Museum

No 152 (Vol XXXVIII, n° 4, 1986)

Temporary exhibitions
 Museum is published by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organi-
zation in Paris. An international forum
(quarterly) of information and reflection on
museums of all kinds.
No. 152, 1986
Front-coverphoto
THEHUMANSTORY.Poster and cover of the
exhibition's catalogue.
I l
Editor: Marie Josée Thiel
Editorial Assistant: Christine Wilkinson
Design: Georges Servat, George Ducret
ADVISORY BOARD
Om Prakash Agrawal, India
Azedine Bachaouch, Tunisia
Fernanda de Camargo e Almeida-Moro,
Brazil
Patric D. Cardon, Secretary-Generalof
ICOM, ex-oficio
Gaë1 de Guichen, ICCROM
Alpha Oumar Konaré, Mali
Jean-Pierre Mohen, France
Luis Monreal, Spain
Syeung-gil Paik, Republic of Korea
Michel Parent, ICOMOS
Paul Perrot, United States of America
Lise Skjdth, Denmark
Vitali Souslov, Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics
@ Unesco 1986
a Printed in the Netherlands
Smeets Offset (NBI) bv, 's-Hertogenbosch
Back-coverphoto
APOLLOBELVEDERE,Vatican Museum
Authors are responsiblefor the choice and the
presentation of the facts contained in their ar-
ticles and for the opinions expressed therein,
which are not necessarily those of Unesco and
do not commit the Organization.
Published texts may be freely reproduced
and translated (exceptillustrations and where
reproduction or translation rights are re-
served),provided that mention is made of the
author and source. Extracts may be quoted if
due acknowledgement is given.
Editonà/ correspondence:
The Editor, Museum,
Unesco, 7 place de Fontenoy,
75700 Paris, France
Subscriptions:
Commercial Services Division,
Office of theUnesco Press,
Unesco, 7 place de Fontenoy,
Paris, France
Each issue: 43 F. Subscriptionrates (4,isues
or corresponding double issues per year):
138 F
 Empormy exhibitions

Editorial 194

GOING O N SHOW

George S. Gardner What’s so speciaZ about the specid

‘ I
exhibition? 196
I, ,
Hélène Lassalle BienniaZs und major internationaZ
‘1 , exhibitions 20 1
8 , . , Ulla Keding Olofsson RiAsutstäZZnìngar:fiom traveGZìng exhibitions to an
information centre 205
Stella Westerlund Twenty years of traveZZìng exhibitions 206
I
LOOKING BACK O N A TEMPORARY
EXHIBITION

Walter Persegati The Vutìcan CoZZections: the Pupacy und Art 2 13

~

EXHIBITIONS AND THEIR PRESENTATION

James Porter The Human Stoy 230

Valery Petrovitch
Sazonov The One-picture GalZey 237
Marta Sierra-Delageand A new temporay exhibition room in the
Alfonso Calle-García NationaZ Museum of Ethnology in Madrìd 24 1

THE CONSERVATOR’S POINT OF VIEW

Denis Serjeant The protection ofpaintings in Zoun

exhibitions 246
R. H. Marijnissen May we keep the Breughel? 249

WFFM CHRONICLE
Photo credits:

Frontispiece: Unesco/E. Hattori; 2-4: American WFFM The roZe of the private and the public sector in
Museum of Natural History; 7-8: Smithsonian In- managing the natìonaZ cuZturaZ heritage: the
stitute; 9-12: Deidi von Schaeven; 13-16: Dominik exumpZe of Canada 2 5 3
Labhart; 21-25,27-38: Riksutställningar; 59-70 and
back cover: Commonwealth Institute; 71-73:
Leonida Shimanovicha; 74-79: National Museum
of Ethnology, Madrid; 80-85: Royal Academy of
Arts

ISSN 0027-3996 Museum (Unesco, Paris)

Vol. XXXVIII, No.4, 1986
194

when we speak of exhibitions, we tend to think in terms of the temporary ex- 1

hibition of works from public or private collections. we are therefore dealing The paintings in the rock-hewn sanctuary of
Dambulla Vihara, §ri Lanka, (eighteenth
in the ephemeral or at the very least the temporary. Even when ‘immortal’ century) are among the works selected for
works are gathered together, they are presented by newspapers under the protection under the safeguarding campaign
heading ‘temporary’ exhibitions and the very use of this adjective emphasizes launched by Unesco. Save our Common
the fleeting quality of the event. Heritage, travelling exhibition organized by
Unesco.
Seen from an historical and institutional point of view, exhibitions have
developed in two distinct phases: the first from collections into museums, i.e.
from the private into the public domain; the second from museum collections
to exhibition, i.e. from the permanent to the temporary sphere.
Without art or 0hjet.1d’art there is of course no exhibition and the exhibits
presented have been selected eitheh because they are worthy of attention 08
because they are in some way a part which is representative of a whole.
Roland Barthes has written ‘ . . . there is no better comparisonfor the imagery
in the “‘EncyPopCdie”than that ofthe great ehibiticpns which have been held
over the last hundred years and for which at its time, the concept of the en-
cyclopedia was the forerunner; it is at one and the same time an historical ac-
count and a spectacle’.’ These phrases might be used ~ ~ t a ~~~a~~~ ~is to

ne thing is certain: exhibitions are changing. They are becoming a

medium in their own right and a new means of communication. They bring
people together and show the reality as opposed to the image of the object.
Their visitors are both selected and self-selected
For many museumsi m exhibition may be seen as a way of attracting visitors
who previoudy eschewed museums, because they were intimidated by or indif-
ferent to the traditional permanent collections. A bait for the unwary.
The record attendance figures for special exhibitions and the continuing in-
crease in the number of museum visitors over the recent past would seem to
reflect the success ofthis policy. One must not, however, overlook exhibitions
which are essentially pedagogical in nature. Such e ~ h i b i t i o are s by some
~ ~ seen
as an extended form OB education and by others as a substitute for inadequate
education in a given field. Both parties would like to see pedagogy freed from
its institutional fetters in much the same way as in artistic circles there is a move
to set the exhibition free from its institutional setting -the museum.
POI the part, exhibitions are designed to encourage public participa-
tion and to this end they aim to provide visitors with the possibility of exam-
ining their place in space and time, of understanding their smroundings and
even of influencing their environment, their lives, their towns and so on.
The phenomenon of major international exhibitions is here to stay. This
must be accepted, just as we must accept that the consemation problems they
pose are ,fa special kind and cannot be resolved by pormal practices. Should
we therefore remove these works from the public eye in our extreme
for conservation and adopt, with regard to exhibitions, Ambrose
on of painting, ‘the art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and
g them to the critid.2 Should we not rather accept, in spite of the
dangers of travel for a work of art, that exhibitions are a privileged way of
1. R. Barthes, Le degré zéro de l’écnhire,
displaying a national or international heritage or specialized information, for Paris, Le Seuil.
it is clear that the international exchange of special exhibitions has contributed 2. A. Bierce, CoLected Writhgs, New York,
to increasing mutual understanding among peoples and will continue to do SO. GitadeI press, 1960.
196
---
George S. Gardner
Graduated from Cooper Union and Pratt Institute
in New York. Chairman of the Department of Ex-
hibition and Graphics at the American Museum of
Natural History since 1973. Before that, he spent
twelve years as a partner in an independent design
office specializing in exhibitions and museum
work. Currently on the editorial board of Curator,
the quarterly journal of the American Museum of
Natural History; adjunct professor in the Museum
Studies Program at New York University. Co-
founder and first president of the National Associa-
tion of Museum Exhibition.
2
Captzmed Motion, a special exhibition at
the American Museum of Natural History
which featured many articulated horse and
other mammal skeletons prepared by
S. Harmsted Chubb. This is an example of
a great collection being broughr out of
storage and put on exhibition.
TWOquestions frequently arise in the
directors’ offices, the board fQOmS md
the design departments 0%the world’s
leading museums. The first, ‘How did we
get into this business of high-pressure
scheduling of special exhibitions with all
its attendant cost and energy invest-
ment?’The second, ‘Should we continue
in this direction and are the rewarding
aspects of this programme worth it?’
Starting in the late 1960s, a much
greater emphasis than before was placed
on the creation of ‘special’,temporary ex-
hibitions. Museums seemingly competed
with each other to produce bigger, bolder
exhibitions until the age of the ‘block-
buster’ arrived. Now there is much re-
flection on the validity of this emphasis
on temporary shows, and the possible
neglect of the permanent halls and
galleries.
An examination of the reasons behind
the growth ofthe popularity ofthe huge,
temporary show would include several in-
terrelated, complex factors. This ex-
amination should logically be based on
the museums that have medium to large
size collections, because museums with-
out collections of artefacts, specimens QP
utwork~have probably always been in
the business of creating temporary ex-
hibitions, several a year, and most pro-
bably composed of loans from other in-
stitutions.
Why then does a museum divert large
amounts of manpower and large sums of
money from the preservation and exhibi-
tion of these collections? The American
Museum of Natural History in New York
is a good case in point. In the early 1970s,
this institution realized that the opening
of a new permanent hall required an in-
vestment of from 2 to 3 million dollars
and that such openings were occurring
only once every year or two, even 061 the
most optimistic schedule. Thomas B.
Wbut’s so special’ about the special exbibitiorz?
3
Magnzficent’ Voyagers at the Smithsonian’s
National Museum of Natural History
showing a part of the collections brought
back by the Wilkes Expedition, including
manikin dressed in bark cloth.
Nicholson, Director of the American
Museum, decided that the museum had
to stage more frequent events to attract
return visits from members and regular
visitors, and to attract new visitors. A
recurring theme seemed to be ‘we have to
let our constituency know that there are
exciting things going on in our institu-
tion’ (Fig. 2). The opening of a major
hall, whether it be ‘Peoples of the Pacific’
or ‘Minerals and Gems’, was an occasion
for much publicity and excitement
around the museum. But Nicholson felt
the American Museum should let the
public know that a great deal of activity
goes on at all times behind those great
stone walls, from research in the
biological sciences, to strengthening col-
lections in anthropology, to the addition
of new and dynamic audio-visual presen-
tations as part of the exhibition pro-
gramme (Fig. 5).
For these reasons, an intensive pro-
gramme has developed at the American
Museum which adds up to three or four
major special exhibitions, plus six or
seven small to medium size exhibitions
annually. The major shows may originate
in the museum or may come, on loan,
from another institution (Fig. 6). The
smaller exhibitions, lasting from one to
three months, may focus on an event of
current interest, a recent acquisition by
one of the scientific departments, or a
research project being carried out by one
of the curators on the museum staff.
When Craig Black left the Carnegie
Museum in Pittsburgh to take up the post
of Director of the Los Angeles County
Museum of Natural History in 1982, he
started a programme of increased activity
in the area of temporary exhibitions. One
problem he faced was that the Los
Angeles County Museum ’hadn’t been
able to get members into the museum,
because we don’t have a regular program
of things that are going on here all the
time’. Black took with him several recom-
mendations for possible special exhibi-
tions and has implemented many of these
ideas, particularly in the area of dinosaur
exhibits. Another factor of which the Los
Angeles County Museum realized the
importance was that increased atten-
dance for special shows brought in addi-
tional revenue for their profit centres,
such as the gift shop, which help to sup-
port the museum.
Thomas Hoving,. former Director of
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, provid-
ed leadership for an increased num-
ber of special exhibitions at the museum
in the late 1960s. These shows gave the
museum opportunities to focus on a
specific artist or sculptor or period of
painting or sculpture. In an art museum,
the rationale for organizing special ex-
hibitions stems partly from the fact that
few art museums have complete collec-
tions (all the works of a particular artist),
and so loans have to be made from other
institutions or from private collectors to
put together a comprehensive grouping
significant enough to make a major
exhibition. Jeffrey L. Daly, the Met-
ropolitan’s Chief Designer, explains that
temporary exhibitions frequently en-
courage donations of artworks to the host
institution. A show is more likely to be
organized when a specific donor shows an
interest in donating art to the permanent
collection.
The rationale behind these exhibitions
at the Metropolitan emerged in the
1960s, when the administration perceiv-
ed that ‘something was lacking in the
public image of the museum’. It was seen
to be too staid or conservative. Hoving
197
4
View of a special exhibition at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
entitled Man andHone. It ran at the Met
for nine months.
looked upon the special exhibition as a
method of ‘promoting new interest’ on
the part of the visiting public. The role of
the education department has increased
considerably, in parallel with the
development of this programme, and the
education staff is expected to produce
lectures, films and symposia built around
the themes of these special exhibitions
(Figs. 3 , 4).
The Smithsonian Institution’s Na-
tional Museum of Natural History
entered the special exhibition arena
somewhat later than the other major
American museums. In 1981, the Evans
Gallery, a large hall designed expressly
for the staging of temporary exhibitions
opened to the public, when Secretary of
the Smithsonian, Dillon Ripley, realized
that ‘a new developmenthad come about
and we were not part of it’. Many large
shows were bypassing Washington
because, before 1981, suitable space was
not available. The National Gallery, in-
cidentally, will put on travelling exhibi-
tions only when they can ‘premier’ them.
This policy prohibits taking a show if it
has opened in another American in-
stitution.
In the words of Sheila Mutchler,
Special Exhibits Co-ordinator at the Na-
tional Museum of Natural History
(NMNH), the programme at the Evans
Gallery has been extremely successful.
The total number of visitors has increased
to over G million annually, a million more
than the pre-1981 totals. One of the
reasons behind the beginning of the pro-
gramme at the NMNH is the idea that
‘vastcollections not now on exhibit to the
public can be shown’. The NMNH tries
to produce one show per year, primarily
from its own collections and then sends
this exhibition (under the auspices of the
198
Smithsonian Institution Traveling Ex-
hibition Service) to other locations. The
1986 entry wa§ &agpzz~ccent VOyageTs
with many artefacts and pieces of
memorabilia from Charles Wilkes’ Ex-
pedition to the Antarctic (1838-42)
which formed the basis for many of the
Smithsonian’s collections (Figs. 7, 8).
In a survey conducted in 1985 at the
University ofIdaho at MQSCQW, Hdalao, by
Ms Deena Bedgian, it becme apparent
that the r e ~ ~ nfors which museums
organize a temporary exhibition pro-
g r a m “ are many and that they tend to
fall into the public relations or public
perceptioi area. The reasons listed by the
respondentsfor organizingtemporary ex-
hibitions include: encouragement of
return visits; incentive for membership;
enhancement ofvisibility; and, at the top
ofthe list, ‘toshow that the museum is an
active, changing, exciting place’. Two in-
fluences that rated high in the survey
were ‘public expectation’ (checked by 7 5
per cent of the respondents), and
‘visibility’(checked by 73 per cent ofthe
respondents). Presenting current issues;
relating to a broader audience; providing
an enjoyable learning environment;
more extensive collaboration between
museums; and broadening &e base of
the museum’s public and financial sup-
port ím other reasons listed by the fifty-
eight museum representatives answering
the survey questions.
The survey provided some interesting
results in the area of funding. About 77
per cent of the respondents indicated an
increase in their d i b i t budgets over the
past ten years with 7 - 10 per cent of total
museum budgets being alllocated to ex-
hibits. Ofthat total, 25 - 50 per cent was
alhnted to temporary exhibitions.
Networking, that is collaboration with
other museums, is an increasingly impor-
tant factor in the study of this phe-
George S. Gardiver
nomenom. The relevance oftravelling ex-
hibitions on the contemporary museum
scene also hinges to a certain extent upon
an increasing interest in international CO-
operation. At present, the American
Museum ofNatural History is working on
plans for future exhibitions with museum
oficials in France, Canada, People’s
Republic of China, the Soviet Union and
Tunisia.
Robert H o f h “ , Director of the Na-
tional Museum of Natural History in
ashington, B.C., has stated that he is
‘in favor of the concept of special exlaibi-
tions, especially those of an international
nature, those that encourage cultural ex-
change. Scholarship has no boundaries’.
The term ‘ bkckbusters’ crept into the
l e ~ i c ofthe
~ n museum world at about the
time when Hoving organized the Trea-
suresof Tutadhamupz exhibition, a show
that drew capacity audiences. The present
Director, Philippe de Montebello,
Whatlr so special about the special exhibition? 199

5
Special exhibition at the American Museum
of Natural History entitled Ice Age Art,
featured artefacts, photographs and
drawings of man’s earliest creative efforts.

