Duncan Dornan to retire as Head of Glasgow Life Museums and Collections

Duncan Dornan is retiring as Head of Glasgow Life Museums and Collections after nine years in the role.

Article Source: Glasgow Life
Last Updated: 22 July 2024 13:21

Image: Duncan (left) is pictured receiving the 2023 Art Fund Museum of the Year prize for Glasgow’s Burrell Collection from artist Sir Grayson Perry at a ceremony at the British Museum in London.

Duncan has been with Glasgow Life for more than a decade, initially as Senior Museums Manager before becoming Head of Glasgow Life Museums in 2015. He will step down on Friday 23 August 2024.

As Head of Glasgow Life Museums and Collections, Duncan has been responsible for the planning and delivery of many of the city’s major museum projects and initiatives, including:

• The £68.25m refurbishment of the Burrell Collection. In 2023, The Burrell was named recipient of the world’s most prestigious museums’ prize, The Art Fund Museum of the Year. Since reopening in March 2022, the museum has attracted 1.3m visitors.

• The ongoing £35.9m refurbishment of the People’s Palace and Winter Gardens, which was initiated through a successful funding application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF).

• Banksy surprising the art world and beyond with his first exhibition in more than a decade at Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA). The show attracted over 180,000 visitors across its 10-week run from June to August 2023 and boosted the city’s economy by £13.5m.

• The refurbishment of Provand’s Lordship, Glasgow’s oldest building, which was repaired at a cost of £1.6m and reopened in March 2024.

• Glasgow Life Museums becoming the first museums service in the UK to repatriate objects to India and continuing to negotiate the return of other city-held museums objects to their rightful owners.

• The creation of a dedicated curator role to explore legacies of slavery and empire in Glasgow’s collections as well as new exhibitions and displays aimed at providing a better understanding of the city’s role in transatlantic slavery and colonialism.

Glasgow Life Museums are assets of national and international significance and play a crucial role in driving visits to Glasgow and Scotland.

Under Duncan’s tenure, Glasgow Life Museums recorded almost four million visits in 2023/24. More than half of all visits (55%) were from people outside the UK and over 85% of these said visiting a Glasgow Life Museum was a reason for coming to Scotland.

At the same time, Glasgow Life Museums has been able to diversify its local audience, with 50% of visitors living in parts of the city that face some of the highest levels of deprivation in Scotland (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, SIMD 1 and 2).

Duncan Dornan, Head of Glasgow Life Museums and Collections, said: “The people of Glasgow have a real sense of pride in their ownership of the city’s museums. It has been an enormous privilege to lead Glasgow Life Museums and I would like to thank my incredible team whose passion and care for the city’s collections has driven record numbers of local and international visitors. One in every three visits to a local authority museum in Scotland today is to a museum in Glasgow.

“Glasgow Life Museums bring audiences to Scotland because of their exceptional quality, breadth, and diversity. Our offer is both unique and world leading, and our role as an innovator in museums practice is recognised globally, which is something I am very proud of.”

Bailie Annette Christie, Chair of Glasgow Life said: “Glasgow’s museums have always belonged to the people of Glasgow. They are cherished by local people because they show who we were, who we are and who we want to be. Anyone who has ever visited one of Glasgow’s great museums has reason to be grateful for Duncan’s exceptional contributions.

“Duncan has taken Glasgow Life Museums to even greater heights, and this is reflected in the awards and interest we receive from around the world. On behalf of everyone at Glasgow Life, I wish him the very best for the future and a long and fulfilling retirement.”

The search for a new Head of Glasgow Life Museums and Collections is already underway. Saxton Bampfylde is Glasgow Life’s recruitment partner for this senior appointment. Candidates interested in applying for the role should contact Will Timmins at will.timmins@saxbam.com for more information.

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