Planning and Managing an Exhibition Programme

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Vienna's Kunstforum, for example, changes the stock of its shop for each exhibition, and ensures that visitors can exit only via the shop. Larger museums now routinely locate temporary shops with exhibition-related stock within their premises, usually taking over an adjacent gallery to do so. Planning and delivering education programmes and special events related to temporary exhibitions has become an important part of their presentation, as noted in section 8.4. Museums hosting blockbusters sometimes find that the demand of school groups for tours of the special show temporarily eclipse study visits to the permanent collection. 'Whether volunteer or paid, docents must be specially trained for many temporary exhibitions, and additional numbers may need to be recruited and prepared for large and popular shows. Again, the challenge for the museum is very often to retain the interest of teachers and students who may have visited the museum only for the big show. Audio-visual and multimedia programmes offer the possibility of obtaining revenues from, or at least sharing costs with, television or other media outlets. Planning for major temporary exhibitions usually begins two to three years in advance of the opening da5 so marketing or development officers, educators and security personnel all need to be involved from the beginning. Their early involvement can result not only in television coverage but, even more importantly, in TV 'specials' related to the exhibition, or audio-visual shows that can be presented both in the museum and over cable or network stations. On one occasion the author attended an exhibition committee meeting where the security officer saved the museum significant operating costs by pointing out that the proposed exhibition design would require rwice the normal number of guards for invigilation, and showed how the number of guards needed could be cut in half simply by removing several panels that would have presented barriers to the guards patrolling the galleries. Given the constantly rising costs and the growing popularity of temporary exhibitions, it is not surprising that sponsorship of temporary exhibitions by corporations or individuals has become a substantial factor in their planning and execution, often affecting the decision whether to proceed with a show or not. A sponsorship policy has therefore become an important clause in a museum's exhibition policy. A museum's credibility depends on the publict appraisal of its objectivity, and this may be forfeited if the museum allows the sponsor to influence the content of the exhibition. A science centre presenting an exhibition about food groups, for example, may be tempted to avoid displays that cast doubt on the value of a corporate sponsors' products, unless it has a clear policy that isolates exhibition content from sponsors' interests. Still other questions are raised when the sponsor is also a collector who stands to benefit from the prestige conferred by the institution that displays his or her 286 THE MANUAL OF MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
each exhibition, ms now routinely premises, usually events related to :ntation, as noted rt the demand of tudy visits to the : specially trained o be recruited and e museum is very isited the museum collection, as in the controversy over the L999 Sensation exhlbition of the Saatchi Collection of contemporary British art at the Brooklyn Museum. Most sponsors, individual or corporate, understand the need for a sponsorship policy that preserves the museum's integriry and are very willing to work within its terms, as long as it is presented in a positive context. Nevertheless, the importance of securing sponsors, and the increasing tendency of corporations to consider sponsorship as a function of their public relations or marketing budgets, means that museums in their sponsorship proposals for exhibitions must more and more address such marketing issues as 'reach', 'demographic impact','impressions' and'exposure'. Case study 8.2 presents an example of a travelling temporary exhibition that was not only popular in itself, but also led to the opportunity to add a whole new group of works to the museum's permanent collection, and thereby to a new permanenr collection exhibition gallery as well. lity of obtaining r outlets. Planning in advance of the securiry personnel :an result not only rls' related to the museum and over led an exhibition ;nificant operating require twice the number of guards that would have :ity of temporary :y exhibitions by heir planning and a show or not. A useum's exhibition its objectivity, and the content of the cups, for example, orporate sponsors' :nt from sponsors' lllector who stands isplays his or her PLANNING AND MANAGING AN EXHIBITION PROGMMME
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Planning and Managing an Exhibition Programme

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