Temporary Exhibitions

What’s Hot and What’s Not in Loans Administration

Temporary Exhibitions

• - “To promote the highest standards for the movement and care of works of art;

• - To promote a code of conduct between museums involved in international temporary exhibitions;

• To confirm a generally accepted balance of rights, responsibilities and customs between lenders and borrowers;

• - To inhibit the infliction of unnecessary or unfair costs on either lenders or borrowers.”

o Temporary Exhibitions – General principleso Accessibility of Collectionso Loan approvalso Loan feeso Loan formso Transport/Packing/Couriers o Customso Government Indemnity/Commercial Insuranceo Facilities and Security of Borrowing Venueo Conservation/Green Issueso Anti-seizure legislation o The role of the Registraro Cultural differences and the building of trust

Temporary Exhibitions – General Principles

Museums provide opportunities for the

appreciation, understanding and promotion

of the natural and cultural heritage

Temporary Exhibitions – General Principles

1. The mobility of collections is ideally based on the principle of reciprocity.

2. Loans should only be granted for exhibitions of high artistic, educational or scientific standards and if the object is truly indispensable.

3. Institutions should apply the same practical and ethical standards whether acting as lender or borrower.

4. Loans should be granted to institutions that provide public access.

5. Financial gain should be discouraged as the sole purpose of lending or borrowing.

6. Institutions should make every effort to minimize costs.

7. Objects that are tainted with legal problems, such as questionable title, acquisition history, gaps in provenance or financial issues, must not knowingly be lent or borrowed.

Making Collections Accessible

• Digitise your collections

• Create partnerships with other academic institutions, libraries, archives

• Build relationships with colleagues

Loan approval

• Significance of the loan for the exhibition concept

• Physical condition of the object and its ability to travel

• Reliability of the borrowing museum, its legal and financial status, the professionalism of its staff

• Security, facilities and environmental conditions of the venue

• Number of touring venues for travelling exhibitions in relation to the fragility of the object

• Political stability of the country involved and the threat of terrorism

How are loans granted?

• free of charge, with or without a reasonable fee constituting a recovery of some of the lender’s direct costs

• in return for an irrevocable loan fee, constituting a payment to the lender for granting the loan, rather than a recovery of costs actually incurred

• in exchange for other loans, (“an object for an object”)

• in the context of a partnership (for example, in organising an exhibition tour)

Loan forms

The NEMO loan form template can be

adapted to meet the lender’s

requirements

It can be used as a contractual

benchmark for loans

www.ne-mo.org

Transport Agents must always:

Keep details of lenders and loan-objects as well as all arrangements confidential

Have knowledge of handling requirements for all exhibits

Follow strict security procedures

Be experts in international shipping and familiar with customs procedures

Be familiar with emergency procedures & abide by fire regulations

Maintain vehicles, storage areas and equipment to a high standard

Keep up-to-date documentation of object movements

Customs & export licenses

• Seek the advice of transport agents and their expertise to run training on Customs procedures and regulations for museum professionals.

• Work with the national Customs agencies and the national Culture Ministries to simplify these regulations, or at least to demystify them.

Government Indemnity/Commercial Insurance

• Borrowers are familiar with their own schemes or policies in order to clearly communicate all aspects of coverage

• The loans must be indemnified/insured for an agreed value stipulated by the lender in writing

• Lenders do not change their valuations during the period of the loan

• Lenders make every effort to accept the borrower’s state

indemnity, or the combined use of indemnity and insurance

Facilities and Security at the borrowing venue

• Use of the UK Registrars Group Facilities Report, Display and Security Supplements or similar

www. ukregistrarsgroup.org

• A central museum security adviser for each EU member state

Exhibitions Going Green

– International Institute for Conservation

– Institute of Conservation in the UK

– American Association of Museums

– International Association of Museums of Fine Arts

– International Exhibition Organisers Group

– Bizot Group

Exhibitions Going Green

Make better use of reusable packaging, like ready made hire crates

Balance the cost of storing tailor-made cases for specific objects with the desire to reduce crate disposal

Make use of consolidated road transport

Reduce the number of couriers

Other areas: operations of buildings, visitor facilities, use of recyclable material in exhibition builds

Anti-seizure legislation

Immunity from judicial seizure is the legal protection that the Government in the country of the borrower grants to an object, on loan from a foreign lender, while within the territory of this country and the custody of the borrower for the period of a temporary exhibition.

The purpose of immunity is to protect the loan against any legal claims of its title and to ensure that in the event of such a claim the loan will still be returned to the lender.

Anti-seizure legislation

Combating Illicit Trade:  Due diligence guidelines for museums, libraries and archives on collecting and borrowing cultural material

issued by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, October 2005

Anti-seizure legislation – Advice for Borrowers

• Be familiar with the law in your country and ensure that the expectations of the lenders can be met and the necessary documentation is in place in a timely manner.

• Strongly support the principle that stolen or illegally exported items should not be included in an exhibition and adopt an institutional policy on due diligence for provenance research

• Seek confirmation that the lender has good title to the object

• Encourage enquiry and open debate

Cultural differences in

• how people perceive themselves and other people

• how we perceive time and manage it

• established working practices, which may be dependent on government bureaucracy

• institutional behaviour, which proves difficult to change

Picture credits

• Museum of London/City of London Corporation