6
Bronze sculpture at the entrance to the
temporary exhibition at the American
Museum of Natural History called Pompeii-
A.D. 79. Most of the first-centuryRoman
objects and artefacts were on loan from
museums in Italy.

prefers to avoid the term ‘blockbuster’, a tors. The same survey showed that 8 per
word the press popularized in the 1970s, cent of those responding felt that tem-
and to move away from the concept of the porary exhibitions were only ‘of momen-
mega-show toward the more human- tary interest’. Joseph Veach Noble,
scale exhibition with the ultimate aim of former Director of the Museum of the
‘trying to increase the number of discern- City of New York, said in Mztseztm News:
ing visitors’ versus casual tourists. The ‘This mercantile trend of our cultural in-
show, he feels, should be more respec- stitutions has been forced upon us, but it
table and less frenzied. certainly is not healthy. Aesthetic judg-
Although 96 per cent of those in the
’ ment now must take a back seat to
Bedgian survey stated that the special whatever sells. ’
exhibition has a definite future and is The controversy over whether this
part of a continuing and developing trend is a good thing is heard in the of-
trend, this type of exhibit has its detrac- fices, board rooms and design studios. A
7 nent halls?’ Monies spent on major
View of Magnzj5cen.t Voyagers: The U.S.
Exploring Expedition. 1838-1842, installed
in Evans Gallery of the National Museum of
Natural History (Smithsonian Institution).
great deal of money and energy is being
devoted to these shows and occasionally
the question of the undue influence ex-
erted by ‘showbiz’ interests can be heard.
Michael Spock, Vice-president for
Public Programming at Chicago’s Field
Museum of Natural History, has taken a
radical turn away from the special exhibi-
tion philosophy, for at least the next five
years. The Field Museum, in preparation
for its Centennial in 1993, has decided to
concentrate on refurbishing old, existing
galleries featuring the objects in the
Field’s vast collections. The question was
asked, ‘Are we now competing with
ourselves in getting funding for perma-
special exhibitions might be better
allocated to upgrading permanent halls.
The aim in Chicago is to open a new,
refurbished hall every year!
Mike Spock has also chosen themes for
permanent halls that cut across the nor-
mal lines of the scientific disciplines, to
create interdisciplinary exhibitions. Ma-
jor projects on the drawing boards calls
for a new ‘Pacific’hall in late 1988 and a
J
new ‘Africa’ hall in 1989.
In conclusion, it has become quite evi-
dent that the special exhibition is here to
stay, despite the fears of the few that this
trend may divert the scholarly direction
that curators would like exhibitions to
take.
Co-operation among the world’s great
museums allows the museum-going
public of many nations to see and ex-
perience magnificent collections that
200
8
In&! a special exhibition staged at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art from
September 1985 to 5 January 1986.
they might never be able to see otherwise.
At the American Museum, discussions are
now under way concerning two major
special exhibitions, one of artefacts from
American and Canadian museums that
will travel to cities in the Soviet Union,
and another that will exhibit specimens
from collectionsin the USSR in American
and Canadian cities. The Smithsonian is
organizing the loan agreements and this
cross-pollination cannot help but be a
beneficid influence on both scholars and
the general public of the co-operating
nations. As Robert Hoffmann says, ‘Tech-
nology continues to affect the world more
and more and an international exchange
George S. Gardner
of special exhibitions should certainly
help world understanding. ’
Museums are interested in creating
better images of their institutions and in
building greater visibility in order to gain
public understanding, support and in-
volvement. Special exhibitions can be an
important factor in achievingthese goals.
Museum directors are now able to change
the image of a huge, static, monolithic
institution where nothing much hap-
pens, to a dynamic place where the visitor
can be attracted by a variety of exhibi-
tions on a variety of subjects resulting
from a strong, temporary exhibition pro-
gramme. m

Exhibitions as a form
of entertainwent
The entertainment phenomenon is not a
new one, since exhibitions were a form of
entertainment from the eighteenth cen-
tury onwards. The Salon du Louvre and
London’s Royal Academy Exhibition en-
joyed great public success with their first
shows, which were eagerly awaited, com-
mented on and given wide publicity in
the press. Exhibitions were regarded as
entertainment, as fashionable displays of
collections of objects, long before they
became either ‘group expressions’, one-
man shows, retrospectives, or scientific
and historical presentations. Two cen-
turies ago and even less, the artist worked
for the Salon, in the light of its re-
quirements and its public. Here nothing
has changed. In the age of the media,
major international exhibitions, whether
biennial or triennial, follow the same
tradition. Certain conditions have
however radically altered, since the wider
circulation of works of art must now be
taken into account. It seems that any ma-
jor event owes it to itself to be interna-
tional as regards the works exhibited and
the public reached. The scale of diversity
of an exhibition, the choice of theme to
capture attention, the size of the works
exhibited, the type of publicity cam-
paign, controversial reviews and articles
in the press, both specialized and for the
general public, and radio and television
coverage must all ensure the required
shock effect.
The issues invohed
Whether or not the organizers are aware
of it, every event involves cultural,
political and economic issues. On the
cultural side, there is the fact that each
biennial exhibition promotes a particular
type of art. Its reputation is such that it
sets the seal of fame on the exhibits, the
selection made, and the grading of artists
into stars and superstars. Its aesthetic con-
tent may reflect its environment and be
sustained by the production of the cul-
tural area in which it is located (Kassel
Documenta, Venice Biennial, Paris Bien-
nial (Figs. 9 - 12)), or it may be totally
alien to it. Examples of the latter are São
Paulo, Medellín and New Delhi. Given
the way in which exhibitions of this kind
are mounted, their side effects and reper-
cussions on local artistic creation are far
from negligible: on the positive side,
they may stimulate a new form of
originality, on the negative side they may
produce only plagiarism and loss of iden-
tity. Political considerations come into
play, for various authorities, including
governments and national and interna-
tional institutions and organizations, are
involved. The prestige and success of
even an entirely private event, provide
nations with a ‘shop window’ in which to
compete with each other by mounting
ever more ambitious projects. Economic
factors are involved, through the link-up
with the art market, the gallery network
and the choices and purchases of
museums, state collections and collec-
tors. It is significant that the consultation
on ‘the Role of the Major Biennial Ex-
hibitions and International Events in the
Field of ContemporaryArt in the Promo-
tion and Dissemination of Culture’l
organized by Unesco and held in Venice
in June 1985, was attended not only by
the directors of all the biennials but also
by organizers of international exhibition
fairs such as that of Basel (Figs. 13, 14,
15, 16).
The information-exhibition:
risks and benefits
One objective at least-that of showing
contemporaryart of acknowledgedworth
to the maximum number of visitors-is
common to both types of event, and
some of the repercussions are similar.
The organizers of both biennial exhibi-
tions and fairs say that the desire to in-
form the public is of primary importance;
hence the eclecticism in which trends,
schools and countries are mingled. This
also explains the recourse to commercial
advertising methods in order to attract
‘new types of public’, the hitherto
neglected or the indifferent, and the use
of the most up-to-date techniques in this
field. The Medellín Biennial is particular-
ly representative in this respect, as are the
organization and management of the São
201
Hélène Lassalle
Curator of National Museums, Directorate of
French Museums, Cultural Action Division, and
Secretary-General of the International Association
of Art Critics (AICA).
1. Consultation on ‘The Role of the Major
Biennial Exhibitions and International Events in
the Field of Contemporary Art in the Promotion
and Dissemination of Culture’, Venice, Cini
Foundation, 24-26 June 1985, organized by
Unesco, in co-operation with the Italian National
Commission for Unesco and the Cini
Foundation. Papers were presented by René
Berger, Honorary President of AICA, Jacques
Leenhardt, President of the French section
?f AICA and professor at the Ecole des Hautes
Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, Michael
Gibson, art critic for the Herald Tnibzcne,
Geneviève Breerette, art critic for Le Monde, and
José Augusto França, President of IAAC and
Director of the Portuguese Cultural Institute
(Gulbenkian Foundation), Paris. The final report
on the Consultation was drawn up by André
Parinaud, administrator of IAA exhibitions
co-operation with Michael Gibson.
The consultation was attended by the
administrators or organizers of the Cairo
International Biennial, the Budapest Biennial of
Small Sculpture, the Basel Fair, the Paris
Nouvelle Biennial, the Venice Biennial, the New
Delhi Biennial, the Medellín (Colombia)
Biennial, the São Paulo Biennial, the Kassel
Documenta, and the Sydney Biennial,
representatives of international organizations such
as ICOM and the Council of Europe, and
eminent persons from the five cultural regions.
This article takes up the topics covered in
discussion and introduced in the various papers.
The papers may be obtained from the Division
of Cultural Development, Unesco, 1 rue Miollis,
75015 Paris.
202 H é h e LassalLe

Paulo Biennial and the publicity given to

it. Another example is the revealing
change made at the time of the last Paris
iennial in 1985, when the advertising
was entrusted to a commercial agency.
Hugeness of scale, the intentionally
provocative aspect of works in terms of
size, colour, technique or theme, and the
spectacular presentation of the stands
(the labyrinthine fair, the attractive jum-
ble or the sophisticated display) all con-
tribute to producing an effect which is far
removed from the specific relationship of
recognition and appropriation bemeen
the work and the spectator peculiar to a
museum. The impression made on the
visitor to one of these gigantic citadels of
art is ofageneral nature. He has difficulty
in finding his beuings arad deciding how
to make his way round the exhibits. If he
is not ‘in the know’, he will feel fms-
trated and totally at a loss. The mass im-
position of a culture which has acquired
legitimacy may engender in someone not
belonging to that culture a form of
culpability, hostility or, at the least, in-
difference. While this danger, inherent
in any cultural policy, is seldom spelled
out, dl organizers nevertheless stress the
need for information accessible to all and
widely distributed to all types of public.
Organizers will employ any means to im-
prove the ways in which they com-
municate and they devote increasingly
larger budgets to them. Technology has
progressed to the point of being able to
Biennials and major intemational'exhibitions
9-12
Nouvelle Bienizale de Paris 8S,The main
hall at La Villette (21 March - 2 1 May 1985).
reproduce a 'second-hand' iconography
in unlimited quantities and a great
variety of forms. But what is one to think
about access to art which can only be pro-
vided through the media?And what kind
of art is it which, in order to be perceived,
must first be processed by the media?
The need for concerted
Those excZudedfioom the art ?zetworks ìaternational actìo?~
The many and varied means employed,
whether direct, indirect, industrial or
commercial, all combine to put across a
myth which is being generalized in one
form or another: that of Art with a capital
'A', and the artist. Inclusion in this myth
is a prerequisite of being recognized and
those who are outside the major interna-
tional networks, which promote it, seek
to be included. The question for them is,
how to secure an introduction into the in-
formation networks and to attract the in-
terest of organizers, adjudicating panels
and selection committees who are tradi-
tionally more receptive to Western art?
How are these outsiders to be given a
chance to be seen? How can the antithesis
of centre and periphery, of dominant and
marginal art be overcome?How are works
of art whose cultural standards differ
from the prevailing standards of art laid
down by international reviews, institu-
tions, and the consensus of what are
essentially Western art circles to be
recognized, perceived or described?
Those attending the Venice Consulta-
tion emphazised the importance of the
circulation of works of art today in order
to create an awareness of the originality of
different cultures and the variety of what
is produced in response to highly varied
aesthetic criteria. "
Attempts to bring together items
representing different cultures come up
against difficulties with customs for-
malities, which are harmful if they hold
up works of art for days or weeks in un-
suitable conditions. There are also the
risks inherent in transport, unpacking
and storage in premises where security is
not always as good as that provided by a
museum. These are calculated risks which
have to be taken nevertheless, if there is
a genuine will to establish a direct rela-
tionship between the work of art and
the public, and to stimulate public
curiosity and awareness. No photograph,
reproduction or video image can ever take
the place of the original. The media serve
as vectors for information, not first-hand
knowledge. The curator, the dealer, the
artist and the organizer of the event are
all caught up in the same dilemma:
preservation versus public display. Con-
certed international action to improve
conditions is therefore essential, as sug-
gested in the ICOM study on the relations
between museums.z.The aim would be to
203
establish a network of biennial exhibi-
tions entitled to easier customs facilities,
a particularly difficult undertaking at
a time when it is increasingly vital to
strengthen security measures.
The press and the public
After production, dissemination and in-
formation comes the last link in the
chain, namely reception. This is at two
levels. There is the reception of the event
in the press and by the general public.
The press participates beforehand in in-
formation or dissemination, in the same
way as it subsequently conditions or
reflects public reaction. The art critic
publishes reviews in the press and serves
as an intermediary between a potential
public and the artist, his work and the
event which presents that work in a par-
ticular light, conferring on it a particular
status in a particular perspective. This
role is admittedly declining, since, in its
concern to increase readership, the press
tends, for purely economic reasons, to en-
dorse fashionable choices and aesthetic
canons which are further upheld by the
market and powerful patrons. Never-
theless, what is said and written about an
exhibition sets a course for the future and
2. As a follow-up to the recommendation
concerning the international exchange of cultural
property, adopted by the General Conference of
Unesco at its nineteenth session, Nairobi,
OctoberlNovember 1976.
204
induces changes of direction. In any case,
what remains of an exhibition, onse its
gates have closed and its works have been
dispersed anew, is its catalogue and the
press records: published reviews and
comment stand as documentation for the
future. l?rom them it will be possible to
judge the development of trends in art
over the years and the relative importance
of art events in that development. The
history of twentieth-century art and taste
is being written from one biennial exhibi-
tion to another.
In this context, the problem of
documentation, including the recording
of the ephemeral, data banks and access
to them, becomes a key question. The
recommendationsmade to Unesco by the
participants at the close ofthe 1985 COD-
sultation in Venice included the consti-
tution of documentation on biennid
exhibitions. There were also suggestions
for the provision of information and
awareness campaigns for new types of
public, with the establishment of educa-
tional structures in connection with bien-
nials and major exhibitions.
Any cultural activity nowadays sets out
to reach new types of public. This applies
very much to biennials, particularly those
relying on spectacular and large-scale ef-
fects, which obtain funding in propor-
tion to the number of visitors forecast.
In fact, it is virtually impossible to
identify the new sectors of the public
tapped by biennials and major interna-
tional events in contemporary art. These
vary with the type of event, both depend-
ing on whether it is a biennial or a fair
and on whether it is concerned with
sculpture, drawing, painting, video or
the visual arts in general. Young people
seem more responsive than their elders to
a type of art which they perceive as clearly
ART'I 7 8G.International Kunstmesse,
Basel (12 - 17 June 1986).
emanating from their familiar environ-
ment. Methods of approaching these sec-
tors ofthe public are based very much on
trial and error, and few surveys haw yet
been conducted to determine how effec-
tive they are.
A dynamic process is now beginning on
two fronts: thar of providing artists who
were previously excluded from them with
access to the major international net-
works, and that of opening up the way to
culture for those who still feel it to be
alien to their world. These were among
the final recommendations to Unesco at
the conclusion of the Venice Consulta-
tion, which also included suggestions for
prospecting new types of public and re-
evaluating the status and, role of the art
critic, together with practical proposals
such as modifcations to customs systems,
the creation of educational structures and
the provision of grants for artists who
have not yet attained an international
reputation, in particular young artists
from developing countries. All the 01-
ganizers and officials present agreed that
an inter-biennial publication should be
founded as an instrument of dissemina-
tion and information for the organizers
themselves, specialists, art lovers and
the press. Broad coverage would be given
to a consideration of the phenomenon
of biennials and major inrernational
exhibitions and the scope oftheir action.
As a follow-up to the twenty recom-
mendations made by all those par-
Hélène Lassade
ticipating in the June 1985 Consultation,
Unesco desided to finance a feasibility
study ofthe main projects proposed. The
co-ordination and implementation of the
study was entrusted to the Internationd
&%ociationof Art Critics (PAAC), with
the collaboration of the International
Association of Art (IAA). The first objec-
tive is a systematic survey of all biennials
and major international events: their
subject, periodicity, scale, financing and
dissemination methods, h e i r public,
publications, impact, and the like -
which will provide a complete picture to
be used as a basis for subsequent research.
It may be said that biennids and major
international exhibitions represent a
social phenomenon of our time and that
discussion of them is centped on infor-
mation and communication directed
rowards cultural c~nsumption rather
than the recognition of the value of art.
The key words are management and im-
pact, the latter being a particular form of
profitability. Biennials and major inter-
national events tend to be regarded as a
statement OP review of what has been pro-
duced. They are also seen as status sym-
bols which confers prestige on their locale
and gives publicity to their organizers,
the town or state sponsoring them and
the artists exhibited. They nevertheless
actively promote cultural inreraction in
regard both to creation and to the public.
Their spread and their success reveal one
of the most striking social phenomena of
recent years, comparable with the
development of museums. They testify to
a growing interest in culture at all levels
of political and social organization.
[ Transl'atedfrom French]

f from trweZLng exhibitions
to un informution centre
17
The cartoonist Staffan Lindén’s view of
Riksteatern, Rikskonserter and
Riksutställningar (the Swedish National
Touring Theatre, the Institute for National
Concerts and the Swedish Travelling
Exhibitions).They are the central
government organizations for spreading
culture to the remote parts of a sparsely
populated country and for involving new
groups in cultural activities.
Can art influence public opinion? That
was the question behind one of Riksut-
ställningar’s early experiments. A group
of young artists was commissioned to
put together an exhibition illustrating
Sweden’s relations with developing
countries. They created a series of en-
vironments Beaut#&’ Moments, which
were shown all over Sweden mainly in
museums, from 1968 to 1970. The ex-
hibition and its catalogue used an ag-
gressive and outspoken languaze. They
stimulated discussions all over the coun-
try and gave rise to political criticism from
both right and left. The circumstànces
surrounding this travelling exhibition are
described in Musezm, Vol. =III, No. 1,
1970171: ‘BeautzYuZ Moments: An Art
Exhibition with a Shock Effect’.
Is the museum the right place for a
political exhibition? Should an exhibi-
tion financed out of public funds to be
made a vehicle for political opinions?
These were two of the questions raised,
and they were finally brought before the
Swedish parliament, where they were
RikszctststäZZniztgtw:
answered by the late Olof Palme, then
Minister of Education and Culture.
Although himself portrayed in the ex-
hibition catalogue as a satyr, he had not
intervened in any way. In defending the
policy of showing this type of exhibition
even in museums, he took the opportuni-
t y to present an overall review of the
government’s cultural policy. He em-
phasized that it is essential democratic
practice ‘to support certain things which
one heartily dislikes’.
BeautzjU Momezts was Riksutställ-
ningar’s first and best known contribu-
tion to the development of the travelling
exhibition. It proved that an exhibition
can have considerable influence, especi-
ally when combined with printed
catalogues and study material and backed
up by activities, such as lectures, discus-
sions, theatre performances, work-shops.
In such a case, the exhibition opens up a
dialogue with its public, involves the
visitor and encourages social contacts.
Another type of travelling exhibitions
set up by Riksutställningar,was described
n
Ulla Keding Olofsson
Born in Stockholm in 1930. She has a Ph.D in
Comparative Literature and was a teacher for ten
years. With Riksutställningar since 1967, first as
pedagogical expert, later as head of production and
planning, she has been director of administration
since 1980. Member of ICOM’s Executive Council,
1971-74, and 1977-83. President of Sweden’s Na-
tional Committee for ICOM since 1986.
in MusezGm, Vol. XXXIII, No. 3, 1981.
These were exhibitions for and about dif-
ferent groups of handicapped people.
Riksutställningar started as a pilot pro-
ject in 1965 and was established in 1976
as a foundation, financed by the govern-
ment but with a great amount of freedom
(Fig. 17). At the same time, an overall
cultural policy for Sweden was for-
mulated and agreed upon by all political
parties. This cultural policy should:
Help protect freedom of expression and
create genuine opportunities to utilize
this freedom.
Provide people with the chance to carry
out their own creative activities and en-
courage contacts between people.
Counteract the negative effects of com-
mercialism in the cultural sphere.
Further a decentralization of activities
and decision-making functions in the
cultural sphere.
Be designed with regard to the experi-
ences and needs of disadvantaged
groups.
Facilitate artistic and cultural innovation.
206 Ulla Keding Olofsson

