Sustainability

Sustainability

Sustainability plays a key part in many museums’ organisation-wide strategies.

1. What do we mean by sustainable exhibitions?

Sustainability plays a key part in many museums’ organisation-wide strategies. Museums increasingly see the importance of managing their past, present and future through sustainable concepts and practices. This approach is vital to the success of the museum and its exhibitions.

When we think of a temporary exhibition, we think of a display that is available for a finite amount of time; an experience that is fleeting, something that is part of the appeal, and is therefore in essence unsustainable. However, exhibitions can be sustainable. Sustainable exhibitions are those that take into consideration environmental, financial, cultural and social sustainability before, during and after their production.

  • Environmental. Recycling and re-using objects, monitoring energy use and keeping it to a minimum, and using environmentally-friendly materials.
  • Financial. Sustainable exhibitions are in the most part low-cost as they are focused on low-impact production. However, they may not necessarily be immediately low-cost but they will save money in the long run. Financial sustainability also means ensuring that your touring exhibition is beneficial to the economy, particularly locally.
  • Cultural. The heritage and integrity of the collection and loan/s to the exhibition must be maintained. The reputation of the establishment must be sustained, with the exhibition being of educational and historical significance.
  • Social. The exhibition should hold social value locally, nationally and internationally (where relevant). The exhibition is shown to be sustainable through community relationships and staff contribution.

Many of us are already thinking along the right lines; we want to change things but may not have the time or job description to allow for this. It is key to remember that making touring exhibitions more sustainable is a behavioural change. If you have the right mindset from the beginning, then you will quickly see sustainable improvements in every aspect of your exhibitions programme.

2. The relationship between touring and sustainability

The relationship between cost saving and sustainability is clear. Below are some key areas where sustainability is a consideration for touring exhibitions and some examples of good practice.

Transport

There are significant cost savings to be made if transport is taken into account as part of sustainable exhibitions planning. By consolidating object collection and dispersals, working with other organisations to team up, and sharing transportation, just a few simple steps can lead to big savings. Ensuring you have a good relationship with your transport agent is paramount to a mutual understanding of your aims and to make savings where possible.

Case Study 1: Natural History Museum

“We hired in the ‘Mammoths’ touring exhibition from the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The National Museum of Scotland hired the exhibition before us so we worked with them to share the cost of shipping, which meant a transfer by road from Scotland. When it came to sending back the additional specimens that we loaned from the National Museum of Scotland, we stored them until we were able to put them on a truck with some other loans going to Scotland. This way we saved on petrol and transport.”

  • Overall shipping costs Chicago-Edinburgh-London-Chicago were split between venues including the host venue.
  • Shipping costs for additional objects Edinburgh-London were split between the two venues.
  • Overall shipping costs for NHM were halved, saving approximately £70,000.

Other benefits:

  • Reduced staff time as each venue could pick up the others’ work where possible.
  • Environmental savings from having two UK venues instead of just one.
  • Shared resources – e.g. NHM interpretation and editorial departments changed text from American to English, then shared with Edinburgh, which saved time. NHM also managed the tender and printing costs for the new graphics and shared the costs with Edinburgh.

Case Study 2: Wellcome Collection

“We have designed a small plug-in-and-play pop up touring exhibition unit showing content from the Wellcome Collection’s ‘Thinking with the Body’ exhibition. Commissioned films are housed and displayed within a wheeled flight case for ease of set up and transportation. The unit is managed by Studio Wayne McGregor and tours with their show ‘Atomos’. It is set up in theatre foyers for audiences to interact with. It has travelled to several destinations in the UK and Europe and is still on tour.” – Luke Currall, Senior Project Manager

Case Study 3: Manchester Art Gallery

“We have worked with other organisations in Manchester to combine transport – one example that springs to mind is a joint exhibition we held with the Whitworth in 2012 – the exhibition was split over both our sites, but we appointed a joint agent to transport loans to both venues. The Whitworth have also collected items on our behalf when they’ve been to London in their van, and we have tried to work  together with them to combine transport for exhibitions.” – Phillippa Milner, Senior Galleries Registrar

Case Study 4: National Galleries Scotland

“Our location really required us to consolidate loan collections/dispersals – almost all of the overseas loans will come/go through London. We would work with the transport agents to organise London collections for instance and then possible collections en route to Edinburgh and another collection for ‘local’ collections or in and around Scotland. We would also look at how collections from overseas can be combined or consolidated on the way.” – Louise Rowlands, Registrar

Crates and packing

Crates can be rented which reduces costs and materials. Otherwise if a custom-made crate is necessary, a sustainable option is to refit an existing crate. Packing materials including polythene and brown tape are available as recycled and recyclable material. It is also worth re-using packing material where possible. The important thing is to make sure it is unpacked and stored correctly. It is also important to take accurate packing notes to save time and materials when repacking, and as part of your duty of care to the loans.

