Museum Exhibition

Theory and Practice

David Dean

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2002
• ISBN:
  9781134895199
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Museum Administration
• Index: Business

Museum Exhibition is the only textbook of its kind to consider exhibition development using both theory and practice in an integrated approach. This comprehensive study covers care of exhibits, writing accompanying text, using new technology, exhibition evaluation, administration and content for a wide range of collections. It provides a complete outline for all those concerned with providing displays in museums and other cultural heritage contexts.

1

The exhibition development process

Approaches to planning

Institutions and organizations such as museums are much like the proverbial iceberg. Most of the substance lies below the surface, hidden from view. Nearly all museums depend upon public use and approval to justify their places within society, so there is a real need for demonstration of the richness of those hidden depths. Exhibitions and programs are the principle public expressions of the heart of museums: the collections.

The popular understanding of exhibitions does not recognize or appreciate the inner mechanisms required to prepare and present them. Like Athena leaping full-grown from the head of Zeus, there is a mythical quality to the ease with which exhibitions appear in public. However, as with any project, exhibitions require much planning and management to realize the end product. Over time, the sequence of events and efforts that produce public exhibitions has become established. The procedural elements in planning and executing any project are universal, regardless of the end product. The main difference between creating an exhibition and preparing a sales strategy or building an automobile is the mission of the organization undertaking the project.

In commercial affairs, accomplishing tasks is a highly organized operation. The systematized approach used by businesses to manage their projects can be quite valuable if related to exhibition development. That is because any course of action with a product as its final goal is a project. As the process used in producing commercial products has proven to be effective, museums have adopted the methodology, and even the terminology, of business to describe the equivalent developmental steps in making exhibitions. Understanding the process is easier when outlined as a series of phases and subordinate stages.

All projects, regardless of their beginning or intended outcome, share common traits. The time it takes to plan, develop, and execute the project is limited. Projects are cyclical. They have beginnings that arise from ideas generated from former activities, and after running their courses, they generate new approaches and ideas for future projects.

As Figure 1.1 shows, a project may be illustrated as a series of events along a line of time. This is called a project model.¹ It is easy to see how an exhibition’s development fits into such a model.

1.1 Exhibition project model

The progressive, sequential nature of the project model works well with museum exhibition development. The sequential arrangement of phases and stages may be outlined to make types of activities and specific tasks more easily discernible. Throughout development, and in each phase, there are three principle tasking areas. They are:

• Product-oriented activities—efforts centered on the collection objects and their interpretation.
• Management-oriented activities—tasks that focus on providing resources and personnel necessary to completing the project.
• Coordination activities—keeping the product- and management-oriented activities working toward the same goal.

OUTLINE OF EXHIBITION DEVELOPMENT

Conceptual phase

• Product-oriented activities:
  collecting ideas
  comparing ideas with audience needs and the museum’s mission
  selecting projects to develop
• Management activities:
  assessing available resources to do the project
• Results:
  a schedule of exhibitions
  identification of potential or available resources

Developmental phase

Planning stage

• Product-oriented activities:
  setting goals for the exhibition
  writing the storyline
  designing the physical exhibition
  creating an educational plan
  researching promotional strategies
• Management activities:
  estimating costs
  investigating sources and
  applying for funding
  establishing resource budgets
  appointing tasks
• Results:
  an exhibition plan
  an educational plan
  a promotional plan

Production stage

• Product-oriented activities:
  preparing the exhibition components
  mounting and installing the collection objects
  developing the educational programs and training docents
  implementing the promotional plan
• Management activities:
  overseeing the availability and use of resources
  tracking progress and coordinating activities
• Results:
  presenting the exhibition to the public
  using the educational programs with the exhibition

Functional phase

Operational stage

• Product-oriented activities:
  presenting the exhibition to the public on a regular basis
  implementing the educational programs
  conducting visitor surveys
  maintaining the exhibition
  providing security for the exhibition
• Management activities:
  settling accounts
  administration of personnel and services
• Results:
  achieving the exhibition goals
  preventing deterioration of collections

Terminating stage

• Product-oriented activities:
  dismantling the exhibition returning objects to the collection storage
  documenting collection handling
• Management activities:
  balancing accounts
• Results:
  the exhibition is ended
  the collections are returned
  the gallery is cleared and repaired

Assessment phase

• Product-oriented activities:
  assessing the exhibition
  assessing the development process
• Management activities:
  creating an evaluation report
• Results:
  an evaluation report
  suggested improvements to the product and the process

The application of the models and the outline to the actual process of exhibition development will be clearer if each part is examined separately. It is important to note that, although dissecting the process provides useful handles to grasp ideas by, the real activities are not always so clearly delineated. Often activities flow together and mix with each other as the project progresses.

Conceptual phase

To embark upon a detailed exploration of exhibition development, we must begin with its inception. Exhibitions start as ideas that come from many sources. Listed are some frequently encountered:

• audience suggestions
• board members or trustees
• collections management personnel
• community leaders
• curators
• current events
• director
• educators
• staff and volunteers

Ideas for exhibitions are not always conceived in an orderly fashion and often arrive with a variety of personal agendas attached. A patron, staff or board member may see an exhibition at another museum, watch a program on television, or read a magazine, and thus become motivated to propose an exhibition topic. The experiences of individuals, the assessed needs of a community, or a new collection acquisition may provide the impetus for exhibiting. In some cases, the need to replace other exhibitions will prompt the search for new ideas and themes.