Guarantee that the cultural heritages of
earlier periods are preserved and kept
alive.
Further the exchange of experience and
ideas in the cultural sphere over
linguistic and national boundaries.
As one of the instmments for this policy,
hiiksutställningar often worl<s in co-
operation with other producers of travell-
ing exhibitions-museums, art galleries,
organizations, groups. Riksutställnin-
gar’scontribution to the turther develop-
ment of the travelling exhibition has
been in three main areas, pedagogical,
artistic and technical: Pedagogical by in-
troducing more interactive and process-
oriented exhibitions, which encourage
participation, the exhibition as a
teaching aid; Artistic by involving xtists
in designing exhibitions to make them
more attractive, effective and influential;
Technical by developing small kits and
medium-sized travelling exhibitions.
New, lighter and stronger materials, con-
stmctions allowing quick and easy moun-
ting and dismounting have made the
travelling exhibirion a much more eEi-
cient and less costly medium of corn-
munication than it used to be.
In 1986, twenty years after, the work of
Riksutställningar is being scrutinized by
&e Swedish Council of Culture, in con-
nection with a study of the national
museums and Riksutstdlningar in rela- was organized in co-operation with the
tion to the ~ h d museum
e community of School of Arts, Crafts and Design. This
Sweden. With a well developed and was a ficst step towards more systematized
strong system of local and regional efforts to organize training for different
museums, the time has come to re- categories of staff within the museum
evaluate the division of labour among the and exhibition fields.
actors on the museum scene. Providing new groups of people with
Which roles will Riksutstdlningar play access to exhibitions will SO be an im-
in the future? It will probably concen- portant part of Riksutstdlningar’s work
trate its efforts more systematically on in the future and the present division of
fields which are not covered by others; services and counselling for non-pro-
such a§ the pfQductiQnof small and fessional groups will be maintained, and
medium-sized art exhibitions. There are continue to help young people, the un-
still many communities in Sweden, employed and immigrants.
where the inhabitants never have the op- Findly, there are plans to build up an
portunity to see good art exhibitions and information centre for sravelling exhibi-
artists are still &e most disadvantaged tions. This might be a centre for the col-
m o n g the cultUra1 workers. lection and dissemination of experiences
It is also important to develop methods and ideas, as well as exhibition catalogues
which allow larger groups of people to and study material. It might also seme as
come into contact with the big, expensive a centre for the promotion of exhibition
travelling exhibitions, which have exchange -nationally and international-
become an essentid factor of interna- ly. With the use of computer technology,
t i o d culturd exchange. To this end, such a cenm could easily be linked with
smaller satellite exhibitions may be set up other institutions, such as the Unesco-
with copies of artefacts, or sometimes I C ODocumentation
~ Centre.
even originals 01 audio-visual techniques The results of the study being carried
may be used. out on national museums were to be
Training is another field in which published during the summer o% 1986
Riksutstiillningar is in growing demand. and the government was tQ take a
A certain m o u n t of training has been of- number of decisions about their future
fered and in 1985 - 86 the first post- and that of Riksutstiillningar towards the
graduate course for exhibition designers end of the year. H

ibitio

~ t e i Westerlu~a
~a
Born in 1948 in Stockholm, Sweden. MA.at the
University of Uppsala (French, English, linguistics)
and the University of Stockholm (art history).
Teacher at the University of Madison, Wisconsin,
United States, 1974. Since 1976, employed at
Riksutställningar (Swedish Travelling Exhibitions),
currently in charge of public relations, information
and press, study programmes and conferences. Co-
editor of the annual catalogue and the quarterly
bulletin Pà G&g. Contributed to the book
Mzueums and Children published by Unesco in
1979. Secretary of the Swedish National Committee
of ICOM.
Riksutstdlningar , the Swedish Travelling
Exhibitions Centre, is a state-mn founda-
tion wirh pojitical and cultural respon-
sibilities. Riksutstdhingar organizes
both travelling d i b i t i o n s of its own and
tours for exhibitions arranged by other
organizations. In addition, by providing
advice and technical assistance, it en-
courages special interest groups to express
themselves through the medium of ex-
hibitions.
Riksutställningar was founded as an
experimental unit in 1965 as a part ofthe
cultural policies which had led to the for-
mation of Riksteatern (The National
Touring Theatre) and Rikskonserter (The
Institute for National Concerts). In 1976,
RiksutstPllningar became a permanent
organization under the jurisdiction of the
bPepartanentofEducation,which allocates
the h n d s fob its activities (for h e budget
year 1985186, 19,327,000 Swedish lrro-
nor, or approximatelyUS$2.8 million).
N ~ commge~ ~ ~
Exhibitions are organized in collabora-
tion with schools, libraries, municipal
arts councils, adult education organiza-
tions and various specid interest groups
throughout the country- and such
groups provide the suggestions and ideas
for hture exhibitions. In other words,
any body 06 private individual may send
in suggestions; and they do, at a rate of
about two hundred a year.
Twenty years of travelling exhibitions
Recipients
Once arranged, the exhibitions are sent
on tour for a year or more to the various
bodies and organizations which order
them; each exhibition remaining for at
least a fortnight in any one place. The
main recipients during the 1984185
budget year were: schools (45 per cent);
libraries and cultural committees (30 per
cent); adult education organizations (4
per cent); museums and art galleries (6
per’cent); and miscellaneous recipients,
such as workplaces, hospitals, the
’people’s halls’ and ‘people’s amuse-
ment parks’ affiliated to the labour
movement, etc. (15 per cent).
Szcbjects
A breakdown of the subjects dealt with
over a five-year period comes out roughly
as follows: cultural historylsocial af-
fairslinformation, 33 per cent; art/han-
dicrafts, 33 per cent; exhibitions design-
ed primarily for schools, children and
young people, 27 per cent; natural
science/ technology/the environment, 7
per cent;
TWO
hundred exhìbìtions
on tour each year
During the first twenty years of its ex-
istence, Riksutstdlningar has co-ordinat-
ed nearly 2,000 different projects, not all
exhibitions, with new projects being
completed at a rate of about 50 a year. Of
n -
these, 10 or so are taken over from other
organizations. At the same time, many of
the exhibitions put together during pre-
vious years continue to circulate, making
a total of some 200 exhibitions travelling
throughout Sweden in any one year.
All exhibitions are planned, research-
ed, designed and put together at Riks-
utställningar’s headquarters in Stock-
holm, where the technical facilities
include a large carpentry and metalwork-
ing shop and a black-and-white photo-
graphic laboratory. There are about sixty
staff, who work in close collaboration
with free-lance artists, designers, educa-
tional experts and other specialists in the
subject with which the exhibition will be
dealing. The size of the exhibitions varies
considerably, ranging from one square
metre to as many as two hundred.
At Riksutställningar there is no such
thing as a standard exhibition for new
forms and materials are constantly being
tested and tried, including the use of
new, lightweight structures and such
media as films and audio-visual aids.
Most exhibitions are sent on tour unac-
companied, with transport being handl-
ed by rail or freight companies. When
they arrive at their destination, exhibi-
tions are claimed, unpacked and
mounted by the recipient and, once over,
are repacked and sent to their next
destination (Figs. 18 - 20).
Custo~z-aesìgneapac~ìng
cases
Exhibitions are not only individually
designed; they are individually packed,
in specially manufactured crates made to
measure for each exhibition. All crates
have casters, handles, locks and collapsi-
ble sides and are designed to take up the
minimum of space when stored. Interiors
are custom-built to protect the exhibition
material. Each crate is assigned a title and
marked with its weight, number and
207
cubic measure; and each contains detail-
ed packing instructions. Prototypes are
developed at Riksutställningar , especially
if this involves the use of unfamiliar
materials and the final product is ordered
from a specialist manufacturer.
Well in advance of the date for which
they have ordered the exhibition, the
recipients are sent a comprehensive in-
troductory file containing all the printed
matter needed for the exhibition-
posters, catalogues, handouts, etc. The
file also contains press material, moun-
ting instructions, suggestions about how
to organize lectures, film shows, debates,
local exhibitions, etc., and instructions
on how to arrange transport to the next
venue.
Only a few exhibitions-mostly art ex-
hibitions or those with specially built ‘en-
vironments’-are transported in Riks-
utställningar’s own vehicles, in which
case technicians and other members of
the stafftravel with the exhibition to help
with assembly. Every other year or so an
exhibition is actually installed in one of
the lorries, which is then sent on a tour of
the provinces. Two examples of recent ex-
hibitions of this type are Falling Employ-
ment in the Swedirh Glass Industry and
The Life of Children at the Turn ofthe
Century, which toured some of the
northern provinces.
An important part of Riksutstdl-
ningar’s work, not discussed in this article
as it does not usually result directly in
travelling exhibitions, is assistance to
study circles, clubs, trade union organiza-
tions, environmental bodies and other
special interest groups. This assistance
may take the form of purely practical
technical advice, material aid or help
with financing.
18-20
How to make a rotten exhibition. . .
20s Stella Westerlund

In addition, a special consultancy ser-

vice is being developed for museums, to
give technical advice on the design and
production of showcases, exhibition pro-
totypes and the development of perma-
nent museum exhibitions. Phorographic
enlargements and mountings can already
be ordered at cost from Riksutställ-
ningar’s workshops.
The secretariat of the Swedish Museum
Association is located at Riksutställ-
ningar, as was for several years the
secretariat ofthe Swedish National ICOM
Committee.

A few examples of the exhibitions pro-

duced by Riksutställningar have been
chosen to give some idea oftheir themes,
scope, design and overall aims. They in-
clude a small-sized art exhibition for
hospitals, a series of study kits on ecology
for kindergartens, an exhibition p r ~ -
viding an educational study kit for
21
The ‘Green Box’ series of study material on
ecology. Each of the seven boxes presents an
animal -here the mole -illusrrating i t 5
life in its natural environment.

22
The exhibition Who is Samafiom Ghana?
recreated the home of a 9-year-old girl in
Ghana. Ir was supplemented by study
kits.

23
In the Footsteps of Fredrika, presenting rhe
Swedish author and champion of social
rights, Fredrika Bremer, and the Swedish
Women’s Liberauon Association, is shown
by schools and libraries. A system of folding
screens forms a pillar with a built-in
showcase displaying original objects.
Twenty years of travelling exhibitions
schools, a small exhibition for libraries,
an arts and crafts exhibition designed for
African art museums, an art show acting
as its own exhibition premises, and two
large-scale exhibitions, one on applied
art displayed in showcases, the other, re-
quiring special ‘environments’, designed
to stimulate debate on the development
of technology.
‘Smadd is beautzj5uZ’
The smallest travelling exhibitions re-
quire only a few square metres of space.
For example, an exhibition at present
travelling to hospitals and maternity
wards is a series of graphic prints on
childbearing and childbirth seen from a
woman’s point of view. In the form of a
large book on a stand, it is lit by
spotlights and creates a space for private
contemplation and study.
A further example of small-scale pro-
ductions are the ‘Green Kits’, which pro-
vide study material on ecology for
kindergartens and schools (Fig. 21).
There are seven kits in all, each in three
copies and dealing with familiar animals
such as the hedgehog, viper and field
mouse-some of which are on the verge
of extinction. Each kit shows an animal
(stuffed) in its natural environment and
describes its daily life and activities.Judg-
ing by requests from schools, this is one
of our most successful products.
fihibition and stadJ &iton ~b~~~
W h o is Samafrom Ghana? is the title of
an exhibition and a series of study kits
produced in 1976 in collaboration with
209
UNICEF and The Swedish International incorporating a built-in showcase dis-
Development Authority (SIDA). The playing original objects (Fig. 23).
aim is to give Swedish children between The first part of the exhibition deals
the ages of 7 and 14 the‘opportunity of with Fredrika Bremer’s life (1801-64),
getting to know a child in a Third World her literary achievements, her travels to
country in the light of their own ex- both the New World (the United States)
periences. The exhibition attempts to and the Old, her social commitment and
recreate the home of a 9 year-old girl in her fight for women’s freedom and
Ghana and to give an account of her day- values. The second part deals with the
to-day life. All exhibits are everyday ar- Swedish Women’s Liberation Associa-
ticles, such as household utensils, toys, tion, which takes its name from her, and
etc., and can be handled by the visitors with its aims, developments and aspira-
(Fig. 22). tions. The exhibition was staged in 1984
This exhibition also includes four kits to coincide with the centenary of the
intended for schools; the contents of the Association. Whenever the exhibition is
kits are sufficiently flexible to enable on show in libraries, books by Fredrika
them to be used in a classroom situation Bremer are displayed for loan and special
and include study guides and other programmes are organized by the local
material for the teacher. women’s associations.
Suggestionsforproducingeducational An English version of the first part of
kits of this nature are presented in the the exhibition has been commissioned by
booklet Kit- What is That? produced the Swedish Institute. This is currently on
by Riksutställningar and published by tour in the United Kingdom and the
the ICOM Education Committee’s United States, where it will later be on
Working Party on Kits in 1973. The crea- permanent display at the Museum of
tion of the Ghana exhibition and the Swedish History in Philadelphia.
work subsequently involved with both
the exhibition and kit are described in the ‘CreativeSweden
article ‘Who is Sama from Ghana?’ pu-
blished in the No. 8, 1977178 issue of Creative Sweden is an exhibition illu-
ICOM Edzlcation. strating present trends in Swedish han-
dicraft and design and embraces
(1. F ~ofFredrxa ~ 9 ~ everything
~ from~ traditional
~ arts and. crafts ~
to modern industrial design. One of its
This exhibition of 35 square metres on ambitions is to illustrate how new forms
Fredrika Bremer, the Swedish author and of handicraft and design can be
champion of social rights, is typical of the developed on the basis of traditions. Pro-
small-sized exhibition suitable for duced by Svensk Form (the Swedish
schools and libraries. One of Riksutställ- Society of Crafts and Design) in col-
ningar’s own technicians designed a laboration with Riksutställningar, the ex-
system of folding screens to form a pillar hibition was put together for a tour of ,
Southern Africa organized by the
Swedish Institute, the first venue being
the National Gallery at Harare in
Zimbabwe.
The exhibition was designed to display
the works freely without showcases -
using an ingeniously simple system of
beechwood stands and (for textiles)
screens. The whole is designed to fit into
a single small unit and packs down into
crates. Once crated, the artefacts making
up the exhibition are prptected by linings
of soft foam rubber (Fig. 24 (a), (b), (c),
(41 (e), (QI-
‘Facesof Drought’
Faces of Drozlght is an exhibition of
photographs taken in Ethiopia by the in-
ternationally acclaimed, South African-
born photographer Peter Magubane.
From the photographs originally com-
 stt Westerhad

missioned by UNICEF, fifty colour prints

were selected to illustrate the situation of
farmers and nomads who have been ~ Q K -
ed by the drought to abandon their
homes and go on foot to Camp§in VSiOUS
parts of Ethiopia. The exhibition also
depicts aid programmes run by the Red
Cross and the UNWCR to provide
refugees with cattle to help them tQstart
a new life.
As is the case with most of Riksutställ-
ningar's exhibitions, it was arranged in
co-operation with a number of Swedish
organizations: Afro-Art, The Swedish
Africa Groups, The Scandinavian Hn-
stitute for African Studies, The Swedish
section of the VV~rldLutheran Piedera-
tion, The Swedish Save &e Children
Fund, The Swedish Red C~QSS, The
Swedish UNICEP Committee, The
Swedish International Development
A), which provided finan-
cial backing, and Vi, the weekly
magazine of the Co-operative Move-
ment, which first published Peter
Magubme's photographs in Sweden.
These organizations have all con-
tributed to the catalogue with articles on
their Bd programmes in drought-stricken
Africa. Their local representatives have
also helped in the organizing of program-
mes and subscriptions, all dong the route
of the exhibition. It opened in January
1985, at the House of Culture in
Sto&olm and is currently touring
Swedish S C ~ O Olibraries
~ S , and museums.
It is fully booked for dmost four years.
The Swedish section of the World
Lutheran Federation has commissioned
its own copy ofthe exhibition, sending it
on tour to its regional representatives all
over Sweden.

This is a somewhat unusual art exhibition

which is transported in Riksutställ-
ningar's own vans and mounted by QUI
own st&. The original idea was put for-
e
ward by the Ddalecdia County Museum,

24 (a-f)
Exhibition designer Björn Ed dismounting
the exhibition Creative Sweden, which
illustrates current Swedish trends in
handicraft and design, produced for touring
in Southern Africa. Beechwood stands and
screens are designed to form a single unit,
and the works of ceramics and glass pack
f down into crates lined with foam rubber.
Twenty years of travelli7?~exhibitions 211

which houses a collection of the works of
Johan Ahlbäck. Ahlbäck himself was
employed at the local rolling mill and for
many years portrayed the life and social
conditions of his fellow workers.
The County Museum, which itself pro-
duces a good number of travelling exhibi-
tions for the region, also did the design.
This takes the form of a large room (50
square metres) with an angled ceiling;
the interior is dark, and spotlights are us:
ed to display the gouaches, drawings and
photographs kept permanently mounted
on the walls. A selection of Ahlbäck’s
graphic production is displayed on the
whitewashed exterior walls. The exhibi-
tion also includes a 50-minute film on
Ahlbäck and his life originally made for
Swedish television.
As this exhibition serves as it own ex-
hibition premises, it also solves the prob-
lem of finding a suitable venue. It has
already visited over twenty different
places in Sweden and is put on show in
‘people’s halls’ in collaboration with the
Association of People’s Halls affiliated to
the Swedish Labour Movement.
loan from museums and private collec-
tions, are displayed in the upper parts of
the showcases and pack down into the
lower, which are provided with specially
designed compartments lined with foam
rubber. Each case is on casters, and the
entire exhibition is transported in
Riksutställningar’s own van.
‘Machine Power Technokogy
and Woriing Co~ditions’
The aim of this exhibition is to stimulate
debate on technological progress and
changing working conditions. Examples
are taken from the weaving industry. The
exhibition comprises seven specially built
‘environmental’ rooms, with a total sur-
face area of 200 square metres, il-
lustrating: the hand loom, 1800-50; the
advent of new technology towards the
turn of the century; the weaving loom,
1870-99; the automatic loom o f , the
1930s; the time and motion loom of the
1940s; the computer-controlled loom,
1977- ; and the future. Three rooms
contain model looms which the public
can operate to see how the number of
wefts has increased from 14 per minute in
the early hand loom to 14,000 in today’s
computer-controlled machine and what
this implies in terms of changed working
conditions for the individual worker (Fig.
26).
A number of artists were employed to
create the machine models and factory
environments (Fig. 27). There are in-
troductory films, and guided tours round
the exhibitions. Foreign-language ver-
sions of the tour have been recorded on

‘Form and Tradition in Sweden ’

At 200 square metres, this is one of the
largest exhibitions. Its theme is han-
dicrafts and the applied arts in Sweden
over the last hundred years, and, presen-
ting as it does an exhibition of ideas as
they charge over time, it is designed to
place present-day Swedish handicrafts
and applied arts in an historical perspec-
tive (Fig. 25).
The exhibits are displayed in twenty
showcases and cover the period from the
1880s to the present day. Each display
depicts an epoch, with a colour scheme
typical of the period. An empty showcase
is provided for local exhibitions. The con-
cept and design of the exhibition are the
work of Gunilla Palmstierna-Weiss, a
scenographer famous for her collabora-
tion with Ingmar Bergman in theatrical
productions. The objects themselves, on

