Collaborations and Partnerships

In times of reduced funding and austerity for the heritage sector, collaboration and partnership working is a means of helping resources go further, sharing time and expertise, and opening up eligibility for funding that supports partnership. In partnership, organisations and the sector at large is more resilient and united.

• What are collaborations? All touring exhibitions require varying degrees of collaboration, but a collaborative exhibition is the result of a partnership where an organisation cooperates with one or more partners to create an exhibition which is of benefit to all those involved.
• What makes a successful collaboration? Successful collaborations are borne of complete honesty and of mutually agreed objectives. They should be set within the context of careful relationship-building and long-term planning. They do not necessarily require human and financial resources to be equally balanced between the partners, but they do need a clear understanding of what each partner will bring to the relationship, and a mechanism which frames the aspirations and ensures the delivery of the project from start to finish. Fruitful collaborations can go on to create new, more ambitious plans and projects with the same partners in the future. They will not prosper if the sole reason to collaborate is to double the budget or to fulfil the criteria of an external funder.
• What is the ideal size for a successful collaboration? Collaborations are hard work, but the benefits of a larger team, pooling creative ideas and larger budgets should outweigh the additional time spent on more organisation and administration. Clearly, the larger the collaboration, the more time needed to set up good communications channels and clear objectives. The collaboration has to work for those taking part and has to be fit for the purpose of creating the product; there is no right or wrong number of participants.
• What are the models for successful collaboration? The most common collaborations are those where the tasks, budgets and income are split between two organisations, with the resulting exhibition being shown in both venues. In mature relationships where there is a track record of collaboration, having established the initial idea, partners may take turns to lead the research and development phase of the exhibition, before working closely together as the project nears the delivery stage.

Further models include senior and junior partners. Here, for a smaller stake in the project, junior partners will receive the exhibition product but will have been less involved with its creative development.

Other collaborative models may focus on particular elements of the exhibition -perhaps a specific audience development or community-led initiative. Here the work of local partners would ‘customise’ the exhibition for the local venue, but may well offer a template for good practice for others within the collaboration.

Where possible, the wish to collaborate and the work needed to make this happen should be decided before research begins on the exhibition. This will ensure that every stage is agreed jointly, and that the idea is owned by all participants. Many of the difficulties encountered with collaborative working can be overcome if all parties adhere to a comprehensive framework that covers all aspects of the partnership.

Ample time should be allowed for potential collaborators to get to know each other, in order to fully understand the type of project envisaged and the philosophy and outlook of each organisation. A simple SWOT analysis of each partner may reveal the key strengths and weaknesses of the collaboration. For example, is geographical spread important to potential funders? Does the collaboration include expertise in loans administration, fundraising and marketing? Do partners have a common interest in developing the subject within guidelines important to your organisation, e.g. the Inspiring Learning For All framework (http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/inspiring-learning-all-home-page (link updated 2017)), certain school Key Stages or particular audiences? What are the possibilities for publication? Does the projected timescale fit with all those concerned?

Following a verbal agreement to collaborate, a framework document should be produced which will form the basis of a contract between partners. At all stages, full notes should be made, minutes of meetings kept and circulated for comment, correction and agreement. This document should include the following:

• Scope of the project – its timescale
• Draft set of aims for the collaboration
• Level of cooperation and decision-making envisaged
• Degree of financial risk and how it would be shared
• Specific tasks and areas of expertise within the collaboration ? who does what
• How the exhibition and its assets should be wound up and distributed at the end of its tour e.g. audio-visual equipment, plinths and cases, unsold catalogues etc.
• Responsibilities for final accounts, evaluation completion, round-up of press coverage, visitor feedback and final report

Whether one partner brings an initial idea to the table, or it comes from creative discussion, a draft exhibition brief should be developed by partners simultaneously with the framework document.

