Touring exhibitions and collections French museums experience from registrars point of view

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Wilfred Kelley
5 years ago
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1 Touring exhibitions and collections French museums experience from registrars point of view Regarding the subject of the European Registrars Conference in Edinburgh Think smart, the French Registrar Association, the AFROA, thought it can be interesting to work on the subject of Touring exhibitions and collections and to propose a cession dedicated to it. Temporary exhibitions have become a major issue in the research of permanent increasing of the visitors. With the current economic crisis and the decrease of public allocations, it is even more important for museums to reduce their expenses and search new financial incomes. While exhibitions are more and more expensive to produce, and the increasing numbers of exhibitions push museums to search for bigger exhibitions of major artists. On the other hand, French collections are some of the most famous of the world, as the Louvre s. While the Centre Pompidou and the Louvre are opening extensions in France (Centre Pompidou Metz, Louvre Lens), they are also working on the development of their collections. Organising exhibitions with exclusively their own collections to propose to other institutions all around the world. French collections and French know how are bankable worldwide. Few years ago, such projects were mainly for museums in progress while they couldn t show their collections. It seems to be now more and more becoming a new way for self-financing. How French Museums manage these incoming and outgoing touring exhibitions? Share the organisation of incoming exhibitions and propose outgoing exhibitions have become more and more usual for French museums. This new management of exhibitions involves new challenges for us, as registrars. How do we share production, responsibilities and organisation between institutions? How do we share costs? What is the registrar involvement in contract negotiation? What are we doing when contract clauses become registrar s issues? How do we work with foreign partners, with another organisation and using different rules? These questions have been submitted to our colleagues in France during a workshop and in a questionnaire both organised by AFROA. They were shared as our experiences with our colleagues at ERC to think smart together and be more efficient in our next common projects.

2 Overview of touring exhibitions and collections in France from 2006 : results of workshop and questionnaire 1 / WORKSHOP AFROA has organised a workshop day which has taken place in Paris the 20 th of June The aim was to collect registrars experiences of these touring exhibitions and new challenges. The Association has invited registrars and exhibition coordinators to exchange on their practices during one day. 30 persons came from Paris and suburbs but also from museums in regions concerned by this kind of the exhibitions. The 30 participants were separated in 6 groups and were invited to work on 6 topics: - Contract and schedule - Sharing costs and responsibilities - Loan requests - Insure the works - Transports and couriers - Conservation Contract and schedule / Sharing costs and responsibilities Different kind of contracts especially for touring exhibitions. Incoming exhibitions : contracts of co-organisation or co-production between organisers. Outgoing exhibitions : contracts of organisation or agreements. These contracts include the loan's requests and precise the sharing expenses (also the sharing income for co-production) and responsibilities. Expenses which can be share are scenography, transportation, couriers, insurance, restorations, publications, etc.). The share is not always equal. Often depends of the number of venues and of the implication of each partner. Essential who is responsible of the budget (one person per venue or one for all venues). The key of the success is communication between partners. For outgoing exhibitions, the borrower pay everything and sometimes even more when the lender ask for fees. Regarding responsibilities, contracts have to precise who sign loan contracts of each lender if the loan demand has been made for all the touring exhibitions : each organiser or only one for all. Also when is the change of person in charge regarding the insurance : at loading? Unloading? When condition report is completed? These contracts can be written by different kind of persons : registrar, coordinator of exhibitions, curator, lawyer. Even when they are not the writer of it, legal department is always involved in. Language chosen is often those of the organiser. Problem of translation. Difficulties also with the question of the applicable law in case of litigation. Schedule in the contracts are most often not respected. Deadlines are frequently exceeded.

3 Signature of the contract itself between organisers or partners is often not finalized before the opening of the exhibition. Loan requests Loan requests can be found in loan contracts or agreements (for outgoing exhibitions). Lenders ask frequently for facilities reports, display reports, sometimes samples of materials. Requests are upon insurance, transportation, couriers, exhibition's conditions and for few countries on loans fees. French registrars notice that more and more lenders ask for their own insurance loans fees are getting usual numbers of couriers is increasing and it's difficult to join them per diem are more and more difficult to negotiate. The number of requests are maybe the reflect of non trust between institutions. A solution could be to write a guideline of good practices. Transports and couriers Responsibilities of each partners depend of the kind of touring exhibitions. Outgoing exhibitions : transports and couriers are organised by the borrower but in consultation with the lender. Incoming exhibitions : if resumption, only one organiser so only one contact, if co-organised or coproduced, can be lot of contacts. Important then to precise responsibilities of each one and to put it in the contract. No permanent rule, depends of negotiations between the partners. When is it necessary to send a courier? Who decide? Sometimes, some institutions ask other courier to take care of their artwork. But has he exactly to do? What are his responsibilities? Does he have to sign condition report? Some lenders don't ask fro courier between 2 venues of a touring exhibition. Responsibilities of the artworks delegate to the organiser. Can be ways to reduce costs for the organiser. Insure the works Private insurance The borrower prefers to have only one insurance company for all the exhibition. The lender prefers to have the one he is used to work with. Negotiations between them, on borrower side, can have financial consequences and will not fit with public works contract (for those who have). On lender side, to accept the insurance of the borrowers, means registrars have to study each policy. French museums practice is not the same. State indemnity cover Depending on the countries. Necessity of translation (cost, problems of translation and delay). The lender can refuse especially when there can't be reciprocity (countries without State indemnity cover). For touring exhibitions, insurance can be for one venue or for all the venues. The most important is to decide when is the transfer between 2 insurances. This moment can be the condition report.

