Loans

Many exhibitions include loans from external sources to augment the organising venue’s collection and to explore the narrative or subject in full. Touring exhibitions are no exception to this rule.

The process of lending and borrowing for exhibitions is, and has been widely practised throughout the UK and internationally, for decades, and as such good practice and accepted standards have been established. There are a number of groups and bodies who offer advice on lending and borrowing practices, including, but not exclusive to: the UK Registrar’s Group (UKRG), the Museums Association (MA), Arts Council England (ACE) and the Bizot Group, each with their own websites. In addition, almost all National Museums in the UK publish their lending policies and practices online.

Overall, borrowers should be prepared to issue formal loan requests well in advance of their exhibition opening date, budget for the costs associated with borrowing, be prepared to sign and/or issue loan agreements and to welcome couriers from lenders for loan installations.

Borrowing from museums, galleries and arts organisations can be very different from borrowing from private lenders, artists and dealers, so these two groups are dealt with in separate sections of this chapter.

2.1. Preliminary enquiries:

Most organisations with permanent collections are active lenders because they recognise that lending allows their exhibits to be seen in new contexts or by different audiences, with the added benefit of encouraging new research. The national museums are obligated to improving access to their collections by lending to publicly funded museums and galleries all over the UK.

The work involved in preparing and administering the loans must be integrated with their own programme of exhibitions and gallery displays. Likewise, the benefit of increased public access to the exhibit must be offset against the risks to exhibits involved in packing, transportation, handling, installation and display. Consequently, most lenders have a loans policy and a procedure for approving requests to borrow, and may seek to recoup all or some of the costs involved. Exhibition organisers should therefore plan well in advance, contact lenders for advice as soon as possible, and be aware of the implications for the exhibition budget.

Most museums need six to twelve months (for example the British Museum currently (2015) ask that a year’s notice before the opening date of the exhibition is required, and the Tate ask for a minimum of 9 months’ notice) from receipt of a formal written request in order to complete the necessary stages in agreeing and preparing a loan. However, discussions should start earlier, particularly if a number of venues are involved. The following section outlines the key stages in securing a loan:

Stage 1: Contact the Registrar (if there is one, if not then consult the curator or other staff member as recommended), to confirm:

• Application procedure
• General conditions attached to loans, e.g. there may be a policy of not lending certain categories of exhibits or to touring exhibitions with more than a certain number of venues
• Whether the potential venues are likely to meet the security, environmental and display conditions required by that lender

Stage 2: Contact curatorial staff for advice about the selection and general availability of exhibits for loan, even though the plans for the exhibition may still be fairly fluid. There may be reasons that rule out a particular exhibit from the outset; it may be promised elsewhere; be too large to dismantle or be too fragile to travel; conservation costs may be prohibitive; there may be a restriction placed by the donor on whether the exhibit can be lent; the exhibit may be central to the lender’s own display or even an advertising campaign. Early discussions should mean that the organiser will have a good idea if exhibits are available that are central to an exhibition and, if not, give an opportunity to find an alternative source.

Stage 3: Gather as much information as possible in order to budget for the costs associated with the loan and to determine if you are practically able to borrow the exhibit. For example, is there any unusual packing, or are there particular display methods associated with the loan? Does it have difficult and therefore expensive transportation requirements, or does it have an unusually high value which will mean high insurance costs and possibly specialist handling and transportation methods? Now is also a good time to determine the correct dimensions (packed and unpacked) and display requirements for the object, in order to ensure you can fit it into the proposed buildings and display, and that the venue has sufficient storage space to store the packing whilst the exhibition is on.

Stage 4: The organiser must include in the exhibition budget adequate provision for the costs of borrowing exhibits, and decide in advance how these costs might be allocated between venues. Costs will include some or all of the following:

• Mounting of prints or drawings
• Framing and glazing
• Cradles for books and other supports for other exhibits (e.g. plinths for sculptures etc.)
• Crating and other packing materials
• Transport/shipping agent fees and costs
• Photographs and reproduction fees
• Travel, accommodation and expenses for couriers, including per diems for each courier
• Insurance or minimum liability
• Loan fees and/or administration fees (usually greater for international loans)

Larger lenders, such as National Museums, often cover the costs of conserving the exhibits and administering the loans, especially for those loans internal to the UK. However, where an exhibit requires considerable conservation in order to travel, and a lender cannot absorb these costs, the organiser will have to include them in the exhibition budget. The lender should inform the organiser immediately, either in the loan agreement or initial loan approval notification, if this is the case. Some of these overheads may be covered by the exhibition fee charged to each venue, but it is essential that each venue understands what other costs they are likely to face.

Once you have carried out the four stages above, and are sure that you are practically able to borrow the exhibit, and your budget will allow this, you need to submit a formal loan request to the lending institution.