Top tips from John Bracken, Co-Director, Patina Art Collection Care Ltd

If loans are travelling in the UK in a well-made crate, do they need to be wrapped at all? No polythene = no barrier = least possible
movement and rubbing.

  • 250 gauge polythene is less green as it is thicker but it does mean that it is reusable.
  • Use reusable cotton tape instead of masking tape to wrap delicate frames.
  • For acid free tissue paper try Preservation Equipment Limited for a low cost yet good quality version.
  • Instead of using thick brown vinyl tape, biodegradable versions are available that peel off better.
  • Using tabs at the ends makes it easier to remove, meaning that you are less likely to use scissors during unpacking, and are therefore less likely to damage packaging so that it can be reused.
  • Jiffy is reusable; bubble wrap is not. You can take the tape off jiffy corners and reuse again and again at only £40 per roll.
  • Consider using double-ended transit frames or multi-slotted cases. These take up less space and use less materials, saving on costs during transport and production.

Case Study: Rijksmuseum

“We have our own plastic boxes and cushions to pack small objects, which are re-usable. They are easy to store and last for a long time. This also counts for our suitcases in which our objects from the print room travel. Just a suitcase for more objects, easy to use and no need to make new ones every time something travels.”

Wobke Hooites, Registrar

Objects, framing and mounts

Object mounts and supports often need to be custom-made. If this is the case, then recycled and recyclable material can be used that is long lasting. It is important to care for them correctly to ensure that they are sustainable in both design and durability. Another option is to use standard size frames that can then be used for future loans if storage is available.

Case Study 1: Wellcome Collection

“Smaller and more regularly used picture frames are currently stored in our conservation exhibitions store. Nearly all framing and mounting is carried out on site where possible.”

Luke Currall, Senior Projects Manager

Case Study 2: Victoria and Albert Museum mannequin review

“We went into the project with three main aims: to get a handle on what we had in stock; to devise a method of keeping track of stock and disposing of unwanted stock; and to improve our procurement practices.

“The main things we wanted to achieve within this were:

  • reduce the amount of bespoke mannequins being kept
  • use more of the space for mannequins which are very adaptable – the idea of ‘keep fewer, use more’
  • reduce the number of overlaps in purchasing i.e. buying things we already had in stock but couldn’t find
  • improve the safety and accessibility of the mannequin store
  • promote sharing between departments
  • help staff think about what was and wasn’t worth keeping
  • devise a Mannequin Framework in line with EU directives on procurement

The project was an overwhelming success and I’m very proud that we achieved everything we set out to, and more.”

Keira Miller, Senior Conservation Display Specialist

Benefits

  • Mannequins tour with exhibitions, saving venues thousands of pounds in mounting costs. This also reduces the amount of time needed to install the exhibition at venues and the risk to objects.
  • In the first six months (July-December 2014), £10,000 worth of mannequins were re-used (i.e. to buy new mannequins would have cost £10,000)
  • Exhibitions mannequins were re-used for include ‘Savage Beauty’, ‘Disobedient Objects’ and ‘The Fabric of India’.
  • Also used for gallery rotations, museums events, visual merchandising, and Learning and Interpretation events.
  • The store saves the museum on average between £10,000 and £20,000 per annum by re-using the mannequins and having a clearer method of storage and usage.

Exhibition build and equipment hire

Planning the design of your exhibition with sustainability in mind means that you can keep costs, energy and waste down. If your build is reusable and made from recycled and recyclable material then this will benefit you greatly. It is also important to take stock of local producers and equipment hire so that you are working with the local community, benefiting the local economy and producing a more sustainable exhibition build. If your build is easily demountable then it is worth discussing whether you can transfer the whole or parts of the build. Aim to produce a sustainable, durable build and make sure you look after it correctly so that it lasts as long as possible and is of the best quality visually and structurally.