25
One of twenty showcases in Form and
Tradition in Sweden presenting the last
hundred years of Swedish handicrafts and
applied arts. For transport the objects
displayed in the upper part of the showcase
pack down into the lower part, protected by
specially designed compartments.
212
tape for the benefit of foreign visitors to
the exhibition. The exhibition has visited
twenty-five difiesent places in Sweden
and has also been shown in Denmark,
Finland and Nomay.
screens @Bad§howc@se$
for .§@le
Riksutställningar also offers a variety of
materials for those who wish to mount
their own exhibitions. For example, there
is a standardized system of screens of
white cormgated cardboard which are in-
expensive and come complete with in-
structions on use and ideas for display. A
wooden showcase is also available with its
own metal stand and travelling crare. A
prototype has already been developed,
and additions are being made all the
time. With its folding doors, drawers,
electrical fittings and plexiglass front,
this case is particularly suitable f5r
museums wishing to arrange tours of
27
Riksutställningar’s workshop whese six
exhibition technicians out of a total staff of
about sixty people are working.
material from their own collections (Fig.
28); and Riksutställningar also uses it for
some twenty-odd exhibitions of its own,
primarily intended for public premises,
libraries, hospitals, etc. The showcase
makes it possible to display a specific
WO&of art, an artistic technique, the
work of a single artist 01 items selected
from museum collections.
Riksutställningar publishes an annual
catalogue listing dl the travelling exhibi-
tions on tour. It also puts out På gbng i
gtstäiiningssvenge,which appears in four
issues a year. A number of booklets have
also been published, such as How to
NaLe a Rotten Exhibition, 1971, third
revised edition 1978; Kit- W h a t is
That?, 1973, also available in French,
German, Spanish and Russian, publish-
ed by the ICOM Working Party on Kits;
28
For museums wanting to make their own
small travelling exhibitionswith objects
from their collections, Riksutställningar
offers this wooden showcase with folding
doors, drawers and electrical fittings. There
is also a collapsible crate for transports.
SteLLa Westerhnd
26
Sketch of the exhibitionNachine Power
and its seven specially built rooms,
illustrating the technological progress and
changing working conditions with the
weaving industry as example, from the
hand-loom of the early nineteenth century
to the computer-controlled loom of the
1970s and the future. (Drawing by Britta
Kleen).
and Going to Exhibitions,second edition
1980, written and edited by Ulla Arnell,
Inger Hammer and GSran NylQf.
There are also books on the exhibition
as a medium for experience and know-
ledge, e.g. Utstdiningssflråk (‘Exhibi-
tion Language’), written by Giiran
Carlsson and Per-Uno Agren, which deals
with exhibitions at museums, and Ut-
stZ&ingsboken (‘TheExhibitionBook’),
written by Harriet Clayhills, which gives
examples of the renewal of the exhibition
as a medium and describes exhibitions
put together by amateur groups, artists
and people wishing to formulate an idea
of their own, with the aim of corn-
municating their experience a specific
message.
Since 1968 Riksutställningar has been
holding regular public seminars and dis-
cussions on a wide variety of topics, rang-
ing from cultural policy and artistic train-
ing to exhibition methodology and
techniques. In 1982, a series of three
seminars was arranged in collaboration
with a number of Stockholm art mu-
seums on the theme ‘Att Visa Monst’
(How to Show Art). In 1984 2nd 1985, a
series of seminars dealt with ‘How to Ex-
hibit Archaeology’ and ‘How to Exhibit
Nature’. Guest speakers are also invited
from abroad. In the spring of 1983 Bernie
Zubrawski of the Boston Children’s
Museum was asked to lead a seminar on
children and physics and introduce his
method of blowing bubbles to a Swedish
audience ofchildrèn, students, scientists,
teachers and museum staff. As a result, a
Bubble Exhibition is now on tour in
Sweden.
 LOOKINGBACK ON A
TEMPORARY EXHIBITION
The L+iitìcurzCollectiom: The Pupucy ami Art
Walter Persegati
Born in 1920 in Verona. Degree in economics and
business. Studies in sociology, public relations and
languages. Assistant Permanent Observer for the
Holy See to the Food and Agriculture Organization
from 1958 to 1969. In 1970-71, Ofice Manager,
Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace,
Vatican City. Secretary General and Treasurer of the
Vatican Museums and Art Galleries, Vatican City
since 1971. Frequent travels in Europe and the
United States in connection with activities of
Catholic organizations. Publications: newspaper
and periodical articles on museum management,
security, personnel and statistics on Catholic youth
organizations and on migration.
The fact that the Vatican Museums allow-
ed 237 works of art leave the tiny City-
State for a temporary exhibition
thousands of miles away, for a period of
about fourteen months in 1983184,is ex-
traordinary; an event that would have
been inconceivable just a few years
earlier.
After the Pietà was sent to New York in
1965, not a single piece of art left the
Vatican Museums or any other Vatican
institution for more than a decade.
PopeJohn XXIII is said to have opened
the windows of the Church on to the
world. It might be said that Pope Paul VI
opened the windows of the Vatican
Museums in recognizing that a museum
is not a living one without a contem-
porary art section. Pope John Paul II not
only kept all the windows open but he
also opened some of our doors, allowing
the first important Vatican exhibition to
leave our tiny state and land in the
United States for showing in New York,
Chicago and San Francisco.
It was our first experience of this kind.
We felt a tremendous responsibility and
we wanted everything to be done to
perfection. We did not want and could
not take chances. Our requirements with
the organizers of the exhibition were ex-
ceptionally strict and not one member of
our technical and curatorial staff was
allowed to sleep on unsolved problems or
overlooked possibilities.
The ordeal started in late 1979 and
ended in March 1984 and what happened
during that period is the subject of this
chronicle which is written not to give an
example of how things should be done,
but to put on record the determination,
the ability, the imagination, the
resourcefulness, the faith and the good
fortune of hundreds of people who work-
ed exceptionally hard for four years to
make The Vatican Co¿¿ections: The
Papacy a n d A r t a safe and worthy pursuit
of a dream, a most enjoyable spiritual ex-
perience.
From the first contacts to
the signing of the agreement
At the end of 1979, the idea of mounting
a modest archaeological exhibition of ob-
jects from the Vatican Museums in small
cities in the United States was put for-
. ward. A simple message: art is a docu-
ment of man's striving to be, in the im-
age of God, a creator; a collection of art
spanning centuries is an extremely
precious document of the history and life
of the human race; Popes collected these
documents and the Vatican Museums
have been preserving and caring for them
since 1503.
Small cities where big exhibitions are
rare were to have been chosen. It became
immediately apparent, however, that: (a)
the effort to organize such an exhibition
and the risks involved would not be less
than those of producing a larger, even
more significant one; (b) even in small
cities a small exhibition cannot be suc-
cessful without important works of art;
(c) if the Vatican Museums wanted to
send a message, such a message had to be
strong and clear.
Our choice, therefore, was between
holding an important exhibition or no
exhibition at all and for this reason, in
February 1980, after some preparatory
work we began discussions of a possible
exhibition with the Director of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York. We considered this one of the best
2 14
1. The key points of the protocol were:
Provisional title of the exhibition;
The maximum number of venues of the
exhibition (three);
The approximate dates of departure from the
Vatican and return of the works of art;
A very tentative list of works of art;
Basic security, safety and conservation procedure
required by the lender and accepted by the
borrower;
The financial contribution to be paid to the
lender to cover the expenses for preventive
conservation works on the art objects in
preparation for the exhibition and organizing
the loan;
Basic requirements regarding packing and
shipping, and the choice of the agents
effecting them;
Provisions regarding couriers and the presence of
Vatican curators and technicians at all
movements of the works and of a Vatican
Museums representative at all time;
Compensation of such personnel and
reimbursement to the Vatican for the salary of
'such persons during their involvement in the
exhibition in and outside the Vatican;
Agreement about the basic publications to be
produced by the borrower, the authors of the
texts and the control of the lender over such
texts;
Provisions for producing and selling
reproductions of the works of art on the
premises of the borrowing museums;
Royalties;
Insurance provisions, legal protection and
approximate date for the signing of the final
contract;
Acceptability of sponsor; by the Vatican.
2. In addition to the points covered by the
draft protocol, the final agreement included the
following
Name of the two participating museums agreed
upon and terms of the agreement between
them and the Metropolitan Museum;
Details regarding the insurance coverage;
Details about packing; overseas and domestic
transportation;
Details about security arrangements;
Schedule of payments to the Vatican Museums;
The force majelcre clause;
Schedule of arrivals and departures;
Final list of the exhibition items and listing of
the insurance values;
Clauses about indemnity and immunity from
seizure;
Travel and per-diem expenses;
Details about publications, reproductions and
adaptations; photography, texts, captions;
Provisions for audio-tours:
Details about television rights;
Schedule for payment of royalties by the three
museums;
Arrangements for opening events;
Provisions for arbitration;
Procedure for appointing the Vatican Museums
representative at the exhibition;
Provisions that the works of art could not be
restored, disassembled, altered in any way
without the specific authorization by the
Vatican Museums.
~ ~ ~ ~
museological organizations in the world,
well equipped, both technically and
curatorially, to handle difficult loans.
After the first contacts, both parties
quickly started to assess each other, mak-
ing wish lists on one side, and erecting
protecrive fences on the other. The list of
works was to include the mpst beautiful
and important pieces that safety, conser-
vation, security, technical means,
available funds and organizational ability
would allow with minimal risks, not
much bigger than those a work of art is
subjected to in its normal place ofexhibi-
tion. All these elements had therefore to
be analyzed by both parties before put-
ting commitments on paper. All large
panel paintings and particularly delicate
sculptures and other pieces were excluded
on principle.
Both the Metropolitan Museum of Art
and the Vatican Museums did their
homework, and discussions at the first
and basic meeting of the top manage-
ment of both pasties at the Vatican in
July, 1980 were lively. A draft protocol
was signed at the meeting' and after the
signing, the Director of the Metropolitan
Museum was able to draw up an agree-
ment with the two museums par-
ticipating: the Chicago Art Institute and
the San Francisco Museum of Pine Arts.
In the meantime, the Metropolitan
Museum Vice-President for Finance and
the Vice-President for Publications
discussed with the Vatican Museums all
details concerning the production and
sale of publications and reproductions,,
percentages, conditions of sales and all
other financial commitments.
For practical purposes and for stricter
control over the implementation of all
clauses of the agreement, the Metropoli-
tan Museum of Art was made the sole
party responsible for transportation, safe-
ty and security of the loan from the time
the W O ~ left
~ S their original place of ex-
hibition or deposit to the time of their
return. The museums ofchicago and §an
Francisco would in turn, make agree-
ments with the Metropolitan Museum
about their share of responsibility.
Immediately after signing the draft
protocol, the Vatican Museums proceed-
ed to assess the insurance value of each
piece on the wish list. How? The princi-
ple seemed to be simple: the amount of
money that would be needed to acquire
another work of art of equal importance.
This however, is meaningless.How could
we find another Apollo Belvedere or
another Leonardo? The tendency is to pur
the value incredibly high. CPCten, private
Walter Persegati
owners take great pride In the fact that
borrowing museum insure their works for
very large sums. There seems to be no
ceiling and insurance fees consequently
make exhibitions more and more expen-
sive. We did the assessment in perfect ac-
cord with the borrowing Museum, on the
basis of what some key works could be
sold for at auction. The evaluation of the
other pieces was done proportionatelf.
At the same time, the Vatican
Museums secured from PopeJohn Paul II
the needed authorization to make the
loan, not an easy decision, considering
the importanceof the works of art and the
absence of any precedent.
During the summer and autumn,
drafts of the final agreement went back
and forth between New YO& and the
Vatican City and finally, after much work
by lawyers and managers, the agreement
was signed on 8 November 198Q.2
Immediately after the signing of the pro-
tocol our conservation laboratories
started working on the works of art:
sculptures, tapestries, ancient textiles,
paintings, bronzes, ceramics.
The work carried out was not done for
aesthetic reasons only. In addition to
cleaning, it included strenghtening the
works of at to reduce the stress of travel,
and sometimes restoration.
All stone statues passed through the
conservation laboratory either to be
cleaned by immersion or showerbath, or
to be X-rayed for hidden cracks or
damage, or for restoration when needed.
As a precaution, casts to be exhibited in
place of the originals were made of the
twenty-one most important sculptures.
The first work to undergo restoration
was the Apollo Belvedere. This was
necessary because, as a result of previous
interventions, the statue had lost its
balance and was leaning forward. It had
to be steadied by an iron rod f ï e d in the
wall of the niche. Wide cracks were also
evident in all previously restored areas.
This was due to the swelling of rusty iron
rods with which the various parts of the
statue were held in place. The heavily
rusted iron brace joining the right leg to
the lateral support, in the form of a tree
m n k , presented particular problems.
The restoration done by four people took
~ W Qmonths (see box 1).
Five frescoes underwent complex
restoration. The Masic Adding Angels by
Melozzo da Forli were still attached to the
The Vatican Col'Lections: The Pabucv a n d Art
heavy mortar to which they had been fix-
ed. They were taken from the Basilica of
the Holy Apostles in Rome, during
restructuring in 1711. They could not
travel in those conditions and were
therefore transferred to new supports and
restored. (See box 2.)
Most of the Greek and Etruscan vases,
often badly restored in the past, were
disassembled and reassembled using
reversible glues. The lacunae were refill-
ed using neutral colours in accordance
with the modern concepts of restoration.
Bronzes were cleaned using new equip-
ment acquired for the occasion. The
cleaning of some pieces brought to light
remarkable discoveries. For example, an
Etruscan bronze disk with the mask of
Acheloos revealed eyes of unsuspected
beauty. (See box 3 . )
The tapestries underwent careful
cleaning. For safety reasons and for better
results, particularly for the huge tapestry
The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, after
a cartoon by Raphael, our laboratory was
equipped with a new stainless steel tub
and with a hoisting and drying rig. After
cleaning, which brought out the splen-
dour of the colours and the brilliance of
the silver threads, the damaged parts
were restored with great patience and
care. A new backing was sewn on and a
strip of Velcro was applied horizontally at
the top to equalize the stress on the
tapestry when hung for exhibition.
The black layer of paint that had been
applied to the Bernini and Algardi ter-
racotta models in the past was cleaned off
to reveal their hidden beauty and a return
to the warm feeling of 'just finished' by
the artist.
Silver and gold vessels and candelabra
were cleaned, protected and strengthen-
ed. Vestments were relined, restored,
cleaned and brought back to their original
breathtaking splendour. Eleven paintings
on canvas were restored and many were
relined. Some of the results were par-
ticularly exciting. Five small panel paint-
ings underwent treatment. They were
checked for any anomaly on the colour sur-
face. All treatments and corrections were
executed to secure stability of conditions
and to improve readability. The conserva-
tion condition of the support was checked.
When necessary, the cradle was repaired
or replaced with a new, custom designed
one, either in wood or in stainless steel,
or both; self lubricating layers of Teflon
were used.
The panel paintings, which are most
sensitive to relative humidity changes
presented a very complex problem. The
panels which had been kept in the
Pinacoteca for more than fifty years were
in sound condition, despite the lack of air
conditioning and we recorded the climatic
conditions during the period February
1981-January 1982. Due to the
thickness of the walls the building buf-
fered temperature changes very well. Pro-
tectionfrom RHchangewhich, during the
period of one year had extremes of 45 per
cent and 65 per cent was less effective. The
changes, however, were slow. The yearly
average was 57 per cent. In order to adapt
our requirements to averages more easily
and constantly secured in the three
American museums, we stipulated that
the RH inside the sealed show cases should
be between 50 per cent and 55 per cent
knowing that in those conditions our
panel paintings did not suffer. In fact, for
most of the year in the Pinacoteca the
minimum was 45/48 per cent and the
maximum 55/65 per cent.
At the time of packing, the RH in the
Pinacoteca was 62 per cent and the panels
were therefore brought to exhibition con-
dition by being introduced with the
packing material (wood, padding, shock
absorbant and buffering material -silica
gel) into acclimatization chambers
where, gradually, the RH was brought
from 62 per cent to 54 per cent. This took
between two and three weeks and the
panel paintings were then ready for
packing.
The following new pieces of equip-
ment were secured and installed in our
conservation laboratory:
A fumigation chamber.
An environmental chamber for creating
different climatic conditions.
An air abrasive unit to remove accretions
from bronzes and terracottas.
An ultrasonic tank for cleaning mineral
incrustations.
Soft X-ray machine for the paintings and
a hard X-ray one for small sculptures
and bronzes.
An atomic absorption spectrophotometer
for analyses of the mineral content of
colour specks.
A precision cutter ISOMET for exposing
a flat surface or specks of colour im-
bedded in resin cubes, and a polisher
for same.
An infrared camera with monitor for
deep observation of the surface of
paintings.
A micro-processor for analyses of gases;
Special equipment for ultraviolet, in-
frared and sodium vapour photo-
graphs.
X-ray diffraction apparatus to analyse in-
organic crystalline matter.
. 215
Preparatory activities at the Vatican
Museums and at the receiving
museums
Other. activities took place very early in
preparation for the exhibition. The, en-
tries for the catalogue were prepared.
This is one of the most exiting and rewar-
ding aspects of a temporary exhibition:
there are research, studies, and exchanges
of knowledge that would never have been
attempted without the pressure of an im-
portant catalogue to prepare for a .
deadline. Unfortunately, circumstancès
prevented us from including in the
cataloguea short chapter on the conserva-
tion activities that the preparation of the
loan had required and which are the sub-
ject here. Such a chapter would have
made the public aware of a very impor-
tant aspect of any exhibition that is not
generally known.
In the meantime, the Metropolitan
Museum was preparing the publication
of the catalogue and the books il-
lustrating the exhibition and the Vatican
Museums. The entries and every word to
be printed were checked by the Vatican
Museums.
Even the typesetting, the composition
of the catalogue cover, the proportionate
size of the different lines, the acknow-
ledgement of the sponsors, the text and
the content of the posters, the quantity,
subjects and captions of the postcards,
the publicity, the press releases all had to
be discussed and approved. The Logo of
the Exhibition had to be studied, approv-
ed, and its use regulated.
New colour transparencies were made .
of all the objects by the same photo-
grapher whenever possible, in order to
secure uniform results. Hundreds of
black and white photographs were print-
ed as working documents, for condition
reports, as packing reference, etc. Person-
nel was trained for different tasks:
couriers security guards, conservators,
loading dock operators, riggers, museum
representatives during the exhibition (see
box 4). Training included conservation
and packing procedures, rules for compil-
ing condition reports, using a common
glossary and a common rule for
evaluating different conditions. Plane
schedules, connections, transport to and
from the airport, security in transit and in
airports were studied in co-operation
with the Metropolitan Museum.
The Metropolitan Museum and the
museums in Chicago and San Francisco
also started their preparation early and
these included the design of the
 29
Part of the moving equipment ready for
action at the Chicago Art Institute.
exhibition (done by the same architect in
New York and Chicago and by a different
one in San Francisco). The layout was pro-
posed to the Vatican Museums, discussed
and approved. As for the design of the
sealed showcases, the same ones would be
used in all three museums. They indud-
ed provisions for insertion of silica gel
pellets as we shall see later. The ressmc-
turing of the galleries designated for the
exhibition included in some museums
the installation of a new air conditioning
system and/ornew lighting, and even the
building ofa new staircase. Also included
were the training of new guards for the
exhibition galleries; the installation of a
new alarm system, both for volumetric
control and for the individual cases arad
objects; the training of docents; the
preparation of texts for the electronic
cassette-guides; the preparation of
audiovisuals; the progrmming of series
of lectures on the exhibition topics; rhe
planning transport schedules in co-
ordination with Pan Am and the Vatican
Museums and the pmidpating mu-
seums, from Rome to New York, to
Chicago, to San Francisco and back to the
Vatican; the planning of transport from
&e ahports to the Museums and back to
the airports. This meant co-ordination
and security provisions. Dry runs had to
be made at the approximate time of ar-
rival and departure, in co-operation with
the airport and local police.
The right kind of trucks had to be
secured. The docking area was checked
and in some cases modified, to accom-
modate the large pallets (Figs. 29, 30, 3 1,
3 2 ) . A crew of riggers familiarized itself
with the particulars of each work of art.
The same crew would operate in dl three
museums to assure the best professional
handling of the crates. The selling of en-
trance tickets was planned in all three
museums. To avoid long queues and
overcrowding it was decided not to sell
tickets on the premises, but through mail
OP telephone reservations. A limit of 700
entrances per hour was also determined,
taking into account enjoyment by the
public, security and conservation re-
quirements. The television coverage was
studied, discussed and decdded Upon.
The opening events were planned
carefully, together with d l activities and
special group visits that are part of any
important exhibition. The shop areas
were selected- the main requirements
had been established by contract -and
the sales persons were trained. Educa-
tional material for the schools ' was
prepared. American curators involved in
the exhibition travelled t~ &e Vatican
many times to become acquainted with
the works of art and co-operare with the
Vatican Museums in deciding the way in
which to handle each piece.
The conservation preparation at the
three museums was particularly thor-
ough.
On 29 April 1982, the exhibition was
announced to the media at a press
conference-in the new Synod Hall,
Vatican City. The conference was attend-
ed by the directors of the three museums,
representatives of the groups of voluteers
who would organize the opening events
in the three American cities, curators,
sponsors, technicians and friends.
Por reasons of security, all details con-
cerning the preparation activities (lists of
The Vatican Collections: The Papacy andArt
31
At the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum
in San Francisco, props and material are
prepared to receive the art works. Wooden
boxes used as temporary supports in the
various phases of lifting or lowering heavy
statues.
30
An electrically operated hydraulic platform
lift, used for raising and lowering heavy
sculptures. Hydraulic lifts secure gentle
movements.
32
At the Chicago Art Institute docking
platform, the rollers are set in front of the
pallets lying on the truck floor. Wooden
supports of different thickness were
prepared to match the height of the truck
bed according to the weight of the different
pallets on each flight.
217
objects, conservation procedures, move-
ments of the works inside the museums,
and others) were kept from the public.
This prevented scholars and technicians
from knowing about the extreme care be-
ing taken to secure safety and conversa-
tion. Thus, some misunderstandings
arose and great concern was voiced by
some critics at a time close to the exhibi-
tion opening.
Condition reports a n d crating
of the works of art
At this point, I want to emphasize the
importance of choosing the right packer
and shipping agent. The choice of the
packing firm (Montenovi) and of the
shipping agent (Tartaglia) was made on
the basis of previous experience. It was
not an easy choice because museum
curators and conservators do not always
have the experience needed to dictate
and control the packing procedures, or at
least, not to the point of directing every
movement. Thus the team had to be
known and trusted. Choosing the team is
indeed a most important decision: once
chosen, neither packer nor shipper can be
changed without severe risks. The mov-
ing and packing is a very delicate job. Cô-
ordination, calm, knowledge, confidence
and trust among all involved is required.
Technical know-how is certainly impor-
tant, but not the only yardstick.
The planning of packing and shipping
was examined in every detail. Various
types of crates were studied in co-
operation with the packer, the conser-
vator and the curator. The distance the
crates would have to travel, the means of
transport and the need to be opened,
closed and re-opened again many times
were taken into consideration. Each stage
was considered and handled accordingly.
House security, procedures had to be
studied and applied, not only in choosing
the place of packing and in control over
personnel involved in the operations, but
also in the exterior appearance of the
crates. The necessary equipment was
secured. We needed safety above all. It is
common knowledge that even the best
piece of equipment may fail. Every piece
of equipment was therefore chosen, in-
spected and tried with great care.
The paper work had to be planned. It
is evident that when enormous respon-
sibilities are involved, everything should
be on paper. Every movement of each
work of art from its original place of ex-
hibition or deposit to the laboratory, to
the packing, to the temporary storeroom,
2 18 Walter Persegati

