Building an Itinerary

STANDARD: Generate touring itineraries with realistic timeframes, logical transport routes, and alignment between tour requirements and host venue capacity.

Minimum Practice

Touring itineraries are developed within the operational and resourcing capacity of host venues. Organisations must communicate requirements accurately and transparently, and must not make false or misleading representations in connection with the supply or possible supply of goods or services under sections 18 or 29, Australian Consumer Law (ACL), Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

Best Practice

Building upon legal and ethical transparency on the expectations, capacity, and facilities required for the successful touring and hosting of exhibitions, best practice also prioritises the environmental sustainability of a tour’s route and the geographic relevance of exhibition content.

Guidance

Building an itinerary for a tour may be as simple as finding partners to co-produce an exhibition between venues, but in most cases involves contacting spaces where you feel your exhibition would resonate, and then aligning schedules until dates that work for each space can be found. Understanding the communities most relevant to the content and opportunities your project provides, as well as knowing the requirements of your exhibition (power outlets, install staff, exhibition furniture etc.) is a good place to start.

If you are exhibiting loaned works or using collection objects, ask for a facility report from each potential venue to ensure that the environmental controls are suitable for the needs of the works according to the conditions set out by the lender. This can include lighting levels, temperature consistency, food and drink being allowed near works, security requirements, or invigilation demands. Having a clear understanding of these needs and asking venues if they can accommodate them is an important aspect of building an itinerary.

Practical concerns may also include the logical flow of the itinerary, so that exhibitions are not zig-zagging across the country and increasing the freight costs. This consideration is a more sustainable pathway, as it reduces kilometres and carbon emissions. It also helps to ensure the space between exhibition presentations includes enough time for deinstall and install without the need for extensive (and expensive) storage. Another practicality is assessing the seasonal risk of adding a host venue to the itinerary, as their location may be prone to natural disasters or extreme weather fluctuations. It is advised to ask what plans are in place should a weather event occur and to speak with all stakeholders to determine a risk/benefit analysis.

It is important to note that some potential host venues may not want to exhibit work that has been on view within a certain radius of their location, may want to be the exclusive venue for their state or territory, or may want to be the first venue within their state or territory. Ensure to ask if there are these limitations, as it may influence the determination of where the exhibition can travel.

While these critical, contextual, and practical concerns are important to identify, you also need to get the message out there that your exhibition is available for tour. Submitting the exhibition to the NETS Australia Exhibition Directory will allow different spaces to see that your exhibition is available for tour, what it offers, and who to contact for more information. To market or promote your exhibition to venues, you may also want to develop a prospectus or Expression of Interest document. This document should provide an overview of the touring product, including an outline of the exhibition’s curatorial rationale, artwork/object images, list of artists involved, size of the exhibition, cost to hire the exhibition, list of inclusions (such as: freight, education resources, public program opportunities, exhibition display equipment/furniture, labels/didactic panels, instruction manual, media kit), and contact details for the tour organiser. Refer to the Interpretation and Communication section for further information on possible inclusions.

Different lists of museums and galleries across Australia exist on many different websites, some of these are listed below:

• QLD: Museums & Galleries Queensland
• NSW & ACT: Museums & Galleries of NSW
• VIC: Public Galleries Association Victoria
• TAS: Tasmanian Travel and Information Centre
• SA: Country Arts SA
• SA: South Australian History Network
• WA: ART ON THE MOVE
• NT: Northern Territory Government

Ready To Use Support

NETS Australia – Exhibition Directory

[IN DEVELOPMENT] The Exhibition Directory is a free online listing of exhibitions available for tour across Australia. It includes a wide variety of exhibitions initiated from sources such as major cultural organisations, regional galleries, museums, independent curators, and artist groups. If you are a tour organiser, you can also promote your exhibition for free through the Exhibition Directory.

NETS Australia – Preparing your tour for the Exhibition Directory resource

[IN DEVELOPMENT] This checklist has been written by NETS Australia to assist organisations, and individuals collate information and resources in preparation for submitting their exhibition to the Exhibition Directory.

Artback NT – Tour Conversation tracker

An editable excel spreadsheet designed by Artback NT with a tour conversation tracker and yearly calendar. This is a useful tool to help track conversations across multiple venues at a high level before diving into the operational detail level.

NETS Australia – Tour itinerary tracker

An editable excel spreadsheet with a tour itinerary tracker.

M&G QLD – Facility Report template

[IN DEVELOPMENT] This facility report template has been prepared by Museums & Galleries of QLD (M&G QLD) and is suitable for museums, galleries, and First Nations cultural centres nationally.

Useful Resources & Further Reading

NETS Australia – Working with Project & Community-focused Spaces

[DRAFT – UNDER CONSULTATION] A list of prompts in preparation for working with project and community- focused spaces, such as volunteer-run organisations, cultural centres, libraries, or Artist Run Initiatives in an Australian context. This resource considers resourcing capacities and professional development, and has been devised with sector consultation.

AICCM – Environmental Guidelines

This guideline, produced by the Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material (AICCM) and authored by Amanda Pagliarino in September 2022, provides the national environmental guidelines for Australian cultural heritage collections.

NETS Victoria – A Guide for Venues: Engaging with First Nations Curators, Artists, & Audiences This guide is designed for venues working with NETS Victoria to host exhibitions, in particular, exhibitions that include the work of First Nations artists. This is a resource guide for the venues to provide practical guidance on engagement with First Nations people and communities. This Guide was developed through consultation with Terri Janke and Company.

Further questions or

broken links?

Contact your State

or Territory NETS Australia agency