Case Study 1: Manchester Art Gallery

“We are currently installing ‘Matthew Darbyshire: An Exhibition for Modern Living’ and have managed to do the majority of the build (mainly plinths) reusing timber and MDF from the construction from the previous show. We had lots of perspex and timber vitrines made for an exhibition last year and have kept all of these and reused them in another show this year.” – Catriona Morgan, Principal Operations Manager

Case Study 2: Patina Art Collection Care Ltd

“If you have a choice, go with plywood and then line it if you need to. When you start making holes in MDF it looks terrible and it is harder to repair than plywood. If you do a new build always remember to seal the back with a varnish/paint/mist coat otherwise when you work on the front side this will cause swelling and cracks.” – John Bracken, Co-Director

Case Study 3: Wellcome Collection

“Knowing who we are working with at the beginning of a project means that we can design the exhibition taking into account the two gallery spaces so that display cases, structures and furniture can be reused, designed to travel and adjustability can be factored in.” – Luke Currall, Senior Projects Manager

Display cases

Cases can be extremely expensive to produce and difficult to store depending on the storage space available at your organisation. It often appears easier to dispose of them and produce new ones as and when the designs for exhibitions arise.

However, another option is to plan your exhibitions programme to take into account the stock of cases that you have available. You can also work with the other tour venues to share the costs of producing display cases and arrange for them to be transferred as part of the exhibition. You might also want to consider adapting cases to make them fit for purpose. Alternatively, you can offer cases to other museums who may then be able to offer you the same in future.

Case Study 1: Wellcome Collection

“We build many of our new display cases to be as robust and adaptable as possible, to GIS guidelines and with adjustable feet, security fitted hoods, resprayable metal legs, hidden recesses for climate control opportunities and the possibility to change internal fabric covered bases. […] We are developing our ‘Skeletons: Buried Bones’ exhibition with regional partners and the skeletons will be displayed at the host venues reusing the same cases from the original show. We have also lent the cases to the Museum of London for their show ‘Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men’.” – Luke Currall, Senior Projects Manager

Case Study 2: Museum Freecycle

“If you are in the process of dismantling your exhibition or updating your displays, spare a thought for your museum colleagues and, rather than throwing your unwanted items out, consider offering them via Museum Freecycle. The site was founded a year ago by Caroline Keppel-Palmer, former Managing Director of an architecture firm who saw how much exhibition kit was being skipped due to lack of space.” – Caroline Keppel-Palmer, Founder

Design and interpretation

Design and interpretation can be produced that is transferable between venues for touring exhibitions. It is however worth considering whether it is more sustainable to do this and save on materials but use energy to transport, or if more of a saving will be found by sharing the text (and design where appropriate) and having each venue produce their own designs and interpretation locally or in-house.

Case Study: Wellcome Collection

On touring exhibitions: “Supporting structure, furniture, text and graphic panels, captions, mounts, lightboxes and associated AV also travel.” – Luke Currall, Senior Projects Manager

Lighting

Consider sustainable lighting options such as LED which can use 70% less energy and reduce energy bills by the same amount. Make sure the lighting is turned off overnight and whilst the exhibition space is not in use. It might also be possible to integrate renewable energy into your building or in your grounds. If you can cut down on the energy output for lighting, then this will add to the overall savings made on your exhibitions.

Case Study: Natural History Museum

“We reuse 100 LED light panels every year for our ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year’ exhibition. The photos are printed on to thin plastic sheets which then slot in front of the light panels. This means they are backlit so there is no need for track lighting. When the exhibition tours, the lightboxes go with it.” – Beca Jones, Project Manager

Recycling waste and storage

Despite the best intentions, temporary exhibitions can produce a lot of waste material. Much of this can be avoided by recycling and reusing materials. The main thing is to make sure you dispose of it correctly, so ensure you have a good relationship with your operations team and waste/recycling collector.