As well as being essential for the smooth running of the project, many of the elements in the framework and briefing documents will be required to complete grant applications, and to appraise partners’ organisations and funding bodies of the usefulness of the collaboration.

Collaborations present particular difficulties. The partners will have their own priorities, loyalties, ambitions, professional pride and ways of working. For most of us, after all, collaborations are the exception rather than the rule. Listed here are some common problems:

• Collaborations can be suggested by those other than the people directly involved – perhaps a funding body or a superior
• The mix of organisations may not be appropriate or personalities may be too rigid in approach to develop the exhibition creatively
• The suggested timescale may simply not be deliverable. Projects which ignore the time needed to fully develop ideas do not produce successful exhibitions or further collaborations
• There may be perceptions as the project develops, that one partner is investing more time and effort than another and that the activity is therefore unequally shared. No organisation is the same
• Unforeseen knock-on effects to changes in one area of activity may affect the work of another partner, e.g. the change of mind over a selected object by one partner which is poorly conveyed to those responsible for loans, transport and design. Communication is all
• Loose ends on the completion of the exhibition, with no adequate procedures to deal with them, may sour future relationships
• The partner who opens the exhibition has clear audience advantages, and other partners may not have similar press and PR opportunities

It is essential then that participants start with an overriding ambition to succeed. The partners in the collaboration must be carefully and transparently researched. There must be a real opportunity to say ‘no’, however appropriate the relationship might seem to others. Collaborations work when the partners:

• Believe that a stronger, more creative exhibition can be achieved by working collaboratively
• Accept that collaborations need more planning time than a project created by just one organisation
• Accept that original ideas and aspirations will change through the collaborative process
• Can learn new areas of expertise from one another, creating a legacy of good practice that can be used into the future
• Share all aspects of the exhibition, creating a sense of ownership of the aims and intentions of the show, evaluation criteria, loans and exhibition interpretation, learning and audience development, marketing and publicity, retail
• Achieve a clear understanding of aims, objectives and outcomes through a transparent process of careful planning and project evaluation

Whether one partner brings an initial idea to the table, or it comes from creative discussion, a draft exhibition brief should be developed by partners simultaneously with the framework document.

Using as much as possible a cross-section of curatorial, learning and marketing expertise, a ‘think tank’ technique should tease out and explore as many ambitions and ideas around the project as possible, to expose and explore differences of approach. Full notes should be made and circulated for comment, correction and agreement. The brief should cover the following areas:

• Aims and objectives for the exhibition
• Exhibition outline, and projected themes
• Projected audiences and learning outcomes
• Fundraising and sponsorship strategy
• Draft marketing plan
• Scope of loans – initial list of exhibitors/artists, lenders
• Evaluation strategy
• Timeline, with milestones indicating the key exhibition deadlines (e.g. R&D, fundraising, production, design, installation/de-installation, learning, marketing and evaluation)
• Timetable for meetings and working groups, with milestones when relevant stages should be agreed and when each aspect of the exhibition should be developed

Once the framework and draft exhibition brief have been completed, the serious work of finalising the contract, creating a detailed exhibition and design brief, fundraising, marketing and learning plans can then begin.

If this work is executed within a clear framework of project milestones and is communicated regularly to partners, the inevitable problems which every exhibition organiser knows only too well should have less of an impact on the project.

As the project takes detailed shape and with the partners fully engaged, the final exhibition and the project as a whole may be very different from the one first envisaged. If the collaboration has gone well, the sense of ownership and commitment of all involved will have been so strong that whatever its final shape, the resulting exhibition will achieve what its partners set out to do.

Finally, however well or badly the project has gone, it is essential to hold a documented ‘wash up’ meeting where partners give honest answers to some important questions:

• What are the learning points?
• What could have been done more efficiently or differently?
• What are the examples of good collaborative practice? This will remove niggling irritations and prepare the ground for the next collaboration

Author: Caroline Krzesinska (2005), updated by Charlotte Dew (2015)