2.2. Formal loan requests

The lender’s loans policy, often found on their website, or available on request from their Registrar or equivalent, should indicate the deadline for receiving requests and the form that these should take. Some museums expect requests to be addressed to the director, others to the curators concerned, and others to the registrar. The formal request should normally include:

• Title of the exhibition
• Venues and dates (if these are not determined in advance and the exhibition is to be marketed to a range of venues this may prohibit some loans, or mean that each venue has to be agreed by the lender when confirmed)
• Organiser’s name, address and telephone and fax numbers
• Name, address and telephone and fax numbers of a relevant contact at each venue
• Scope of the exhibition and reason for the inclusion of the requested exhibits
• List of exhibits requested, quoting museum numbers
• Person responsible for preparing the exhibition and for the costs
• Person responsible for arranging the transport between venues and the costs. Whether a catalogue will be published, and consequently if images and permission to produce them is also sought (In many larger museums, the supply of photographs and purchase of reproduction rights is handled by another department, which should be contacted as soon as possible. It can take time to schedule photography along with other work on the exhibit, and often payment is required before work can proceed – although this does not guarantee that the loan will be approved.)
• Details of how the requested items will be insured or indemnified
• It would also be prudent to include a copy of the Facilities Report for each venue of the tour. Most UK institutions request that the facility report used is the UKRG Standard Facilities Report and the UKRG Security Supplement (both forms are available from the UKRG website). International venues often use the report produced by the Registrars Committee of the American Association of Museums, and either report is widely accepted by lending venues.

There may be a delay of several weeks up to several months before the organiser learns whether the museum is prepared to lend, for some or all of the following reasons:

• A condition check will be carried out on each exhibit, and curators and conservators will decide whether it is fit to travel or if a reasonable amount of conservation will make it so
• The lender will also consider the request in the light of existing commitments and the resources available to conserve, pack and administer the loan
• The lender needs to consider the impact of lending on their own displays, and if necessary plan a rehang of their galleries
• The approval procedure for many large museums may include submitting all recommendations for approvals or refusals to lend to one or more committees, even possibly trustees meetings, which may be held infrequently.
• National Museums and Galleries (NMGs) submit details of all potential loans to the ACE National Security Adviser (NSA), in order to confirm that reasonable measures are in place to protect the exhibits from fire or breaches of security. If the NSA finds that any arrangements are insufficient, they will usually recommend measures which will allow the loan to proceed

2.3. Loan agreement:

When curatorial, conservation and security checks have been satisfactorily completed; the lender will send a formal agreement to each venue of the tour. This should set out the organiser’s and venue’s responsibilities and indicate any likely costs. Any problems should be discussed as soon as possible, as most difficulties can be resolved by negotiation. The loan agreement and covering letter will include any specific requirements concerning general security or environmental conditions, and any specific requirements for a particular object.

Environmental conditions: One of the key features of a loan agreement are the environmental conditions that need to be met by borrowing venues and the organiser needs to determine if all venues can adhere to these conditions as soon as possible. The standard Environmental Conditions usually requested by UK lending institutions in their loan agreements, are the same as those required by the UK Government Indemnity Scheme:

If a borrowing venue cannot adhere to the required environmental conditions, it is worth contacting the lending venue as soon as possible for advice on how to meet the requirements or suitable alternatives that may still allow the loan to proceed.

Transportation requirements: The Loan Agreement may also specify requirements for the transport of the exhibits to and between the venues. Many lenders require that specialist art handlers are appointed to undertake the transport and may even list their preferred companies. Before the borrower appoints a transport agent for the tour, they must check with all the lending institutions that they are agreeable to working with the agent.

For loans from National Museums, the organiser must arrange transport which meets the criteria specified in the Government Indemnity Scheme guidelines.

Other Lenders may be agreeable to different methods of transport, such as collection by the borrowing venue, but this should all be discussed directly with the lender.

Insurance: The Loan Agreement should also contain details of insurance requirements for the exhibits, and the type of insurance a lender will accept, for example, Government Indemnity Cover and/or commercial insurance. If the borrowing venue is eligible, most lenders will accept Government Indemnity cover, and if borrowing from the collection of a National Museum, the National Museum in question may be able to extend their GIS cover to the loan to the borrowing institution. In cases such as these, the borrowing venue will only need to cover the minimum liability requirements.

Other key features: The Loan Agreement and/or covering letter should also contain details of packing requirements, additional transport requirements, courier requirements, installation requirements, display requirements, costs the borrower is expected to bear and other legalities. The loan agreement and all its small print, must be thoroughly read through and it must be determined that all venues of the tour are able to meet the requirements before signing.