Case Study 1: Foundling Museum

“We have hosted a Quentin Blake show that was at Compton Verney before us and one of our shows did go the States. However, with our exhibitions we do try and recycle and re-use as much as possible […] We often have temporary MDF and timber walls built for our shows and where possible we recycle this wood once it has been used. Often timber is taken by our next door neighbours – Coram (a children’s charity) and I have also used Recipro – a building recycling website – before to get someone to collect and re-use the MDF. We also try and store as much spare wood and MDF ourselves which can then be used to make plinths and shelves for the next exhibition. Storage is often an issue so it is dependent on this.” – Chris Larner, Operations and Visitor Services Manager

Case Study 2: Wellcome Collection

“Our external storage facilities in north London allow for safe storage of display cases, plinths, furniture, AV object mounts, prints, reproduction, props, blocks and large picture frames. Storage, its ease of access and management is often key to our sustainability options. We are currently in the process of moving over to the Mimsy exhibition management database where our stock of available and reusable exhibition items will be managed.” – Luke Currall, Senior Projects Manager

3. The relationship between funding and sustainability

Sponsorship and funding applications frequently acknowledge and sometimes actively support sustainable working. Financial cuts in the sector mean it is essential to reassess our position, so we can produce touring exhibitions in a sustainable way that does not reduce the quality of the visitor experience.

  • Arts Council England require that those in receipt of funding have an environmental policy and action plan. They also ask that organisations collect data on emissions from energy and water use. This information must be submitted on an annual basis. Since implementing the requirements, ACE have seen substantial financial, reputational and team morale benefits in the organisations involved.
  • Arts Council England’s partnership with Julie’s Bicycle supports major funded organisations in their environmental sustainability efforts. They provide IG Tools that allow organisations to measure their environmental impact through reporting. They have significant resources available on their website that organisations of all sizes and levels of funding can utilise. They can also help with developing or updating your environmental policy and action plan.
  • The Mayor of London’s Green Visual Arts Guide outlines the steps towards more sustainable exhibitions for visual arts organisations. The focus of the report for exhibitions is on reducing transport and improving the design and construction of displays. If you are in London, you can also sign up to the Mayor’s Green Procurement Code which supports organisations committed to reducing their environmental impact.
  • The AIM Sustainability Grant Scheme is intended to help museums improve their medium and long term sustainability.
  • The Happy Museum Project looks at how UK museums can become more sustainable. They commission museum projects aimed at forming a ‘community of practice’.
  • The Sustainable Exhibitions for Museums (SEFM) network comprises museums professionals across the UK all working towards making exhibitions more sustainable. Through a cost benefit approach, SEFM provide advice and support to help museums produce more sustainable exhibitions. This includes resources on fundraising and the financial benefits of sustainability.
  • The Green Tourism Award helps museums review their position and produce an action plan for improvement. The award can highlight great ways for museums to become more sustainable generally and in touring exhibitions, by reducing environmental impact and saving on related costs.
  • RE:FIT is the Mayor of London’s scheme to reduce carbon emissions in Greater London. The aim is to improve the energy performance of buildings in London, thereby reducing their CO2 footprint and achieving significant cost savings.
  • The Museums Association have some useful resources on sustainable practice in museums and information about related funding.

4. Sustainable exhibitions checklist

Consider the following areas of activity to weigh up the most sustainable and economically advantageous approach before, during and after touring an exhibition.

1. Preparation

  • Consider the different scenarios for your exhibition including partner venues, transport and design.
  • Research is key at this stage to ensure that you work with the most sustainable businesses possible.
  • Set out your aims for the exhibition from the outset. Whether it is touring in the same country or internationally, there are always ways to make the whole project more sustainable and have it fall in line with your aims. Consider your carbon footprint including lighting, staff time and environmental controls.
  • Include sustainability conditions as part of tender documents. Talk directly with your contractors and suppliers about sustainable options.

2. Sustainable Budgeting

  • There are several options to choose from. Planned correctly, sustainable touring walks hand in hand with careful budgeting. If your funds are limited, sustainability is your friend. If you know where you want to save money, then you can start from this.
  • Alternately, if you have a surplus of resources and materials and some of these are shared with your touring partner/s then you can agree on how to save costs, energy and materials from the outset.
  • You may even consider approaching a tour partner that you know has resources available to share, which may mean that energy and transport costs as well as risk are kept to a minimum.
  • Take stock of the resources you have available to you: this could include materials, resources, energy, staff time and volunteers.