to the airport, and vice versa, had to be

signed and counter-signed.
The crates, were made from aged
poplar and stored in a hut specially built
$rato. Security per-
t no outsider could
even see the crates to avoid the remote
possibility of duplication.
There were four basic kind ofcrates; for
statues, paintings, objects and textiles. It
would be redundant to a&rm that ways
were studied to secure not only the in-
tegrity but also perfect conservation COD-
ditions of every work of art on arrival. A
marble statue does not suffer from
climatic conditions, but is very fragile
and the main problem is to ensure that it
arrivesin one piece (Pigs. 33, 34, 35). On
the other hand, a panel painting, while
not easily breakable, poses great pro-
blems of protection from the environ-
ment. The requirements are different
and therefore the proper packing method
had to be found for each piece.
The Apollo Belvedere was packed in
three crates, one inside the other (Fig.
36). The prindple was to make the statue
one solid unit with the i
prevent any movement
ed and contoured braces secured such im-
mobility. Their number and position,
rhe key to success, had been studied in
close co-operation by the packer and our
stone conservator who knew exactly
where the stress points were. The space
between the crates was filled with various
types of material: rigid polyuretane foam
(later ethafoam was substituted), foam
rubber, and under some statues curled
wood shavings. Each crate was, thus,
given a ‘floating’ capability inside the
other, protecting the inner one from any 33
kind of shock. Marcus Aurelias properly hooded in its
The Leonardo panel was also packed in double crate. The sculpture will be kept in
three crates (Figs. 37 - 44). The inside place not by braces but by paper-wrapped
crate had space, on the bottom, for stor- packs of curled wood shavings marked for
easy placing (identification of their
ing silica gel in a quantity that had been position).
determined (for each painting) by the
Metropolitan Museum experts. To allow
the silica gel to do its work, the inner case
was tightly sealed. The material between
crates secured isolation from outside
changes in temperature and humidity as
well as protecting the painting from
Shocks.
The Vatican Collectior2s: The Pabacy and Art 219

34
Gratidia et Gratidizrs in their double case
waiting for the contoured, padded braces
to be screwed in place.

35
One of the two lions of Nectanebo ready
to be uncrated and positioned. Between the
two crates a layer of rigid foam can be seen.
Wood shavings have been used at the
bottom.

36
The Apollo Belvedere in its inner crate after
the first brace has been applied. Two or
three crates were used for the statues
according to the requirements of the
structure. The Apollo Belvedere had three
crates with foam rubber between the inner
and the middle crate, rigid polyuretane
foam between the middle and the outer
crate and curled wood shavings at the
bottom of both interstices. The position
of the braces was decided by the chief stone
conservator of the Vatican Museums and
the packer. The stress points of the statue
have to be known exactly in order to secure
the braces with maximum effectiveness. In
this case, both conservator and packer were
so sure of their work that in addition to the
preferred position (standing up), an
alternative one (lying on one side) was
marked on the crate.
220
The panels without their frames-if
they had one-were kept stable inside
the inner case ,by wooden rods, fixed at
the head of the panels -where the fibres
of the wood had been originally cut.
Non-rigid padding material along the
sides of the panels kept the paintings in
place, still allowing the wood to expand
if needed.
The painted surface was protected by a
sheet of lint-free non-adherent soft mate-
rial with buffering materid and strong
paper on top. A plastic film was applied
ro the inside ofthe case. Once sealed with
aluminium tape, the inner case was plac-
ed in a second case and -for some paint-
ings like the Leonardo -the second in a
third one. Between one case and the
other, padding material secured isolation
and protection from shocks, jolts, vibra-
rions and accidental dropping.
The canvas paintings were not submit-
ted to climate controls; however, the in-
ner crates were lined with a special
humidity stabilizing paper. Inside the
double crates the canvas was kept steady
by layers of soft material which prevented
vibration. The frames for the four largest
works were crated separately. The large
paintings were kept stable by steel bars
secured to the inner frame and to the in-
ner crate. Provisions were made for the
canvas paintings to travel on their sides,
never Rat.
The crates for objects contained small
wooden boxes, one for each object. Inside
its box, the object was protected by con-
toured foam. In the crate, the boxes were
protected from shocks by a double layer
of material: foam rubber toward the in-
side and rigid polyuretane foam toward
the outer side of the crate (Pig. 46).
The tapestries were not folded, but
were rolled over large cylinders,
lengthwise, whenever possible, to limit
the number of layers of tapestry. Paper
was placed between layers to avoid fric-
tion. The tapestries were kept in place by
ribbons attached to hooks. Sheets of
wrapping paper protected the outside roll
and the inside of the outer crate was lined
with tar paper.
All pieces of anti-shock material inside
the crates were numbered and identified
Walter Persegati
37, 38, 33
.Leonardo'sSt Jerome is removed from the
show case at the Chicago Art Institute and
is inspected.
in such a way that the repacking could be
done without difficulty. Even so, more
than once, problems of identification
caused delays.
Particular care was taken in choosing
the signs for the outer crates (Fig. 45). For
security reasons, we did not put any
description ofthe content 081 the outside,
simply code and numbers: black for the
number of the crate, red for the code
identifying the object. This code referred
to the insurance list. TWOarrows were SO
painted on the crates: one black and,
where applicable, a conroured one, the
first giving the direction the crate should
lie, the second, an alternative direction
when and if acceptable (Figs. 47, 48).
Durine the transfer from one museum ro
anothir in the united States, other
numbers were added for the flight, the
catalogue and also for the floor or the
gallery of destination. %;QI the return trip,
we added a colour code and a letter in-
dicating the urgency of unpacking in the
Vatican Museums, the glace of assembly
for unpacking and the final destination
of the work. Examples of these signs are
given in the photographs. Tables of
/ reference were prepared for quick check-
ing of the various numbers and letters.
The movement of works inside the
Vatican Museums and the packing
started in July 1982. The heavy works
were crated .& sita, while the lighter ob-
jects were carefully transferred to a pack-
ing hdl, close to the conservation
laboratory. Metropolitan Museum per-
sonnel, our chief of security, our conser-
vators and our registrar were present at
the movement of each piece.
Condition reports were made on forms
previously designed in co-operation by
the Metropolitan and the Vatican
Museums. They were used for move-
ments during the entire journey: packing
at the Vatican, unpacking and packing at
the Metropolitan Museum, at the
Chicago Art Institute, at the de Young
Memorial Museum in San Francisco, and,
finally, unpacking back in the Vatican.
The sheets were signed by the represen-
tative of the two Museums, the conser-
vator, the packer and the shipping
agent.
The Vatican Col'lectiom: The Papacy and Art 221

40, 41, 42, 4 3 , 44

The panel is lowered into the inner case
and covered with acid-freepaper; the lid is
screwed on and the caSe is sealed with
aluminium foil.

Each report was documented and ac-

companied by one or more photographs
of the object. When a photograph reveal-
ed abnormal signs, close-up instant
Polaroid photos were taken, initialled by
all representatives and attached to the
report. All the condition reports and the
accompanying documentation were col-
lected in eight binders and packed in two
suitcases. Two copies were made, one
travelled with the object and was signed
at each operation and the other remained
in the Vatican. The suitcases travelled
with the crates in one of the pallets. 45
The lid of the second crate is set in place,
The condition reports were made with and the outer crate is closed and banded.
great care since it was important to spot The crate will soon be turned upright.
the most minute damage or deviation Visible are: the identifying numbers (black
from the norm, immediately after every is the number of the crate; red is the
number of the object) a colour code
movement. For the most delicate identifying the flight and a lable with the
pieces- such as panel paintings -the number of the gallery (8) to which the crate
survey of the objects being packed or un- will be taken immediately on arrival at the
packed and the ensuing condition reports San Francisco M. H. de Young Museum.
were made whenever possible by the
same persons at all three venues and in
the Vatican.
The objects were moved after closing
hours of the Vatican Museums. Consider-
ing that the loan of 237 pieces included
a full gamut of art (from 4,000-pound
Egyptian lions to a flimsy painted cane
mask, from stone to wood, to bronze, to
terracotta, to textiles, etc.) the task was
extremely demanding. It took four
months to complete the packing.
The unique structure of the Vatican
Museums made the transfer of some
pieces particularly difficult. Crates con-
taining heavy sculpture had to be carried
46
for hundreds of yards inside cramped Packing of small objects, such as these
spaces, between other fragile objects or terracotta models by Algardi, was done in
show cases. Some pieces of sculpture had individual cases which were inserted-two
to be taken out of windows, with the help or more of them -in strong outer crates.
of heavy scaffolding, others had to be slid The object inside the inner case was
protected by slabs of rigid polyuretane foam
along ramps constructed over staircases on the side and small pads of curled wood
(soaped slates were used); other pieces shavings, or contoured foam rubber, to fill
could be lifted mechanically but had to the space around the object. To expedite
be subjected to many transfers from one repacking, they are identified by their
means of transport to another just to position. Layers of rigid polyuretane foam
fill the space between the inner cases and
travel a couple of hundred yards. the outer crate.
Itineraries had to be mapped out in ad-
vance with the precision of a battle plan
and followed scrupulously.
During these difficult movements a
great number of people had to be
222
present. However, the responsibility of
directing the action had been given to
one person only. We, of course, would
consult and try to reach consensus on the
various aspects ofvhe operation, but the
final decision was his.
AB1 crates ready for shipment were
stored in a large room guarded night and
day, and electronically protected and in
the meantime, the conservators and the
couriers were briefed for their jobs. They
were given written instructions and lists
of emergency calls to be placed in various
possible circumstances both in Rome and
in each of the other cities.
The possibility of strikes, delays, can-
cellation of Rights, detours, rerouting of
Rights, acddents of any kind was con-
sidered, and directions given; procedures
were thoroughly discussed and practised.
~ i$2 i ~ ~~
~ Q ~ ~ e QBd ~ ~of the extremely
The pallets were strong duminium plat-
forms, on which the crates are fixed (Fig.
49).The crates were wrapped up in clear
plastic sheeting and covered by a tightly
roped tarpaulin. Finally, each pallet was
enclosed in a rope net and sealed for
security. Also for security reasons, we did
nor allowed the procedures to be
photographed by outsiders.
On the basis of size and weight, the
Metropolitan Museum, in collaboration
with the shipping agent and Pan Am per-
sonnel, programmed the content of each
pallet. In accordance with the number,
the size, the weight and the insurance
value of each pallet, and the size of the
aircrafcs, the number offlights was deter-
mined. Eleven flights were required to
take the loan from Rome to New York.
Por each pallet a map was drawn with the
exact position of each crate in the plane.
Por security and safety reasons, we
decided to prepare the pallets in the
Vatican, rather than at the airport. At QUI
own railway station (yes, there is one in
the Vatican, with a total of about 500
meters of rail!) we built a huge hut with
an elevated platform. Rollers were install-
ed 061 the platform for the preparation of
the pallets and their loading onto the
trucks.
ryalter Persegati
The Vatican is an independent state, politan Museum representative, a tmck
but the pallets had to pass through Italy carrying two pallets, an Italian police car,
to reach the airport. They were therefore a second truck with additional pallets (if
sealed inside the Vatican by Italian needed), a Vatican police car with guards
customs officials under the supervision of and myself. The Vatican police car was in
Vatican authorities and in the presence of radio contact with the Vatican. A third
both Museums' representatives. truck was kept ready in the Vatican in case
Finally, the time established for depar- one of the two broke drown; plans were
ture arrived. Eleven journeys took the 237 made in case the pallets of the stalled
pieces in l a 9 crates and on 22 pallets to truck had to be transferbed to the third
the United States between 15 November truck (all tmcks were equipped with
and 2 December 1982. roller beds) or the stalled tmck had to be
The security measures during transfer towed. Hfa car were to break down the oc-
from the Vatican to the airport were very cupants would quickly transfer to one of
stricr. During the packing and the the others.
transfer, the Italian press was attacking us At the airport, the convoy waited in a
for moving so many important pieces of secluded place, for three to five hours, for
art SO far away. The fact that the Italian the arrival of the plane. The pallets were
authorities had 100 way of preventing us then loaded.
from carrying out OUT project infuriated The transfer of the works of art from
some Italian art critics who knew nothing the Vatican to the aircraft was considered
i careful
~ way
~ in which we SO important and dangerous that the
were ensuring the safety and conservation chief registrar of the Metropolitan
of our art. Museum of Art and myself followed the
We were facing, therefore, more than C O B V O ~for each of the eleyen flights. We
one risk: (a) forced rerouting of our trucks did not let the pallets out of sight and
by art thieves; (b) Corced rerouting by waited at the airport until they were safe-
terrorists for ransom; (c) demonstrations ly loaded into the cargo bay of the air-
by well-intentioned even though naïve craft. A courier accompanied each flight
groups of people who might attempt to together with an airline security agent.
stop the transfer of our art by staging sit- The same procedure was followed at New
ins along the road. York airport.
Hence, we tried to keep the procedures
as secret as possible and no-one, outside
the circle of people directly involved, had
a hint of whar was going on. It was a sur- at the recei8iBg ~ ~ $ ~
prise to all to discover, later, that the ob-
jects had already been transferred to New The moving, unpacking and mounting
York. of the exhibition was done by a ten-man
Each convoy (eleven flights from Rome rigging crew, conservators and curators of
to New York, over a period of fourteen tle Metropolitan Museum of Art and
days) left at 5.30 a.m. following a dif- under the supervision of our conser-
ferent itinerary each time and arriving at vators. Gantries, tiering machines,
the airport before 6.30. Since it was late forklifts, and special eaectric hydraulic
November, early December, the transfer platform lifts were used. The same crew
took place in darkness. of riggers followed the exhibition to the
The convoy was made up of two traffic other W O venues and took care of all
police officers on motorcycles one in front movements of the heavy works. In order
and the other switching from one side to to avoid last minute crises, the
the other or to the back as circumstances Metropolitan Museum crew visited each
dictated, a Vatican car with the Vatican ofthe other two venues twice, measuring
representative responsible for the cus- corridors, passages and elevators.
toms operations, and the courier, a car When they arrived at the Metropolitan
with the shipping agent and the Metro- Museum of Art, the crates containing the
The Vatican Collectio~zs:The Papacy lznd Art 223

49
The undoing of a pallet at the M. H. de
Young Museum in San Francisco.

47, 48
The packing of Marsyas at the M. H. de
Young Museum of San Francisco. Note that
the outer crate bears double arrows: solid
for the preferred position and dotted for
the alternative one.

_. . . .
224 Walter Persegati

51
After arrival at the M. H. de Young
Museum of San Francisco the Astarita
Krater vase is ready to be inspected.

50
Objects on a pallet, ready for inspection.
The weighted bags (full of lead shot) are
used for preventing objects from moving
and for other tasks.