In addition, the exhibition organiser must:

• Inform the lender immediately, if a venue drops out or another is added
• Inform the lender of any changes in dates, temporary closures or other alteration to the tour arrangements
• Agree with the lender, if there is a delay between two showings, whether the exhibits should be returned to the lender or whether they should be stored securely
• Because lenders will be incurring significant costs, they must be informed as soon as possible should any exhibit be withdrawn from the list of exhibits or the whole loan be withdrawn. In such an eventuality, the organiser should be prepared to pay a contribution towards actual costs incurred by a lender

2.4. Courier arrangements:

Once the transport, insurance and display arrangements have been discussed and finalised between the Lending and Borrowing venues, it is time to organise the installation schedule and make the arrangements for any couriers that are accompanying borrowed exhibits.

During the approval process, the lender will decide whether the complexity of the arrangements or the value or fragility of the exhibits means that one or more couriers will be required to accompany the exhibits in transit and to oversee condition checking and installation and removal at the venue. Depending on the nature of the risks that might reasonably be anticipated, the courier may be a curator, conservator, member of the registrarial staff or an object technician. Large museums will routinely share a courier to accompany loans from different departments within the same museum or from different museums. For some touring exhibitions, a courier may be sent on the first leg and final leg only and the exhibition may then continue unaccompanied if no problems are encountered. In this case a cumulative condition report is usually sent for each object, to be completed and signed at the beginning and end of each leg of the tour by a curator or conservator at that venue.

It is usual practice for each venue to take responsibility for the exhibition from the time of its arrival at their venue, until it arrives at the next venue. Sometimes the exhibition organiser will arrange to check on an exhibition midway on its tour. It is therefore very important that each venue understands whether couriers will be involved between legs. If couriers are not involved, it is particularly important that packing lists and condition reports can be found without unpacking everything first, and that packing is straightforward and well documented, preferably with annotated photographs. Indeed, this is good practice even when lenders’ couriers accompany the show, for it is not guaranteed that the same courier will be responsible for all transfers. There have been recent moves towards using electronic condition reports and packing/crating lists, to be accessed on tablet-like devices. This has its advantages, namely the quick and easy transfer of information between lenders and borrowers, high resolution images that can be emailed and no need for bulky folders of paperwork to follow an exhibition as it tours. However, for the time being, it is likely that hard copies of electronic data will need to be kept as backups, and the safety of transferring confidential files over the internet must also be considered.

It is usual for all borrowing institutions to meet all costs associated with couriers and will often be required to provide a per diem for them.

Borrowing from private lenders (dealers, artists, private collections, individuals) may not involve adhering to the same formal procedures as when borrowing from museums, although many collectors employ their own curators or administrators, and churches have their own procedures which can be equally lengthy and onerous. Where there is greater flexibility, this can be of benefit to those organising touring exhibitions, as there may be a number of unknowns that prohibit borrowing from another museum, but it is important to be clear about these unknowns when discussing the project with a potential private lender, and to keep them fully informed and updated.

Those with wonderful objects can find themselves under repeated pressure to lend. Lending in some instances is to their benefit, for example contextualising and exhibiting the work of an emerging artist can enhance their career, and prestige can be added to an older work through selection for public exhibition. But this is not always the case, so it is fairly common for a loan fee to be requested, and the lender may wish to visit the exhibition at the organisers’ cost.

3.1 Loan Agreement:

The main difference between loans from museums and galleries and those from private lenders is that private lenders almost never issue their own loan agreement, and as such it is essential that you as the borrower draw up your own agreement. This should cover the following:

• Care and display
• Transport and packing
• Insurance: exact ownership is important as a matter of record in the event of an insurance claim. Some lenders insist on approving any copy, or indeed on writing their own.
• Reproduction and credit: As with all lenders, it is important to establish the credit line on labels and in exhibition catalogues, as many may wish to be anonymous or ownership may rest with a family trust rather than an individual.
• Return of loans
• Costs: the borrower will be expected to meet all costs associated with the loan
• All lenders will be grateful for invitations to private views, copies of publicity material and catalogues. They will expect some indication of actual visitor numbers at each venue as well as copies of any reviews and visitors’ comments

3.2. Loan Arrangements:

Even though private lenders often do not request that their works are treated with the same level of specialism as those from museum and gallery collections, arrangements and display conditions for objects borrowed from private lenders must be of a standard equal to those required by public lenders. It is highly likely that the organiser will have to arrange photography, valuations, condition reports and conservation, sometimes from a distance. Although transport agents are sometimes happy to do brief condition checks before packing and removing an item, it is preferable to arrange for this to be done by a conservator or curator before the item travels.

Transport: A specialised transport agent should be used for collecting the exhibits, and arrangements for collection from the lender and the subsequent return to them need to be made with particular care because of potential difficulties of access.

Courier: Important or vulnerable objects should be couriered by the organiser or another lender. Otherwise, the curator/conservator at each venue takes responsibility for condition checking and installing non-couriered objects.

Authors: Alison Fisher, Fiona Melvin, Gillian Rennie (2015)