trying to silence the voices of those who speak out:

This last week my credit and debit cards were reported stolen and cancelled, someone's been logging into my Gmail account from Luxembourg, and I've had a whole load of cranks phone calls and emails claiming various nonsense. [...] [this made] me realise that I need to make a few changes. I'm getting out of Cultural Property [...] I can get rid of the nonsense associated with cultural property.

There seems to be a lot of it about. This is a nasty, nasty business.

Readers of this blog will know that I have not always seen eye-to-eye with Dr King, nevertheless, nobody should have to endure such hounding for what they believe and write. I hope she finds some satisfaction and recompense in her new venture, and look forward to hearing more.

Vignette: Dorothy King (Library Thing)