52
Inspection of Etruscan bronze disks with the
help of photographs and condition reports.
The Vaticatz Coll’ections: The Papacy and Art
53
The leaded bags at work.
panel paintings were kept in a controlled
environment for twelve to twenty-four
hours before being opened.
After the lid of the inner case of each
panel painting had been opened, a
thermo-hygrometer was inserted and the
lid quickly closed again. After twenty
minutes, a reading was taken. It was with
great satisfaction that every time we
opened the inner case we found the
readings had not varied more than 2 per
cent from the time of the crating. Vatican
and Metropolitan Museum conservators
were present at the opening when the
reverse procedure used for packing was
followed: papers were signed, photo-
graphs were taken, records were checked
(Figs. 50, 51, 5 2 , 53).
After careful examination, the pain-
tings were quickly inserted into their
specially designed display cases, in which
the specified environmental conditions
had been previously produced (Figs. 54,
5 5 ) . A proper amount of silica gel inside
each show case maintained those condi-
tions for the duration of the exhibition.
Thermo-hygrometers inside the cases
allowed temperature and relative humi-
dity to be checked from the outside. The
Vatican representative checked and an-
notated the exact temperature and R.H.
readings of the thermohygrometers in
each panel painting case twice a day. A
conservator of the borrowing museum
also regularly checked the instruments
measuring the climatic conditions of all
the galleries.
At the time of the transfer of the ex-
hibition from one Museum to the other,
the procedure described above was
followed step by step again.
Once they had been unpacked, the
crates were closed and all screws except
the few needed to hold the cover, were
kept in an envelope, inside the inner
crate. These screws were checked very
carefully during repacking. Not one
single screw was to be left over or missing.
If so, the whole crate would be unpacked
and searched. If left inside, the screw
could seriously damage the work of art.
On one occassion, a missing screw forced
the riggers to unpack completely a crate
ready to be sealed. The screw was found.
225
The empty crates were kept in an en-
vironmentallycontrolled room which was
locked and kept guarded for security
reasons.
The mounting of the exhibition at the
Metropolitan Museum took about four
weeks. We had insisted that it be planned
so as to allow ample time for all opera-
tions to be done without haste, avoiding
any dangerous short cuts in safety pro-
cedures. Our curators and conservators
were present at every movement,
together with a Vatican representative in
charge of checking the security measures.
The same procedures were followed
during the movement of the works from
New York to Chicago and San Francisco,
and for the mounting and dismantling of
the exhibition at the two other museums
(Figs. 56, 57).
To allow the pallets to be unpacked in-
side the receiving Museums, the Chicago
Museum had to restructure its loading
dock and to install rollers; the San Fran-
cisco Museum had to build a completely
new platform.
In each museum immediately after the
closing of the exhibition to the public,
each crate with ‘EMPTY’ marked on it
was placed in front of its work of art.
After the condition report was signed and
the object placed inside the crate, a new
sign was tacked outside the lid in place of
the other: ‘CONTROLLED’ (or ‘READY
TO BE STRAPPED’).After the crate was
sealed, a ‘READY TO BE S H I P P E D ’ S ~ ~ ~
was fured on it. During the transfer
operations from one museum to another,
we had two teams of conservators and
curators: one following the dismantling
and packing activities and the other, at
the receiving museum, supervising the
unpacking and the mounting.
All museums followed the require-
ments dictated by the Vatican Museums
scrupulously. For example, in order to
allow the crate of the Augustus to pass
through a door without being tilted, the
Chicago Art Institute had to chip away
two inches of concrete from the top
beam.
The security measures governing the
installation and the dimantling of the ex-
hibition in the three American museums
226 Walter Penegata'

were very strict because of the comings

and goings of technicians. I remembe'r
that in one museum there were four
check-points inside the exhibition area.
At all times, every person involved with
e-he exhibition from all the museums had
to wear an identification badge.

The TetaTi9 of the loaf2

toth&viztican ~ a $ & ~ ~ §
On 19 February 1984 the exhibition clos-
ed in San Francisco and from 27 February 55
to 10 March, after about fourreen months Rear view of the same showcase. The porous
of absence, the works of art began the white tubes contain silica gel to absorb or
journey back to the Vatican Museums. release humidity, thus assuring constant
Unlike the transfer from Rome to New relative humidity in the micro emTironment.
'

An acrylic plate seals off the tubes from the

York, the return from San Francisco outside climate. The closed environment
could not be effected with non-stop communicateswith the front -where rhe
flights. The pallets had therefore to be panel painting is hung, also sealed in an
transferred from one aircraft to another at acrylic case -through tiny slits between
boards. These are invisible to the visitor
a heavily guarded section of the Pan Am because covered by a loosely woven fabric.
terminal of the Kennedy airporc in New Before being placed in the case the silica gel
54.
York. Since the possibilities of something F~~~~viewof the Daddi (~ll had been pre-conditioned to the relative
going wrong were many, particularly con- rhe other panel paintings' cases are exactly humidity indicated by the lender (in this
sidering the season (end of February, the same). The thermo-hygrometer is case: 50/55 per cent). The wires seen at the
visible. bottom were attached to an alarm System.
beginning of March), alternative plans
were prepared for various occurences.
Many circumstances led to the adoption
ofthe alternatives prepared. Por instance,
some flights from San Francisco missed
the flight from New York to ]Rome and a
flight from New York was cancelled 56
because of a blizzard. A pallet is ready to be rolled out of the
Here, too, because of planing and ex- aircraft at the San Francisco airport.
perience the operations ran smoothly,
even though the emergencies weighed
heavily an all those concerned who prov-
ed to be exceptiondlydedicated and con-
sciencious.
The procedures from Rome airport to
the Vatican were the same as for the
departure, except that there were seven
flights and the transfer from the airport
to the Vatican was done in daylight. On
this occasion, however, we had less fear of
demonstrations.
The return of the works of art tQtheir
original plase of exbibition or deposit
had to be carefully planned to avoid pro-
blems which might be caused by the
presence of the public in the galleries
during opening hours. Unlike the situa-
tion in the three American museums
 The Vatìcan Collectiows: The Papacy a d Art
where the galleries assigned to the tem-
porary exhibition could be sealed off, in
I'
the Vatican Museums the pieces had to be
brought to and installed in every corner
of the museums. As at the time of the
crating, holding rooms had therefore to
be designated for different kind of crates,
the itineraries had to be mapped carefully
and the timing studied.
When the crates containing the panel
paintings reached the Museums, they
were immediately dispatched to our
Scientific Research Laboratory for the
57
A pallet is rolled into the truck. 24-hourwaiting period and for the subse-
quent insertion in the environmental
chamber where the works would be
reconditioned to the readings of the in-
struments placed in the Painting Gallery
(65 per cent RH).
The difficulties of moving the heavy
crates inside the Vatican Museums were
the same as before, but we were helped
by the experience gained after many
transfers of the same crates inside the
other museums.
One piece, however, created pro-
blems. At the time of the original
crating, the Apollo Belvedere was already
in the restoration laboratory. On its
return, it was found that the outer crates
had to be removed for it to pass through
3. Caletidar of events:
1980, February First meetings at the
Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York, to discuss a
possible Vatican Exhibition.
1980,June 22 , Signing of a draft protocol
at the Vatican Museums
1980, October 22 The loan contract signed in
New York
1980, November's The loan contract signed in
the Vatican
1981, March 30 Beginning of the restoration
of Apollo Belvedere
1981, June 6 Restoration finished
1981 - February
to January 1982 Temperature and RH
readings in the Pinacoteca
recorded
1982, April 29 The exhibition is announced
to the press
1982, July The movement of the works
inside the Vatican starts
1982, October 18 Panel paintings start being
introduced into the
climatization chamber
1982, November 15 First shipment of the works
of art to New York by air
1982, December 2 Last shipment leaves the
Vatican
227
one of the passages. To do this, we had to
remove the front side of the outer crate,
lay the crate on its back, take out the
shock absorbing material from the space
between the outer crate and the second
one, at the bottom of the case, insert
greased slates in its place, set the crate
upright again, remove the back side of
the crate and push the second case out
over the greased slates. The same pro-
cedure was followed to free the inner
crate from the second. Of course, the
stone conservator who had done the
restoration and directed the original
packing knew exactly to which side the
statue, firmly blocked in the inner case,
could be-tilted.
It was a great day when the last object
was taken from its crate and put on ex-
hibition again.3
The long and careful planning and
constant close Co-operation-at any
stage of the project, from inception to the
end- between administrators, archi-
tects, curators, conservators and techni-
cians, was rewarded: no damage what-
SOeVeK occurred to the works of art. Two
small accidents did OCCUK: one in the
Vatican, during the hoisting of a crate to
the pallett. The crane let the crate drop to
the ground from a height of about 5 cm.
1982, November 16 Mounting of the exhibition
starts at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art
1983, January 21 Opening of the Exhibition
at the Metropolitan Museum
1983,June 12 Closing of the exhibition in
New York
1983,June 19 Mounting of the exhibition
starts at the Chicago Art
Institute
1983, July 16 Opening of the exhibition
at the Chicago Art Institute
1983, October 16 Closine of the exhibition in
Chica&
1983, October 22 Mounting starts at the M.H.
de Young Memorial
Museum in San Francisco
1983, November 18 Opening of the exhibition
in San Francisco
1984, February 19 Closing of the exhibition in
San Francisco
1984, February 26 First shipment back to the
Vatican
1984, March 9 Last shipment back to the
Vatican
1984, March 22 Panel paintings transferred
from the climatization
chamber to the Pinacoteca.
 228
Immediate checks proved that no
damage had been done. The second acci-
dent occurred in New York: when the
truck carrying the pallets entered the
unloading dock ,at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, a concrete beam, lower
than others, was struck violently by the
upper part of the tallest crate, the one
containing the Augustus sculpture. The
outer crate was damaged. The two inner
crates were not. X-rays taken immediate-
ly showed rhar the statue had not been &-
fected by the jolt. Both incidents proved,
however, that accidents can happen and
I that only careful planning and the exper-
. tise of all people concerned with packing
and shipping can prevent damage.
The Vatican exhibition in the United
States proved to be a success, worthy of
the efforts. Visitors numbered 2,098,429
(859,939 in New York, 616,106 in
Chicago and 622,384 in San Francisco).
In the three museums 160,452catalogues
were sold; and 83,908 audio-tours were
rented.
ith the income from the exhibition
the Vatican Museums were able to C Q ~ -
plete a monumental restoration pro-
gramme and to equip their restoration
laboratories with new instruments.
Other benefits not always evident,
were derived from the exhibition, such
as: (a) the restorations and the research
necessary to the planning increased
knowledge abaut the works involved; (b)
the iriting of the entries for the
Walter Persegati
catalogue gave occasion to conduct fur-
ther, extensive studies, enriching know-
ledge and documentation; (c) the
Vatican personnel who travelled to New
York, Chicago and §an Franciscowith the
exhibition as curators or technicians had
a chance to meet colleagues of other
museums, compare notes, learn and
teach, and become acquainted with new
proceduresin all fields; (d) the exhibition
was a unique experience for all, even for
those who never left the Vatican; it gave
a new dimension to their work and a
wider scope to their vision.
Thus, as usual, it is the human dimen-
sion that justifies the project and the in-
evitable percentage of risk involved,
which is part of life.
covered with sheets of alumini
gs was replaced on the
in the disk, unlike its mounting before
the restoration. In fact, in the 19th-
century restoration, the mask was
slightly turned, so the beard covered
the small opening in the disk, making
it appear as an integral archeological
object.
Remounting the disk on the plexiglass
support.
Staff.
The Representative will not interfere
with Museum personnel activities nor
with staff decisions in any way except
that covered under point (b). His role,
in matters connected with the exhibi-
tion of the works of art, is consultative.
Any decision is the Museum's, by con-
tract, exceptinmattersof conservation.
*
2 30
James Porter
James Porter was Leverhulme Scholar at the Univer-
sity of London, I9SO-55. Graduated in sociology
from the London School of Economics, 1953. M.A.
in Sociology ofEducation, 1955. Taught in primary
and secondary schools and lectured in sociology and
education till 1962. Deputy principal, Coventry
College, 1962-67. Principal, Bulmershe College of
Higher Education, 1967-68. Member of! National
Committee of Inquiry into Teacher Education and
Training (James Committee), 1971; Education
Committee of University Grants Committee, 1978;
Educational Advisory Council of the Independent
Broadcasting Authority; ICOM United Kingdom
Executive Committee. Fellow of the Royal Society
of Art, 1978; Honorary Fellow of the College of
Perceptors, 1978; Chairman of the World Educa-
tion Fellowship, 1979. Consultant to the Division
of Higher Education and Training of Unesco since
1976. Now Director of the Commonwealth In-
stitute, London, the main education and cultural
exhibition centre for the forty-nine countries of the
Commonwealth. Co-author (with N. Goble) of The
Changing Wodd of the Teacher, Paris, Unesco,
1977.
1. hfuseum, Vol. =III, No. 4, 1981.
In November 1985 the Commonwealth
Institute in London mounted the Haman
J.~OTJI exhibition, which ran for three
months and proved to be an unusual and
extraordinarily successhl event which
could have important implications for
the future of theme-based travelling ex-
hibitions.
The Commonwealth Institute is a
cultural centre for the forty-nine coun-
tries ofthe Commonwealth, representing
a quarter of the wodd’s population. One
of its main tasks is ‘to communicate the
cultural heritage in a way that illuminates
the contemporary situation’.1
The idea for the exhibition grew out of
the Institute’s plans for its FOCUSon
Africa, a six month programme of events
and exhibitions concentrating on the
African continent during 1984. Planning
two 01 three years ahead, the exhibition
was thought appropriate as a dimax to
the year, as it illustrated the enormous
significance of Africa in the origins and
development of the human species, and
contrasted sharply with the dangels of
survival for many contemporaryAfricans.
This view W ~ Sreinforced by Richard
Leakey, distinguished Director of Natu
Museum of Kenya, who saw it as a major
opportunity to raise public awseness of a
science for which he has already done SO
much.
It quickly became apparent that the
resources necessary for such a major ven-
ture would considerably exceed those
available from the Institute’s budget. It
was therefore decided to seek a sponsor.
At that time, early in 1983, the author of
this article was on a mission at Unesco
headquarters in Paris. It happens that the
headquarters of IBN Africa and Middle
East is also in Paris, and one spring after-
noon contact was made with the General
Manager for that region ofthe world, and
he responded warmly to the idea of an ex-
 The Human Story
59
Panels of the exhibition showing the
techniques used to illustrate the concepts
by layering the graphics using silk screen
processes on both the laminate panels and
the removable perspex. The perspex is
changed for each venue with the national
language of the host venue.
hibition that looked at the history of the
species, its present potential and expecta-
tions for the future. The extraordinary
role of intelligence and technology was
a theme that related well to an organiza-
tion devoted to some of the most
sophisticated expressions of the human
intellect. Following the meeting, which
simply took the form of a conversation, a
full proposal was requested, and thus
began more than a year of frank, detailed
and demanding negotiation.
.During that period, in addition to
Richard Leakey, three more leading
scientists were drawn into the discussion:
Professor Yves Coppens, at that time
Director of the Musée de l’Homme, Pro-
‘fessor David Pilbeam, Head of the
Department of Anthropology at Har-
vard, and Professor Carl Gustaf Bern-
hard, Scientific Advisor to the King of
Sweden, and Chairman of the Interna-
tional Programme for the Study of
Human Origins. Ron Herron Design
Associates were appointed to’design the
exhibition, and the Executive Assistant
to the Director, Marie-Louise Makris,
became Project Co-ordinator.
During the discussions, it became clear
that the concept of the exhibition had a
world perspective, and although Africa
was a central part of the story, all other
parts of the world must also be involved.
Further, the time necessary to evaluate
the current state of knowledgein the field
and to translate it into genuinely imag-
inative and effective design meant that
the project could not be completed
before the end of 1985. Finally, in view of
the universality of the theme, it was
agreed that it was vital for the exhibition
to travel, and thus to be designed from
the beginning as a major international
travelling exhibition.
Thus by the end of 1983 the necessary
funds had been obtained and the inten-
231
60
Panels containing updated news on recent
finds. There a Homo erectus boy is
displayed. Discovered by Richard Leakey,
it is somewhat prosaically called WT 15000.
61
Life-sized models of Homo erectus.
sive process of translating scientific ideas,
evidence and speculations into the reality
of an exhibition began. From the begin-
ning, all members of the planning group
played a full part in the design and
development of the exhibition. What to
say, how to say it, and how to give
coherence to the whole experience, pro-
vided the framework for the discussions
and debates which took.place in London,
Paris, Nairobi, Stockholm and Boston.
The nature of palaeo-anthropology as a
discipline lent itself excellently to an ex-
hibition that would raise more questions
than it answered.’ In line with the scien-
tific thrust of the discipline, the exhibi-
tion was planned to draw the visitor into
the debate, and invite her or him to make
a judgement and to challenge the ten-
tative conclusions of the scientists. The
sense of a dynamic discipline, with
discoveries being literally dug out of the
ground as the exhibition opened, was
 \

“32 Jnmes Porter

highlighted by pands giving ‘news

flashes’ and by the associated programme
of debates, theatre and educational
media.
Another challenge which the exhibi-
tion faced was to tell, in highlights, the
whole story of the origins of the earth
through to the uncertainties of the
future -and to tell it in the form of an
exhibition that would be packed into
large crates and then go on its journey to
Northern Ireland, to the continent of
Europe, to Scandinavia, back through
Paris to London before being refurbished
and updated, to go on its way to Africa,
the continent that gave it birth. The
treatment required of a travelling exhi-
bition was very carefully researched. A
completely new lighting system was in-
vented and a screen printing method
was used for the panels (Figs. 59, 60). A
sophisticated sequence taking the visitor
on a journey from the beginnings of the
earth through the origins of life and the
development ofthe species into the pres-
ent and future was arranged in such a way
that it could fit into a variety of settings
in the many different venues in which it
would be presented.
The belief that people should be
drawn into the issues raised by the exhibi-
tion meant that objects should be accessi-
ble, and available for close examination
and handling. Thus skeletons and skulls
were excellent and precise copies,
presented without cases, and to be touch-
ed. Also, quite stunning models, based
on the latest scientific evidence of early
woman and man could be directly con-
fKQnted as p e ~ p kwho did indeed walk
the earth more than three million years when thousands of people over the associated programme, utilizing theat-&,
ago (Figs. 61, 6 2 , 63). period ofthe exhibition actually failed to film, national and international copa-
The test of all the ideas and the plan- get in. The numbers attending were ferences, seminars, school program”,
ning came of C Q U ~ inS ~ the presentation responding to excellent publicity, highly educational material (Figs. 64, 6 5 ) , and a
of the exhibition itself. By no means favourable reviews, and above all the book for teachers. Outstanding among
everything that was attempted was in the power ofthe idea. It is hoped that venues these events were the highly aperimen-
end achieved. However, the e n o ~ ~ ~ o uwith s a larger ‘envelope‘for the exhibition tal theatre performances, combining the
critical and popular success ofthe exhibi- will be able to open it out so that more skills of an African group of actors, musi-
tion itself showed that the visitors well people can be accomodated, and see the cians and dancers from Tanzania with an
understood the intention and were ~ Q V - exhibition in greater comfort when the innovative British theatre group. Perfor-
ed by the story and the unmistakable crowds gather. mances in the Institute’s theatre for a
awareness of their own part in it. The The book of the exhibition was in ex- week by the British theatre group,
overwhelming response was positive, tremely high demand. It was both a Welfare State, and the African company,
with great enthusiasm for the models, commentary on certain aspects of the Bagamoyo, from Tanzania, illustrated
and with the great majority of visitors development of the species and a guide the important dimension which theatre
spading a long period in the exhibition to the exhibition, and its popularity can give to a theme of such universal
and a significant minority visiting on a demonstrated the interest that people concern.
number of occasions. Many engaged in had in the theme and their desire to know There was also a theatre programme for
debate within the exhibition -turning more. schools and families which went on
to fellow visitors to question the issues The Institute has always considered throughout the three months of the ex-
raised and comment on exhibits. The ma- that exhibitions can form only part of any hibition season. The latter was called
jor complaint by visitors was the over- programme of communication. The Gaia’s (earth mother’s) Song, taking
crowding, particularly at weekends, Human Story stimulated a very rich place in a specially prepared environment
 .
The Human Story
233
62
A life-sized model of female Homo erectu.

