Experts question nature museum director selection

Several Estonian museum directors have questioned the purpose, transparency and legality of a competition to lead the Estonian Natural History Museum, ERR reported. They said it remains unclear whether the institution was seeking a museum director or a manager for the building complex.

Laura Kipper, director of the Estonian National Museum, said the role advertised appeared to be that of a museum director. In that case, she said, a sector representative should have been included on the selection committee.

“The question now remains: whom was actually recruited?” Kipper said. In a social media post, she described it as troubling that managing 570 office spaces appeared to be treated as requiring more strategic skills than communicating knowledge and creating a special experience for 200,000 museum visitors.

Rita Valge, director of the Estonian Road Museum, said it was unusual that the competition had not been circulated on any museum information lists and that neither museum representatives nor experts in the field of natural history had been included on the committee.

Valge also noted that the selected candidate’s direct supervisor was on the selection committee, as was an employee subordinate to the manager. These circumstances prompted the Estonian Museums Association to ask the ministry to examine whether the competition was lawful and impartial.

The association has not yet received an official response, although museum directors have heard explanations through the media. Valge said the justification that Heidi Jõks had led the museum for many years seemed strange, as if the length of service mattered more than results and ability.

She also questioned the explanation that the institution was different from a museum because it would include office buildings and 570 jobs. According to the competition notice, the successful candidate would be responsible for leading the museum’s activities and development and for meeting its objectives and statutory responsibilities.

“The competition notice sought a director for the Natural History Museum. After the competition, it has been explained that what was actually sought was a building manager for the Nature House, where the Natural History Museum would be one of the tenants,” Valge said.

Valge said she was unsure whether appointing building managers rather than field experts to lead museums was consistent with the Museums Act. She also criticised the decision not to organise a new competition, as proposed by the Estonian Museums Association.

Former director praised

Valge praised former director Heidi Jõks, saying that she and her team had led the development of the new museum, introduced new funding models to the museum sector, won several Museum Rat awards and earned Jõks the title of Dream Employee.

“In light of all this, it is difficult to understand the change of leadership and consider it fair,” Valge said.

Mariann Raisma, director of the University of Tartu Museum, wrote on social media that an institution has the right and duty to choose leaders who fit its objectives. She said the current case was careless from the perspective of the museum as an institution.

Raisma said the competition had been held to select a leader for the Natural History Museum, not for the entire building. If the position was instead intended to be for another kind of institution, that should have been clearly communicated and stated in the job advertisement.

The new Nature House is being built next to the Seaplane Harbour in Tallinn according to a project by the architectural firm Kavakava OÜ. The Natural History Museum will be located there.