Selecting the Exhibition

STANDARD: Select projects that can balance achievable delivery and responsible management with feasibility and practical support.

Minimum Practice

Exhibition selection is based on deliverability, not aspiration, and is ethically, legally, and financially feasible. This includes adherence to all obligations from funding sources, any internal governance requirements, and paying artists and arts workers the fees, wages superannuation and taxation as benchmarked in the NAVA Code of Practice for Visual Arts, Craft and Design Payment Standards as a minimum expectation.

Best Practice

Delivering best practice considers ethical, legal, and financial feasibility as a base and builds upon this by ensuring projects incorporate sustainable practices, add value to the sector, are properly resourced (financially, culturally, physically), and present aims with transparency. Best practice also looks at ways to support creatives and collaborators practically, which can be achieved through a reconsideration of the project’s ambition, through training, or via additional resourcing and funding.

Guidance

Many wide-ranging factors may influence which exhibition you decide should travel to different locations. The sector relevance, internal goals, and feasibility of a touring project are the ‘what’, ‘why’, and ‘how’ and should tie in with your aims, interests, and capacity. Touring exhibitions can look like many things and it is important to think about, from the outset, what type of touring model is best for you. For example, you may decide to form a partnership with one or more organisations to share resources; create a single-channel video artwork tour to eliminate freight costs; or produce a large project involving many external stakeholders and considerable funding, allowing impact on a larger scale.

Sector relevance

When selecting a project for tour, think about the value of your exhibition to the sector. This includes considering the artistic merit of the creatives involved, looking at how the content of your exhibition delivers something new to what is already touring, and consulting with peers/partners/venues on what extra inclusions would bring the most value to their organisations and communities. Your project may include a staff training segment on a particular piece of technology, financed opportunities to support an under-engaged community, or connect with the lived experiences of local groups.

Internal goals

Asking why you want to tour a project is a key part of the process. For example, your motivations may include sharing local stories with wider audiences or generating opportunities for creative practitioners. Clearly defining these goals and embedding desired outcomes into the selection, production, and delivery of the tour can help clarify your vision. For example, if your aim is to create greater exposure for your organisation, including items from your collection in the exhibition may best achieve this goal. Being transparent about intentions with creatives and potential host venues will help identify the most suitable partners and collaborators to successfully realise your ambitions.

Feasibility

Knowing how your touring project will be financed and sustained for its duration is integral to developing an exhibition. This not only includes thinking about how you will be able to raise or cover the financial aspects, but also involves evaluating the capacity of yourself and the other stakeholders (partners, venues, creatives), as well as assessing whether your vision can be executed by host venues. Making elements optional, adaptable, digital, or automated may relieve financial, time, or spatial pressures. Also, exploring what funding is available and then considering the funding timelines and requirements is key to the feasibility of the project. For many host venues, a touring exhibition is a low-cost way to present an interesting exhibition and is often scheduled as a ‘rest’ period to allow the organisation to focus on other priorities. Thinking about the demands of your exhibition on a host venue who may have reduced capacity at the time your exhibition is being presented is also a feasibility consideration.

Standards In Action

M&G NSW – Different Touring Exhibition Models

[IN DEVELOPMENT] A look at different successful touring models used by Museums & Galleries of NSW. Within this resource are examples that explore their sector relevance, how they met internal goals, and what considerations went into determining feasibility.

NGA – Reaching National Audiences

[PROPOSED] An exploration of the different approaches to touring and external exhibitions used by the National Gallery of Australia, including The Bowness Family Foundation Photography Touring Program, Skywhales Across Australia, Single Channel, and the Sharing the National Collection initiative.

Ready To Use Support

NETS Australia – The benefits of touring

This document has been designed to help individuals and organisations consider the benefits of touring their exhibition. This resource can be used to create an impact statement to present to councils or organisational head departments to explain why your proposed exhibition should travel.

The Exhibitions Group (UK) – Building a Touring Strategy

This interactive decision tree helps to create a touring strategy for your potential travelling exhibition. A PDF download of the strategy you create with this model is available at the end of the exercise. The Exhibitions Group is in the UK, so some aspects may need to be adapted for your location and touring context.

Useful Resources & Further Reading

NAVA – 2. Exhibiting – Touring – Summary of Good Practice Recommendations

The National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA)’s Code of Practice webpage outlines the responsibilities of host venues, touring organisations/managers, and artists when engaging in a touring exhibition. There is also access to a detailed discussion and recommended resources.

NAVA – Code of Practice for Visual Arts, Craft and Design

The National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA)’s Code of Practice for Visual Arts, Craft and Design covers good practice approaches to working relationships, ethical standards of access and inclusion, and payment rates for artists and arts workers. Included are specific sections on rates for tours of existing artwork to multiple venues, and good practice recommendations for touring exhibitions for host venues, touring organisers, and creatives. There is also detailed information on the payment standards for consultation, allowances when travelling, workshops, and commissioning, alongside many other elements that may form part of a touring exhibition where remuneration is required.

The Exhibitions Group (UK) – Exhibition Concept and Development

This website page written by Louise Hesketh looks at what should be considered to determine the tourability and viability of an exhibition within the initial stages of planning.

The Exhibitions Group (UK) – Touring an Exhibition

This resource, authored by Alice Lobb (2015), goes through considerations for touring an exhibition. At the end of the page are two PDF Hire Agreement Templates from a UK context.

M&G NSW – Basics of Touring an Exhibition

A travelling exhibition is a great way for your exhibition to be seen by thousands of visitors across the country.

Museums & Galleries of NSW (M&G NSW) have compiled a list of things to consider before your exhibition goes on the road.

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