63
Computer Graphics used in the exhibition,
in this case explainingthe process of
walking upright in humans and the
anatomy of gorillas.

64
Computer Graphics used in the exhibition,
in this case explaining the process of
walking upright in humans and the
anatomy of gorillas.

65'
Module six contained maps of the world
today covering the topics of War, World
Trade, Poverty and the Environment.

66
Kings Helmet replica, England. About 470
years old.
234 James Porter
 The Human .Ytnn,
68
Wooden Noh Mask replica, Kobe, Japan,
1 1,300 years old.
67
A life-sized model o f Lucy. The figure was
built with eyes that move periodically. She
is also standing 0n.a base which contains a
cat of the fossilized footprints in the
3.6-million-year-oldsurface at Laetoli,
Tanzania.
69
A facsimile woman’s head, carved in ivory,
‘ Bressempouy, Dordogne, France. 18,000
years old. The original is in the Museum of
St. Germain-en-Laye,France.
235
which gave a highly realistic simulation of
a time machine, taking children back
30,000 years into a cave, with rock steps,
waterfall, animals, shells and four cave
dwellers. The theatrical experience ended
with a final sequence where the par-
ticipants shoot back in the time machine
to the present into a studio where they
then ‘choose their future’. The educa-
tional, theatrical and musical experience
represented by Gaia’s Song was the work
of the gifted Australian educator and ar-
tist, Eric Madden. Many of those who
participated attempted to recreate the
experience in schools and to create their
own dramatic version of the past, the pre-
sent and the potential of the future.
The film programme dealt with con-
temporary cultural identities particularly
in developing countries, the continuing
struggle for people to establish cultural
awareness in a world which is often
transmitting to the rural populations
alien and damaging images from domi-
nant urban cultures.
The educational material provided was
in the form of five major educational
packs distributed to schools, and a book
on the Human Story, used particularly by
teachers to animate work in the classroom
and in the local neighbourhood environ-
ment. Experts were on hand each
weekend to help parents and children to
identify their own fossils and a series of
seminars were held to consider the
teaching of prehistory in school (Fig. 67),
how to live with other creatures in the
world, and the philosophical elements of
the story (Figs. 68, 69). There was also an
important Unesco-sponsored conference
on travelling exhibitions, using the
Hzlman Stoy exhibition as a case-study.
It was, however, the informal debate
and discussion which was constantly join-
ed within the exhibition and outside it,
on radio, on television, in the press, that
marked the exhibition as one which made
a difference to the way people looked at
themselves and at the world. There were
forty-nine separate radio and television
broadcasts about the exhibition, in-
cluding some beamed to Africa, France,
Federal Republic of Germany, the
United States and Greece. Others were
carried on the BBC World Service. Both
Sunday and national daily papers carried
photographs and comment. Twenty
specialist journals in an extraordinarily
wide range of fields carried articles and all
of the educational press gave both the ex-
hibition and the associated programme
full coverage. Newspapers as far apart as
Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Netherlands, Italy,
236 James Porter

New Zealand and Mauritius reported on
it, along with a number ob: regïonal
newspapers. Twenty popular magazines
also contained artides and comment.
Judged by the measures familiar in a
major urban centre, the exhibition suc-
ceeded. However, the opening by Queen
Elizabeth 41 in London was simply the
start to a journey to Northern Ireland,
Netherlands, Federal Republic of Ger-
many, Sweden, Austria and France.
Following its European tour it will return
to London for refurbishment and up-
dating before it begins its long trip to the
continent of Africa, starting in Zim-
babwe and then travelling up the west
coast and across the continent to East
Africa. At the end of the journey it will
remain on the continent which is SO
critical to the evolution of our species.
]Fundamentd to the approach to the
exhibirion was a desire to make it as flexi-
ble and responsive as possible, both to
the reaction of the visitor and the dyna-
mic nature of palaeo-anthrolpology, the
discipline that lies at the centse of the ex-
hibition's story. Thus during the rime the
exhibition was in London a number ,of
changes were made to improve visibility
and presentarion. It is confidently ex-
pected &at this process of adaptation will
continue as the exhibition appears in dif-
when the ehibition travels to Africa.
Before that happens, the exhibition
designers and presenters will engage in
detailed discussions with scientists and
museologists from Africa and directly
with the different venues which will be
receiving the exhibition. Particularly
susceptible to adaptation will be the final
sections of the d i b i t i o n , dealing with
the present and the future. It is also ex-
pecred that each country will have items
it wishes to include in the exhibition, and
that each venue will develop its own
associated programme. Each venue will
receive a detailed report of previous ex-
periences gained by the earlier venues
and a highly detailed workshop manual
for setting up, mainraining, and taking
down the exhibition. All texts have been
designed so that they can be easily
translated into the appropriate language
for different venues.
Unlike other media, such as a printed
book, a film or a television programme,
the exhibition can essentially serve as a
dynamic and responsive form OB cam-
municarion, capable ofadaptation to the
intentions of rhe insritution providing
&e exhibition and to the Comment§ and
involvementofthose visiting it. To be ef-
fecrive, an exhibition needs t~ show
where the evidence may be inadequate,
Ultimately, the test of the exhibition
mode as a valuable form ob:international
communication lies in the extent to
which it can be reshaped to communicate
with integrity and power in different
cultural settings and when addressing
many different audiences.
The exhibition reaffirms the common
source of our humanity and illustrates the
insignificance of such superficial factors
as skin colour and geographical location
when compared with our shared bio-
logical and cultural origins. Throughout
the story, there is an 'underlying
theme-what unites us is immensely
greater than what separates us. That fact,
combined with our success as a species SO., '
far, and the availability of immense
resources on and around rhe planet, pro-
vide the framework for action that must
not be delayed. It is hoped that the sense
Qfashared past, combined with a sense of
urgency about the problems which now
face us, will animate the exhibition
wherever it is shown.
,, ;"
. ,I

ferent cultural settings and is tuned to the
particular requirements of different au-
diences. It is critical to the ultimate suc-
cess of the exhibition that the basic
message of the story, established after
years of debate and discussion by three
of the world's leading palaeo-anthro-
pologists, can be sensitively adapted to
many different environments. This
challenge will be most acute, of course,
where different interpretations are possi-
ble, and that science is very often as
highly personal, inspirational, and
vulnerable as art. A travelling exhibition
should provide scope and opportunity for
designers, educators and communicators
to add their own skills to the skills of
those who originally conceived the ex-
hibition for a particular audience, at a
particular time, in a particular place.

The Hanman story: OutliBe oftoar

70
The Hzman Stov and some of the
associated evenrs being advertised on the
front of the CommonwealthInstitute.
The Human Story exhibition will open at the
Commonwealth Institute on 21 November 1985 and close ,
on 23 February 1986. After leaving London a major
international tour is scheduled to major European venues
including: The Royal 'Tropical Institute, Amsterdam,
Netherlands; The Ethnographical Museum of Sweden,
Stockholm, Sweden; The Ubersee Museum, Bremen, Federal
Republic of Germany; The Natural History Museum, Vienna,
o
Austria; The Muste de L'Homme (Grand Palais) Paris,
France.
Following its tour of Europe, the exhibition will then reture
to the United Kingdom for modification and updating
before embarking on its tour of major venues in Africa:'
The National Museum, Accra, Ghana; Thk National Museum,
Lagos, Nigeria; Le Muste Historique, Dakar, Senegal, or Le
Muste Prthistorique, Kinshasa, Zaire; The National Museum,
Harare, Zimbabwe; The National Museum, Nairobi, Kenya.

Valery Petrovich Sazonov
Born in 1945. Graduated from Penza Pedagogical
Institute (Graphic Arts Section); taught sketching
and drawing in a secondary school; later graduated
from Leningrad Institute of Art (Faculty of the
Theory and History of Art). From 1972, Director of
Penza Regional Picture Gallery (the .Savitsky
Gallery). 1973 to 1978 taught history of art in the
Savitsky Art Institute in Penza. Author of a number
of publications on fine arts: articles, catalogues, ex-
hibitions and an album entitled Penzenskaya
obLa1tnaya kartinnaya galereya ìmenì K.A. Savit-
skogo (The Penza SavitskyRegional Picture Gallery)
(’Izobrazitel’ noe iskusstvo’, 1979). Member of the
Union of Artists of the USSR.
c
Museum had the opportunity to inter-
view the Director of the Savitsky Regional
Picture Galley in Penza, Valery Sazonov,
who also runs the branch of the galley,
opened in 1983, known as the One-
Picture GaZley . Remarkable exhibitions
of the best paintings f r o m the major
Soviet museums are heldthere on a con-
tinuous basis in a sma¿lperiod building,
a single canvas being exhibitedfor several
months. The exhibition is accompanied
by an audio-visual programme. Since its
opening, people living in Penza have
been introduced to six pictures. Three of
these were lent by the Russian State
Museum in Leningrad and three by the
State Tretyakovsky Gallery in Moscow.
Museum: There must be a reason why the
One-Picture Gallery was set up in Penza.
Presumably, it was because of the town’s
specific history and its cultural traditions?
Sazonov: Certainly. Penza is ad old Rus-
sian town founded in 1663. It spread out
along the banks of the river Sura, which
is one of the largest tributaries of the
Volga.
Penza is famous for its cultural tra-
ditions. The first circus troupe in Russia
was formed in the town in 1875, and the
Penza Music Academy was established in
1882. The Lunacharsky Theatre in Penza,
which is one of the oldest playhouses in
Russia, dates from 1893. A picture gallery
opened in 1892 and an art college in
1898.
Museum: The inhabitants o f Penza have
the opportunity to see the fine collection
in the Picture Gallery which houses over
6,000 works and the temporary exhibi-
tions organized in the town. What
prompted you to arrange exhibitions of
single pictures?
Sazonov: I think that when people visit
exhibitions, particularly large exhibi-
tions, they tend to be overwhelmed by
the sheer number of works and find it dif-
ficult to study and ‘experience’them in a
relaxed way. The exhibits flash past like
the countryside seen from the window of
an express train. Not infrequently, all
that remains after such a visit is a feeling
of tiredness and irritation. The exhibition
of a single work produces a greater emo-
tional impact on the visitor.
237
t
The idea of exhibiting a single picture
is not new. In the last centuryBryullov ex-
hibited his painting The Last Day of
Pompei in a number of European towns.
Huge queues formed in Bolshaya Mors-
kaya Street in St. Petersburg to see
Kuindzhi’s picture Moonlit Night on the
Dnieper. In 1974 Leonardo da Vinci’s
Mona Lisa was exhibited in a room by
itself in the Pushkin Fine Arts State
Museum in Moscow. The exhibition was
organized in such a way that people were
admitted directly to that room, saw the
picture and then left the museum. Pic-
tures may be presented separately in
galleries for the purpose of acquanting
people with new acquisitions, new at-
tributions, newly restored pictures, etc.,
although as a rule such paintings are ex-
hibited in the same room as other works.
Museum: You obviously didn’t care for
that arrangement?
Sazonov: Not entirely. Even if a separate
room is set aside for the picture, the
visitor intentionally or otherwise sees
paintings by other artists in the gallery
that are completely different in tone, and
the impression produced by the work
becomes blurred. It’s also a good idea to
provide additional information when
people first encounter a painting or the
work of a given artist. Experience also
shows that the types of information
usually provided in galleries-labels and
explanatory comments-don’t do much
to encourage an interest in art. Hence the
natural desire to find new approaches.
Museum: How did it all start? Where did
the idea of setting up the One-Picture
Gallery come from?
Sazonov: I think the idea was already in
the air, so to speak, but it was first ex-
pressed in 1980 by the Secretary of the
Penza Regional Party Committee, G. V.
Myasnikov. He is an expert on our area
and was involved in establishing and
developing the activities of a number of
museums in Penza.
Museum: How was this idea put into
practice?
S a ~ o n o v :In its present form, the One-
Picture Gallery is the result of long
research and much work. The town
authorities granted us permission to
238
71
The One-Picture Gallery in Penza.
1. The curtain was specially made for the
Gallery by Moscow artist L. V. Litvinova.
choose premises for it, and we decided on
the old postmaster’s house, a small,
detached single-storey building dating
from the middle of the nineteenth cen-
tury and situated on a hill with a good
view ofthe town (Fig. 71). The area ofthe
premises was about 120 m2. Together
with locd architects, we drew up plans for
converting the building into a gallery.
The nineteenth-century style was com-
pletely preserved. The externd and inter-
nad doors were copied by the restorers
from mid-nineteenth-century originals,
and the wrought i r ~ n w oof r ~the
~ internd
staircase and windows was made on the
basis of old originals by a self-taught
smirh from the town of Kuznersk in Pen-
aa region.
The original idea was that a wdl-
known painting would be exhibited for a
limited period in a small building, in a
H O Q I I ~ by itself with casually arranged
armchairs. During their visit, the visitors
would be able to consider the picture
while sitting undisturbed in the arm-
chairs, approach it, exchange opinions,
etc.
Since then, we have changed our
plans. Now-although We don’t Con-
sider this solution to be final-visits to
the gallery take the following form.
Visitors obtain tickets in advance, first
because we consider that they should
come prepared for rhe visit md secondly
because the great success ofthe gallery in
the town and region means that it’s dif-
ficult to get in.
We’ve tried to create a favourable at-
mosphere for an encounter with art. The
agreeable conditions help visitors to feel
relaxed. They’re asked to leave their coats
in the cloakroom in the basemenr, and
they then go up the stairs into the picture
Valery Petrovich Sazonov
room, where they sit in comfortable arm-
chairs. An average of thirty-five people
attend each session. We’ve purposely not
increased the number of places as we
want to put the visitor in the right frame
of mind for the rather intimate nature of
the experience. The restful interior decor
contributes to this aim.
The lights are turned off,and we start
the slide show, which is accompmied by
a soundtrack. The picture is meanwhile
conceded behind a curtain.’ Following a
short pause ar the end of the slide show,
the screen is raised, the footlights are
switched on, the curtain slowly opens and
the vjsitors see the painring (Fig. 72).
They can now examine it carefully
without a commentary while hearing a
specially sdected musicah accompani-
ment. The session lasts 40 minutes.
We had intended to elalaibit the artist’s
drawings for &e picture together with
photographs, books, etc., in the room
next to the viewing room. But experience
has shown that as our programmes pro-
vide visitors with a great dead of informa-
tion and require a certain mount of
emotional commitment from them, it’s
not a good idea to show them other
material afterwards. However, we may
look at &is again if an extension, in
which visitors can wait for the showing to
start, is added to the original building.
They could &O be informed there about
the origins of the One-Picture Galllery,
for exXllpk.
Museum: HOWdid you come to prepare
audio-visual p r o g r a m ” based on slide
shows with a soundtrack?
intended from the outset to
ors with a certain m o u n t of
information about the work on show.
planned to do this by having a member of
The One-Picture GaLLeery
the staff of the picture gallery give a 15-
to 20-minute talk on the picture, and its
painter, etc. But I thought that this ap-
proach was inappropriate, first because it
had been decided that the showing of the
picture would be accompanied by music
that would create a suitable atmosphere
and secondly because a guide could
unintentionally distract visitors from the
work by his speech and other mannerims.
Besides, it’s impossible to talk about the
very same picture maybe six times a day.
It’s too tiring and boring and must affect
the quality of the commentary. Then we
had the idea of showing a few slides to
draw attention to specific areas of a paint-
ing or to introduce visitors to other works
by the artist. Initially there were five
slides, but we now show as many as fifty
a session.
The next stage in our research was to do
with the script for the slide show. We
discovered that the museum staff could
only produce scripts for standard lectures,
a type of material that wasn’t suitable for
an experiment aimed at establishing a
unique institution. We decided to ap-
proach a professional writer and art critic.
It had been intended that the first picture
to be exhibited in the gallery would be
Peter I Questioning the Tsarevich
ALekseg by N. N. Ge, so we asked V. N.
Porudominsky, the author of a
monograph on the artist, to write the
script. However the gallery eventually
opened-on 12 February 1983-with
the picture by V. I. Surikov entitled The
Taking of t h e Snow Towiz. We are ex-
tremely grateful to the Russian State
Museum for enabling us to start our ex-
hibitions with that painting; Not just
because of its qualities but because it was
shown, in 1892, in a small mobile exhibi-
tion at the Penza Picture Gallery, which
had just opened. The canvas by N. N. Ge
was shown at a later date.
Once the script for the Surikov picture
had been written the question arose of
who should read it. Trial runs showed
that to be successful the entire pro-
gramme had to be prepared in a really
professional way. We decided to ask All-
Union Radio for the services of their best
readers and producers. The first sound-
track was recorded in the Central Sound-
Recording Studio‘ in MOSCOW.~ The
soundtrack for the first picture was
spoken by O. Tabakov, Ya. Smolensky
and N. Litvinova, who are leading actors
from Moscow theatres and excellent
readers. The role of’V. I. Surikov was
played by M. Ul’yanov.
Museam: You used the word ‘role’. Isn’t
that a slip of the tongue?
Sazonov: No. What is presented in the
gallery really is a form of theatre. As I
said, we even have a curtain. I think that
we not only can but must make use of ex-
pressive techniques from different arts in
exhibition work. After all, the contem-
porary theatre uses cinema techniques.
In the text of the soundtrack we con-
sciously avoid art criticism- which, in
our view, may seem rather obscure to the
uninitiated visitor. We try to convey to
the viewer a sense of the atmosphere of
what the picture is about, the flavour of
the period in which it was painted and
the personality of the artist.
Maseum: Could you develop that point?
Sazonov: Let’s take as an example the
showing of Surikov’spicture, The Taking
of the Snow Town. The account provided
of the picture is a dramatization bàsed on
source documents: letters written by the
artist himself and the recollections of
239
72
In the exhibition room.
friends. Varied assessments by contem-
poraries make it possible to form a view of
the complex artistic life of the period.
The slide show does not replace the pic-
ture, it prepares the visitor to appreciate
it. No mere visit can bring a work of art
to life in the same way. An important role
is played by the musical accompaniment,
which is carefully selected to correspond
to the picture and the spirit of the period.
Maseam: What other works have been
exhibited in the One-Picture Gallery and
what are you planning to show next?
Sazonov: All in all, we’ve shown six pic-
tures. Apart from those already mention-
ed, there was The Major Comes A-
Wooing by Fedotov, An Evening Gather-
ing by Repin, Spring, by Plastov, and
The Greatcoat, by Popkov.
We have many plans. We intend to go .
on showing the works of Russian and
Soviet artists. We should also like to in-
troduce our visitors to the best of foreign
art. But we must take account of the
resources of the of the galleries that lend
us their treasures.
The nature of our institution makes
even the selection of the picture rather
difficult. It must be a work of a high ar-
tistic level of which an expressive account
may be given. Even its size must be taken
into account-it would be difficult to ex-
hibit a small picture in our gallery.
Museam: There are posters for the gallery
all around Penza at the moment showing
a reproduction ofAnEvening Gatherilzg.
What do the posters for the other
2. This led to the formation of a permanent
production team: Soundtrack-script-writer,
V. Porudominsky; director-producer,
L. Velednitskaya; slide-show-directorproducer,
V. Sazonov; engineer, E. Frolov.
240
exhibitions in the One-Picture Gallery
look like? (Fig. 73).
Sazonov: When the gallery was set up an
emblem was designed depicting a frame
and a curtain. It is shown on the gallery
badge and on all QUI posters. The posters
follow a standard model; the only feature
that changes is the picture reproduced.3
Naseam: An institution like yours does
not have to face the problem of consew-
ing its collections. But under what condi-
tions are the works displayed?
Sazonov: That’s a very important ques-
tion, of course. The restorers from
galleries who tsavel with the pictures are
able to satisfy themselves that conditions
for the display of pictures in the exhibi-
tion room are extremely good: tempera-
ture and humidity are maintained at a
constant level, the number of visitors is .
v e q small, and air extraction ensures that
the artifidal Bighting by 60 W bulbs does
not lead to overheating. Also, the picture
is behind the curtain most of the time.
The building is fitted with a warning
system to ensure that various parameters
remain within safe limits for the picture.
har kind of people are youn:
programmes aimed at?
Sazonov: When we set up the One-
Picture Gallery we were principally think-
ing of using it t eresr the general
public in fine art. are aiming at the
local population of the town and the
region and not at visitors. The gallery is
gradudly introducing them to quite a
number of outstanding works of art, and
the level of presentation is high enough
to satisfy art lovers while remaining corn-
prehensible to the uninitiated. The en-
tries in the visitors’ book indicate that
many become regular visitors to the
galledy and look forward to its next pro-
gramme. It is interesting that visits to the
Penza Picture Gallery have greatly in-
creased since the opening of the One-
Picture Gallery. After seeing our ehibi-
tions many visitors become interested in
art books and have a completely different
perception of artists’ works.
Hxsezlíw: How many people visit the
gallery?
Sazonov: Since it opened, about 130,000
people have visited the gallery. You must
bear in mind that there are only six ses-
sions a day and, like the Picture Gallery,
the One-PictureGallery closes on one day
a week: Thursday.
During the exhibition of the first pic-
ture we prepared a public survey ques-
tionnaire and began to do some
sociological research. We discovered that
over 50 per cent of visitors were workers
from industrial enterprises and that there
were many students and teachers.
Another interesting fact is that we are
popular with the rural population. For
example, they accounted for ~ne-fifthof
the 30,000 people who visited the gallery
during the exhibition of Plastov’s picture
Spnkg, which lasted six ~a7_0nths.Visits to
the gallery by country people are usually
part ofa cultural programme that also in-
cludes a circus or a theatre show and an
introduction to rhe sights of the town.
Naseam: There can be of course be no
better tribute to the work of the gallery
staff than the appreciation shown by
visitors. Could you give a few examples of
remarks about the work of the
Picture Gallery?
Sazonov: With pleasure. Many of them
are very complimentary. Ms Glukplcpva,
who is an engineer, writes in the visitors’
book: ‘Now Penza has ~ W Qart centres!
How lucky we are!’ Mr Ivanov, who i s a
lecturer at Penza Pedagogical Institute,
says that: ‘Even the viewing of the pic-
VaLepy Petrovich Sazonov
ture, or rather the way in which it is view-
ed, is original and is thought out to the
last detail. This increases the emotional
impact on visitors’. The comments of
people from other towns who have
managed to visit the gallery are equally
enthusiastic: ‘We are from Leningrad
and have seen this picture several times,
but here in your gallery we have seen it in
a new light, as iffor the first time. Thank
YOU for this pleasurable experience’.
Maseam: Everything you have said is in-
dicative of a creative approach and of a
search for new methods. What are you
working on at present?
Sazonov: The Penza Picture Gallery
recently took over the old land-bank
building, erected in 1912 by the architect
von Hohen. Our collection will be
transferred there this year after restora-
tion work is completed. The exhibition
area will be increased from 300 to 1,500
m2, but it’s not just a question ofincreas-
ing &e size ofthe Gallery: we’ve decided
to reflect local artistic traditions more ful-
ly in &e new layout, concentrating on the
works of the Penza artists who are &e
pride of our region. Popularization ofthe
cultural heritage is a most important way
of instilling a feeling of patriotism and
love for one’s co~ntry.The P Q Q H ~ ~ofS the
Gallery will house three exhibitions corn-
memoratting our outstanding local artists:
the first Director of the Art Gallery,
Savitsky, Repin’s pupil, Goryushlrin-
Sorokapudov, and also Lentulov. We in-
tend to exhibit documents, photographs
and personal belongings as well as their
works. After all, its possible to try out
new techniquesin various types of exhibi-
tion establishment.
3. Produced by the artist, A. Merlcushev.
73
Gallery posters.
A new t e m p o m y exhibition room
in the NationaZ Mzuezcm of EthnoZogy,