3. Loans transport

  • Plan the transport carefully with your chosen agent. Always ensure that they have a solid environmental policy and that you work closely with them to reduce the number of collections and drop-offs so as to make the distance covered as efficient as possible.
  • Crates and packaging – re-use or rent where possible.
  • Think about the weight and volume of loans. Avoid air freight and opt for road transport where possible; always check whether it is possible to use sustainably-sourced bio-fuel. Also don’t discount rail and sea freight.
  • Make sure you work closely with other local museums so that you can collaborate on shipping if the opportunity should arise. This should be considered on a case by case basis.
  • Consider touring exhibitions that make the most of your collection, should you have one. This is not only sustainable in that you already have your object on site, it also makes the most of the cultural and social value of your collection within your museum and your community. The line is then blurred between permanent and temporary exhibitions and you save on display, transport and packing costs.

4. Meetings and research trips

  • You may be required to travel for meetings. If your exhibition is touring internationally, or requires research abroad, this can be tricky. The main thing is to consider whether each trip is absolutely necessary.
  • Zoom, Teams or GoogleMeet calls are often easier and cheaper, and it is more environmentally sustainable to meet via digital comms rather than in person.

5. Couriers

  • Keep couriering to a minimum.
  • Not everything requires couriering and it is always worth negotiating with lenders. Often it becomes clear that the objects will be safe during transit and the exhibitions organiser/s will be on hand once they arrive to oversee offloading, unpacking and installation.
  • However, there are cases where objects must be couriered if the objects are delicate, unstable or of financial or cultural significance. This is entirely acceptable but there are still ways to make the process more sustainable.
  • Often lenders will allow other couriers to oversee their objects on their behalf so make sure you support this.
  • The courier should be encouraged to use public transport to and from their accommodation and during the rest of their visit.

6. Exhibition design

  • Design efficiently and use existing stock.
  • Object mounts and supports must be well suited to each object, but it is worth taking into consideration whether the materials are the most sustainable in terms of durability and adaptability.
  • Consider sustainable lighting options such as LED.
  • Have you discussed interpretation with your designer and other tour venues? You may find that you can share the costs of producing interpretation that can then be transferred between venues.
  • Always plan your exhibition build with disassembly and/or reuse in mind.
  • Where possible, design exhibitions with standard dimensions so that it is easier to reuse materials such as timber and plaster.

7. Environmental conditions

  • This is a hot topic. Several museums have now opted to relax their environmental conditions, which has resulted in significant cost savings without jeopardising the collections/loans. This is a great way of making exhibitions more sustainable; the obstacle is that it must be agreed upon by all lenders. Passive environmental control is still worth considering as part of the planning of the exhibition and tour.

8. Installation

  • Use lenders’ fittings and return after use. Take your time and label each work, any fittings, and make sure everything is kept together.
  • Reuse your fittings (e.g. mirror plates) where possible.
  • Make accurate packing notes and keep packing material for repacking the loans. If you make sure it is correctly labelled, stored correctly in sealed reusable bags in a safe, dry and dust free environment, there is no reason not to reuse it. Packing notes save on time and any misunderstandings. Consider digital condition reports which removes endless sheets of paper and printing.
  • Make sure everyone on board during the installation and de-installation at all venues is aware of your recycling and waste policies. This will ensure that everything is disposed of correctly and efficiently.

9. Waste and Recycling

  • Build partnerships with organisations and museums in the local area. Chris Larner says ‘We generally maintain good links with surrounding galleries. In the past we have borrowed carpet from Whitechapel Gallery. Often I find that if the timings work well, galleries and museums are keen to dispense of material for free if they are trying to get rid of it.’
  • Museum Freecycle is a great network where organisations can post their unwanted items for collection by other museums. As well as the obvious environmental benefits, this is also great for creating sustainable relationships with other museums and means that if you are looking for a particular item (e.g. a display case) then you may just find what you need for free on the network.
  • Explore other reuse options, for example The Brixton Remakery are always keen to have materials such as MDF and paint and will collect for free. There are other similar initiatives all over the UK.

10. Legacy

  • Do you know how much waste you are producing for every exhibition? If you measure and identify it, you will be in a better position to find solutions to minimise it.
  • Have you checked what you can and cannot recycle? Make sure you’re in the know.
  • What have you learnt from this exhibition in terms of sustainability?
  • Can any of the materials go towards future exhibitions?
  • Is there anything that you would do differently next time so as to make it more sustainable? Learn from your experiences and progress will be made in each exhibition.

 

Edited by:
Nadine Loach, Sustainable Exhibitions for Museums
Alice Lobb, The Exhibitions Group

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