Putting It Together

I love it when people make suggestions of what to write about. After 15 years of weekly Missives, it is not always easy to come up with an idea. Recently a friend wrote, “… I was again reminded how difficult it must be to design the hoped for collection, get permissions to move the objects, packing those objects, moving them, insuring them, unpacking them, and displaying them, while assuring their safety. Then you must produce the catalogue and sell the tickets.”

All these issues are what goes into an exhibition, and I probably have answered the question over the past 15 years in bits and pieces but never in one Missive so here goes: Here is a list which covers the entire process so, obviously, there is no way to give the process its due:

-The Concept
-The List
-The Contact
-The In-Person view
-The Deal
-The Catalog
-The Packing and shipping
-The Installation
-The Opening
-Did I forget Funding?!
-The Crossed fingers

An idea is not enough. You need to think of how you turn it into the museum visitor experience. Is it possible to get the cooperation of those who will be involved which starts at your own institution? Possibly they will want to form a committee which makes the curator’s job more complicated but may or may not make the concept clearer. The larger the committee the greater the risks.

Then you make a list or, cull a list if it is a one artist show, for your ideal exhibition. Inevitably this will be adjusted along the way. Will the museum or collector lend the work you believe is the best work for your exhibition?

Most exhibitions, unless they are done exclusively from your institution’s collection, will require some travel. If possible, you need to see the works in real life. When my wife was doing international exhibitions, she was continuously flying abroad to deal with the art for the show and the possessors of it.

The desired work may be too fragile to travel or the insurance value the owner wants on the work sounds prohibitive. How long will the exhibition be on? Are there plans to travel it? Will there be a catalog? All considerations of the owner deciding if they will lend the work, and it is your job to convince them it is worth the risk and for that owner to be missing that work for that length of time. If you are dealing with another institution they may ask for a specific work from your museum when they do an exhibition two years from now. You can be sure there will be hiccups along the way, and you will have to compromise your original “ideal” list.

You will probably enlist outside experts to contribute to your catalog well ahead of time. You really want that catalog to arrive from the printer before the show opens. If the catalog happens to come from abroad you may have to deal with U.S. Customs which, of course, goes for the art works as well.

You will work with your registrar on the arrangements for packing, shipping and insurance. Is there a packer in Timbuctoo that you and the owner will trust with that work of art, or can you send a registrar to pick it up in person? Museums will sometimes ask to have a curator accompany the work of art even if it means flying on a cargo plane… an official escort. Works of art are installed and must be taken down again when the exhibition closes. This image from the Bowes Museum in County Durham, England.

Meanwhile, the installation must be worked out. The art must be fitted into the available gallery space and installed in a way that tells the story you wish to convey. You need to work with a museum exhibition designer, here I will refer you to a previous Missive.

https://www.geraldstiebel.com/2021/06/the-designer.html

You have to prepare a schedule with your partners within the museum needed for the project. As the works of art arrive at your institution, a conservator will be needed to check their condition. Maybe you made a prior deal to have your conservator clean or restore a work for the owner in advance. Did you agree to have protective glazing on the picture before it was being shown? Damage during travel as minor as a chip on a frame has to be addressed. Skilled mount makers and additional art handlers may be needed. You may still be putting up the labels when the crew of lampers arrive for the critical final step of lighting.

Hopefully, your institution has left enough money in the till for advertising and a great opening… did I forget to say that the funds to do the exhibition have to be raised? You needed to have worked with your development department to accomplish this.

Obviously, each bit of what I have written could easily be a chapter in a book, so this is merely a gloss. I will leave it to you to think of all the issues that can come up in each circumstance!