4 French specificities : Artworks are imprescriptible and inalienable Their insurance values are agreed value and not declared value Few cases of non-insurance between French public museums Conservation Delays of exhibitions' preparation and production are getting shorter regarding the increase number of exhibitions. To protect artworks during transports and exhibition it necessary to anticipate risks during transportation and to manage them check and control conservation's conditions in exhibition's rooms and storage With touring exhibitions, impact on conservation can be important when touring is long (up to one year). The most sensitive artworks are changed. Condition report is essential to precise what is erosion and what is damage. Importance of artworks' preparation (restoration, framing, etc.) but who pay? During this workshop we have noticed that practices are very common. The difference is often in the fact if you are lender or borrower. But difficulties are the same, questions are the same. Writing a guideline of good practices as is it wished and we can share could be a best way to think smart together.

5 2 / QUESTIONNAIRE Following the workshop, a questionnaire was composed to collect figures and compare registrars' experiences. The questionnaire ask different questions on touring exhibitions and outgoing exhibitions the museums may have organised since The questionnaire was sent to all the members of AFROA and participants to the workshop. During summer 2012 almost 150 museums or institutions have been contacted. 15% has answered which means 23 institutions : Association French Lines, Le Havre Centre national du costume de scène et de la scénographie, Moulins-sur-Allier Cinémathèque française, Paris Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration, Paris Direction du Patrimoine Louis Vuitton, Paris Espace de l'art concret, Mouans-Sartoux Institut national du Patrimoine, Paris Institut suédois, Paris Musée Cernuschi, Paris Musée d'art moderne, d'art contemporain et d'art brut (LAM), Lille Musée de la Grande Guerre, Meaux Musée des Beaux-Arts, Cambrai Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes Musée des Beaux-Arts et LAAC, Dunkerque Musée des Impressionnismes, Giverny Musée du Louvre, Paris Musée Fabre, Montpellier Musée Goya, Castres Musée Matisse, Cateau-Cambrésis Musée Matisse, Nice Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris Villa Arson, Centre national d'art contemporain, Nice Among these 23 institutions, 45% are located in Paris and around, 55% in regions. They have different system or size which means they are representative of the varieties of museums and cultural institutions in France. Among these 23 answers, 5 of them are not concerned by these kind of exhibitions (22%). Certainly lot of museums non concerned have not answered. It's difficult then to know the exact proportion of institutions organising touring exhibitions and outgoing exhibitions. Among the 18 others, 4 organise touring exhibitions (22,2%), 5 outgoing exhibitions (27,8%) and 9 both (50%). The results Touring exhibitions Number of exhibitions These last 7 years, the 13 answering institutions have organised 219 touring exhibitions, almost 2,4 per year and per institution.

6 More than 32 have been made each year in , back to 2006 level (34 exhibitions). Decrease can be seen between these years (average of 29 exhibitions per year). 31 exhibitions were announced for The four main organisers are in order Institut Suédois, RMN, musée du Louvre and Centre Pompidou. Number of venues More than one third of the exhibitions have 2 venues (47%), the others have often 1 (29%) or 3 (20%). These results must be tempered regarding the way question was asked as a touring definition has by definition at least 2 venues. Number of artworks Two third of the exhibitions shows less than 100 artworks (63%) and sometimes more : between 100 and 200 artworks (22%), more than 200 artworks (15%). Area The exhibitions are touring mostly in France (51%), a lot in Europe (27,3%) and some in North America (16,4%). Very few are touring in other parts of the world (less than 6%). Distribution between resumption of exhibitions and co-organised or co-produced exhibitions Almost all the touring exhibitions are co-organised or co-produced (85,2%). The difference between these two kinds of exhibitions is not so clear which can explain this result. Outgoing exhibitions Number of exhibitions These last 7 years, the 14 answering institutions have organised 188 outgoing exhibitions. We can notice an outgoing exhibitions boom in : more than 30 exhibitions per year compare to 2009 (21 exhibitions). The exhibitions' number slows down in 2010 but restarts in In 2012, there is a lot of projects (35). The museums organising outgoing exhibitions are in general those with important collections regarding art pieces' number : Centre Pompidou, musée du Louvre, LaM. Number of venues Outgoing exhibitions have mostly 1 venue (70%), sometimes 2 (18%) or more (12%). Number of artworks Outgoing exhibitions mostly shows less than 100 artworks (65%) and sometimes more : between 100 and 200 artworks (24%), more than 200 artworks (11%). Area Half of the outgoing exhibitions are shown in France (47,4%), 21,1% in Europe, 14,7% in Asia and 10% in North America. There are also few examples in South America (2,4%) or Oceania (4,4%). Exhibitions with fee or not Two third of the outgoing exhibition are without fee (68%). Which seems to show that this kind of exhibitions are not held always for financial reasons. It can be also for propagation of scientific knowledges or diplomatic issues. Number of people working only on outgoing exhibitions in each museum Third institutions among the answering 14 organising outgoing exhibitions have created positions or services dedicated to outgoing exhibitions : musée du Louvre, Cinémathèque française and musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes. In the others, registrars, curators, coordinators of exhibitions take care of these exhibitions besides their other tasks.

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