Andrew Horn, Chairman, Touring Exhibitions Group and Exhibitions Manager, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery looks at the pluses of taking an exhibition on tour.

Ring the changes with a touring exhibition

 Temporary exhibitions, perhaps more so than many other aspects of museum practice, present the most outward face of the museum and gallery and can make a significant contribution to its public profile.  It is, for instance, far easier to promote a temporary exhibition than the museum as a whole, particular to a press that is hungry for the new and different.  The touring and temporary exhibitions sector – for there is much cross-over within these two aspects – has by necessity to be outward looking, relying on developing programmes of exhibitions that present new ideas, subject matter and content.  In addition, it is a sector that relies on developing outside contacts, both to tour and hire in exhibitions and to create opportunities to partner others, whether with a museum, curator, freelance specialist or artist.  A tour with several venues requires considerable collaboration in order to ensure that the needs of all venues are articulated and met.  The ideal solution is to have those conversations within the development stage of the exhibition.

  In these straitened economic times, many museums are looking to reduce their budgets by focusing on their collections as sources of material for temporary exhibitions.  Touring presents an alternative opportunity to use limited resources effectively and to maximise opportunities.  Not only is hiring in an exhibition cost-effective in many cases as regards the costs of development and production, but also developing exhibitions through a touring partnership can enable costs and contributions to be shared.  That shared investment is reflected in the wider public benefit so that a single exhibition may be appreciated by audiences across the country as it tours.

Skillset

Exhibition staff develop considerable project management skills which are necessary for developing successful temporary exhibitions.  Planning, research, fundraising, as well as audience development, outreach and partnership working typify the early processes, whilst later stages of an exhibition development may include working with exhibition and graphic designers, outside contractors and suppliers, financial management, event planning and excellent interpretation skills.  Touring demands a particular set of skills to enable an exhibition to succeed within many different venue spaces and communicate to a broader audience than perhaps one’s own immediate constituency.

The Touring Exhibitions Group

In 2010, the Touring Exhibitions Group (TEG) celebrates 25 years.  For those museum and gallery professionals not familiar with TEG, it is the UK professional group concerned with all aspects of organising and touring exhibitions.  It is an independent membership of around 350 members who represent museums, galleries, libraries, art and science centres, corporate members as well as other types of organisations with an interest in touring exhibitions.  The organisation is run by committed museum and gallery professionals on a voluntary basis and supported by dedicated freelance staff, and we currently deliver a rolling programme of professional development activities and opportunities for members to meet, build networks and promote and hire exhibitions.

Some recent achievements for TEG include a new online edition of its Handbook of Good Practice in Touring – the vital step-by-step guide, a major research project Mapping the Touring Landscape, a rolling programme of seminars taking place around the UK, and a newly launched website which functions as the portal for most of TEG’s in-house publications and activities.  Much of this was achieved by a significant grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation which enabled TEG to expand its activities and widen its membership.

TEG has an active membership who like to get involved – whether this is by hosting a seminar, delivering a presentations about a recently successful exhibition, attending an event as a delegate, or sharing examples of good practice.  The nature of touring an exhibition to other galleries is that individual members by necessity develop good networks across their peer group, and this benefits the organisation through enabling the members to have strong links to each other and a perspective across the touring landscape.  Part of the attraction of the organisation is that it represents organisations from across the board – not only do we now represent many of the nationals and London museums, but also the very smallest local authority and independent organisations who are capable and interested in touring.

TEG looks forward to the years ahead and continues to assess and develop its activities.  We welcome new members and our committee and membership are always willing to share advice and good practice.

 For more information about the organisation, its members and programme of activities, visit: www.teg.org.uk