In all cases, the motivations to exhibit should emanate from a prevailing predisposition toward serving the public. Museums should be like leaky vessels or sponges in their communities. Ideas should seep in from all directions and be sifted constantly, searching for those that fulfill the criteria of public service and education. It is not appropriate for exhibitions to arise solely as outlets for self-aggrandizement by staff or board members. Often an initiator’s exuberance for his or her idea leaps ahead of thoughtful consideration or careful planning. Failure to channel enthusiasm into a cooperative organizational process may lead to a chaotic and frustrating mixture of conflicting communication and confused goals. The outcome will be lack of focus, disaffection, dissatisfaction, and inferior exhibitions.

To avoid such a regrettable condition the administration needs to place the role and function of the museum foremost. Responsible collection care, and properly assessing the needs of the museum’s public are at the heart of conscientious exhibitions and interpretive programs. However and wherever ideas may arise, a phased development plan permits everyone involved to see their part in the process with clarity.

Though ideas arise in many ways from multiple sources, there must be decisions made as to which to pursue or discard. Organizations develop approaches to decision-making that work for them. These approaches have many variations rendering a single set of criteria too restrictive to be useful to all organizations. However, it is vital that decisions be made based upon a well-defined sub-set of public-oriented criteria, rather than on personal biases.

Ideally, short- and long-range plans that incorporate the museum mission, constituency needs, educational goals, scope of collections, and available resources are a part of the organizational documentation arsenal. Established standards ensure that choices are responsible. At the administrative level, a regularly reviewed written exhibition policy should be a priority. Appointing a committee to do initial research and provide advice can be helpful as well. Formulating exhibition strategies using foundational instruments will meet constituency needs. Lack of definition in planning exhibition programs will lead to a museum being driven by the demand to fill space, rather than by ethical purpose and educational design.

The current consensus of the role of museums in their communities rests upon twin cornerstones: accountability to a constituency, and adherence to accepted professional museum standards. Arbitrary, unilateral choices in exhibition topics are not acceptable to a public with other leisure options. Personal preferences of staff or board members are not adequate foundations upon which to build an exhibition program. Even in small museums, where staffs are small and often voluntary, the decision-making process needs to be clearly set down and the development of an exhibition program founded upon a recognition of community needs and professionalism.

An understanding of community needs and expectations comes from audience assessment. A serious and common mistake is basing decisions about exhibition programs on internal assumptions about community needs, rather than on information gathered from the community itself. Obtaining such knowledge requires time, skills, and energies both to collect and to keep it current. These resources are often unavailable to largely volunteer governing boards. Professional consultants or staff members versed in the methodologies and techniques of community assessment are the proper parties to develop and apply exhibition assessment criteria. In many communities, chambers of commerce have already done visitor surveys, and demographic and psychographic studies. They are usually quite willing to make such information available to public-oriented institutions.

Having gained a working knowledge of community needs and expectations, and armed with the museum mission statement and exhibition policy, the task is to evaluate the suggested exhibitions. Using the knowledge and documents as filters and guides, a slate of exhibitions can be generated that demonstrates sensitivity toward constituency needs and expectations, while adhering to institutional goals and standards.

Conceptual phase activities can be viewed as product- and management-oriented, although not as clearly as the later phases. Conceptual phase product-oriented activities can be summarized as:

• Gathering ideas.
• Assessing the ideas within the framework of the museum’s mission, its policies, and community needs.
• Selecting an exhibition for development.

Management-oriented activities include:

• Approving and scheduling the exhibition for development.
• Assessing available or potential resources.

The results of conceptual phase activities should be the scheduling of the exhibition and the identification of the resources needed to present it.

Development phase

Exhibition development is a process aimed at realizing an idea—giving it flesh and bones. Much of the energy of a staff will be directed toward product-related goals. However, management activities are essential as well. Management duties center upon procurement, distribution, and regulation of resources. This involves the following:

• time management
• money management
• quality control
• communication
• organizational control—assigning tasks

Neither product- nor management-oriented activities can function properly without the other. It is the combined efforts of those people active in both areas of endeavor that produce the result: the exhibition.

After the decision to develop an exhibition is made, ideas need to be translated into actions moving toward realizable goals. The director decides who to include in the planning process based on the requisite disciplines and skills. Whether the project is accomplished by a team of several people, or by only one or two individuals, the essential tasks remain the same. Only the scope and breadth of the job changes based upon the time available to accomplish it. In some instances, only one or two people are available, and tailoring the size of the project to fit resources is necessary.

Normally, those roles required in product-oriented tasks include the curator, educator, and designer. The curator or expert in the exhibition’s subject does research, provides scholarly information, and selects and curates the appropriate collection objects. To guide interpretive planning and presentation, a team member with an educational background and training is needed. The educator advises about educational needs related to the design, develops information for tours and programs, and provides training for docents and guides. Another member is needed to translate the subject, objects, and ideas into visual form: the designer. The designer takes the information provided by other team members and creates a plan for presenting it to the public.

From the management side, a person is needed to oversee and coordinate planning and resources: a project manager. His or her purpose is to act as a person who facilitates—who encourages communication, sees that information and resources are available as needed, calls meetings and assigns tasks as required, and acts as a mediator when necessary. Most often, this task is not painful or stressful. However, the project manager needs to be an experienced professional to handle difficulties if they arise. Attached to the project manager’s job may be periodic progress reports to the director or governing authority.

Technical advisors may be required for complex or specialized activities. Conservators may be consulted for collection management purposes.

Marketing specialists may be employed depending upon the scope of the exhibition and the target audience. In effect, the exhibition planning team should be configured to fit the need. The larger the team, the more complex communication an...