It was stated in a recent issue of Museum rosette stucco decoration. The vaulted Marta Sierra-Delage
that ‘thecultural heritage is an expression iron roof, now glassed over, provides Head of the African Section of the National
of each people’s historical experience and direct overhead lighting in the museum Museum of Ethnology in Madrid. She is a member
its collective personality’ . I It is precisely area, which, though renovated in the of the governing board of the Spanish Association
because it is the product of historical ex- 1940s, has remained unchanged, since of Africanists, of which she recently attended the
perience, and representative of a people’s 1875. International Assembly. The Association is
recognized by the Council of Europe. Principal
culture, that the presentation of the The Temporary Exhibition Room research on the cultures of Africa South of the
cultural heritage must be seen as a way of covers an area of 120 m2. As will be seen Sahara, using as one source of documentation the
explaining a cultural achievement. There from the photographs, it still has the objects and archives of the museum.
should therefore be a maximum amount original iron columns, a very stylized Cor-
of reliable information. inthian capital and vertical fluting which Alfonso Calle-García
This consideration led us to adopt a is intersected by moulding a third of the Architect. He has worked for some time on applying
methodology aimed at ‘bringing the ex- way up. The area is delimited by two present-day criteria to designing museum build-
hibits to life’ for the period that they were walls of different thicknesses, facing each ings. He completed his studies by devising a
displayed, and establishing communica- other; one giving on to the street and the museum on functional lines in collaboration with
tion with them, in a setting which would other on to a patio; of the remaining two curators and museum staff.
encourage visitors to become immersed walls-one serves as the dividing line
in their context. In a specific area, set between the area and the museum en-
apart for the purpose, we displayed trance, and the other is a party wall ad-
ethnographic materials -carvings and joining another building. (Figs. 74, 75.)
masks-from a cultural continuum on The temporary equipment of the room
the African continent, extending from makes it unsuitable for permanent
Guinea-Bissau in West Africa to the Con- displays.* In premises where design and
go, and representing a period between layout are as bare as a hospital ward, the
approximately the last quarter of the relative humidity, heat, lighting,
nineteenth century and the ~ ~ G O S . ~ renewal of the air, and vibrations require
constant monitoring: moreover, the type
The premises of lighting, spatial arrangements (length,
breadth and height), sound (background
The National Museum of Ethnology, in music) and decoration also need par-
which the Temporary Exhibition Room is ticular care.
located, is an historic nineteenth-century Columnsrun along the entire length of
building constructed in 1875 by a Madrid the larger of the two areas into which the
architect, the Marqués de Cubas,3 in the space is divided, and there is a further
eclectic style peculiar to the period: it was subdivision as the smaller area is linked to
considered ‘a temple to science’, at the the larger by pillars that are part of the
time. original structure. The wall giving on to 1. Museum, No. 141, 1984.
As the visitor enters the building, a the street is one metre thick, contains 2. In view of the fact that the items were very
stairway leads to a four-pillared portico three windows, and provides a substan- poorly documented, if at all, these dates are
estimations.
with Ionic columns and pediment, which tial thermal mass to control the inside 3. Marta Sierra-Delage, ‘El Museo del Dr.
is the entrance to the main part. The temperature, which varies hardly at all Velasco. Proyecto del Marqués de Cubas’, Goya
wings are an example of late nineteenth- between day and night. The temporary (Madrid), No. 167/168, 1982.
4. This lessens some of the problems that arise
century domestic architecture, as are the nature of the exhibitions makes it un- in museums, obviates others and emphasizes the
facade, the balconies and the egg and necessary to take account of changing temporary nature of the exhibition.
242
74
Overall view of the exhibition room,
showing the three demarcated areas, A,
B and 6.
75 seasons (summerIwinter). The wall also
Supportieg pilasters separating areas ]B resolves the problem of humidity caused
and 6. by vapour pressure; condensation is con-
fined within the mass of the wall and does
not seep out into the room. Nor is there
a humidity problem with the other out-
side wall, giving on to the patio. Only 30
cm thick, it has less thermal mass and
’*
therefore produces a greater interchange
o$ calories and frigories, over a much
smaller sudace. The plaster facing on the
inside of the walls effectively controls
humidity, and a! that is needed is special
attention to the windowss whish affect
the internal micro-climate. The two re-
maining walls cause no changes in heat or
humidity levels, since they separate inter-
na1 spaces with similar micro-climates.
Having analysed these conditions and
studied the internal micro-climate, we
considered them sufficiently satisfactory
to be able to turn to the question of the
actual display units. A factor which is
vital in ensuring the temperature and
humidity control required for exhibits is
the type of display case used.6
Display cases may be either free-
standing units, placed between the col-
umns or pilasters, or glassed-in areas
backing on to the walls ofthe room, mak-
ing use of the free space above the
central-heating radiators. The use of glass
for the entire sudace fulfils a dual h n c -
tion: it provides physical protection by
separating the exhibit from its surroun-
dings, while at the same time, the all-
Narta Sieva-DeLane and Alfonso Cade-Garha
round glass brings the exhibit nearer to
the public, who may view it from dif-
ferent angles. It also helps to control the
atmosphere and protects the exhibits to a
great extent from dust and vibrations in
the room. An attempt was made to en-
sure that the inside of the display cases
was sufficiently ventilated to prevent
stagnant air from building up into a
‘greenhouse effect’.
Once the physical arrangementsfor the
exhibition, had been made, we studied
the possible effects on the environment
of any changes made in the room: (a)
location, quantity and quality of the
lighting, as well as the heat it would emit;
(b) the m o u n t of heat and humidity
brought in by visitors; (c) monitoring the
distribution of heat from the radiators to
ensure an even temperature throughout
the room; (d) possible vibrations from
the sound installation, and the desired
sound level.
With the above in view, we equipped
the rooan with an average illumination of
150 luxes to supplement the lighting of
the display cases. On the basis of the
5 . The windows create substantial internal-
external interchange of calories and frigories,
produce condensation and let in direct natural
light, all of which are detrimental to the proper
conservation of the display. This is why they have
been covered over.
6. ‘A technical recipient’ as Schilione puts it.
We designed the size and shape of the display
case to suit the usable space and the type of
object to be exhibited.
A new temporary exhibition room in the National’ Mweum of Ethnology, Madrid
5 WIm2, the heat emitted was 8 kcals-
hourlm2, to which should be added 60
kcals-hour per visitor.’ The central
heating was turned off, since it does the
exhibits more harm to be subjected to
sudden changes in temperature than to a
constant- albeit lower than ideal-
temperature. Finally we ensured that
there were no vibrations whatsoever. This
was possible thanks to the solid construc-
tion of the building and the airtight win-
dows and panes. A technical study was
made of possible vibrations from the
sound installation. These were eliminat-
ed by a careful distribution of the sources
of sound, making it practically impossi-
ble for vibrations to damage the exhibits.
We then studied the room in relation
to the effects thát might be produced by:
attempts to define the spaces clearly so as
to increase the overall impact through the
design and layout of the display cases; the
items exhibited; the message they seek to
convey.
A suitable ambience can be achieved
by varying the quality of the light and by
contrasting the colours of wall panels,
curtains and backdrops for the exhibits in
the display cases or the display cases
themselves. The one constraint is that
this can only be done on vertical sur-
faces.8The horizontal surfaces cannot be
modified to provide different types of
background. The floor material is a warm
brown colour (cork) and the roof is used
exclusively for lighting.
Other important elements are the
layout of the exhibits, the wall panels,
the display cases, and the systematic and
balanced display of photos, charts and
maps providing information on each
culture. The maps were placed on the
right of the exhibits, making use of
radiator tops and alcoves, while the ex-
hibits themselves and smaller expla-
natory photographs were on the left.
There were photos in colour or sepia,
framed in natural wood and arranged ac-
cording to size, as well as information
charts in two sizes in large letters with
reasonable space between lines. There
were also large, coloured general maps,
and more detailed ones for each culture,
of the same colour as the large one for the
corresponding area.9
Warm and delicate shades of red and
yellow, were used to suggest a feeling for
each exhibit’s place of origin. Lighting
effects and recordings of African music
helped to reinforce the creation of an
African environment.
Each exhibit is made of a specific
material, has a specific shape and weight,
243
and is meant to be seen from a specific
angle. Suitable individual stands which
would allow the exhibits to speak for
themselves had to be designed. We
therefore used methacrylate, which is a
resistant and harmless material that af-
fords an unimpeded all-round view.
We avoided any kind of angular
shapes, and designed round bases, more
in keeping with the carvings. Circular a
tubes were firmly embedded in the bases
as supports for the exhibits. For masks,
these tubes were placed in the centre of
the base, while for Fang statues, they
were set towards the edge. The protrusion
at the back was fitted into the tubes (Fig.
76 (a) and (b)). For the bovine heads with
elongated necks from Guinea-Bissau,the
base was designed in the shape of a figure
‘8’ (with one side larger than the other),
of the same length as the head. A hook
sticks out of the broader side of the base
and can be twisted round to change direc-
tion, (Fig. 76 ( c ) ) . The jointed display b
models were made with movable arms
and fixed with rounded screws to avoid
snagging garment fibres.
We attempted to give some unity to
the display, by respecting the specific
characteristics of each figure, high-
lighting its shape as a determining factor
of particular aspects of the social group
from which it originated, using the stand
to emphasize this aspect, and the posi-
tion and angle to accentuate its sym-
bolism. Unity was further heightened by
avoiding sunlight, which can damage the
organic substance of the exhibit, and us-
ing filters on the reflectors of the artificial c
lighting system. 76
The objects were situated in their pro- Sketches of the stands.
per geographical and their ethno-
historical context, by the use of audio-’
visual aids to describe the ritual in which
they play a part.
Our criteria in mounting this exhibi-
tion took account of the fact that the ex-
hibits were ethnographic objects to be
shown in a confined space, and that the
aim was to reveal the features common to
various cultures. We therefore thought it
best to present each group as a cultural
entity. For this purpose we made use of 7. The possibility of these creating a sudden
change in temperature or humidity is very slight,
walls as natural partitions between the and has therefore not been taken into account.
various spaces; we also used the columns The air should be changed at least twice every
to set off some of the more aesthetic and hour, according to the technical requirements for
this type of room.
valuable items that might be regarded as 8. The itinerary of the exhibition and the
focal points of the exhibition.10 A clarity of the message to be conveyed take
precedence here.
geographicalorder was followed, with ex- 9. Here, as in the last of the charts, the
planations of the use to which the dif- difference in size is 30 cm.
ferent exhibits were put for purposes of 10. Any imbalance between the number of
objects and the number of peoples represented
worship and ritual. was redressed by borrowing from other
collections.
244 marta Sieva-Delage and Alfonso Calle García

77
Diagram of the room with the itinerary of
the exhibition.

- I----

Since the exhibition was intended for

people of different ages and educational
levels, we geared it t-CI an average level of
knowledge to ensure that everyone could
appreciate it. The texts were clear,
printed on single sheets and accom-
panied by diagrams and audio-visual
aids.
The purpose of the information was to
impart knowledge of other cultures as
clearly and attractively as possible, and
with a minimum of distortion, SO as: to
give visitors an insight- into a different
model of society, which they could
visualize, comprehend and compare with
their own; and to make &e cultural
heritage a source of real communication
by means of its visual presentation. Por
all this we needed to take into account
both individual and environmental
psychology.
Each individual passes, roughly speak- to create was based on a study of the selec- which free-standing display cases were
ing, through a number ofphases between tive perception of visitors as an important placed to avoid obstructing movement,
school and adulthood. The first phase is factor making for greater receptiveness. whereas those at the two ends were not
a process of adaptation to society (be- This involved: directing their attention; of the alcoves, formed by the sup-’
tween 7 and 11years of age). This process establishing an overall atmosphere of porting pilasters, only three were used,
includes a learning period, during which unity, avoiding any jarring notes by while the others leading to the corridor
the central nervous system is maturing careful attention to technical and en- were used as an entrance to the third
structurally as well as functionally. vironmental factors, including small space (G) and as an exit from the exhibi-
Highly contrasting COl0Ur.Sshould be US- details such as labels containing two lines tion at the end of the itinerary.
ed to heighten the child’s perception.11 of information in Parge lettering, with ad- In addition, we attempted to make
We therefore provided S Q h U d e d draw- ditional information in small letters visitors as comfortable as possible, by
ings in which the child could identify below; and spacing out exhibits SO as to organizing a steady flow and avoiding
from the colour the geographicalarea cor- reduce visitor fatigue: Since menta! crowds which might be distracting.
responding to each culture. fatigue should also be avoided, by for ex- Figures 7 8 and 79 show views of the
In the second phase, the adolescent (14 ample, defining areas with contrasting display cases with objects inside them and
years of age) is able to understand lighting, as should physical fatigue, by of the new Temporary Exhibition Room
perspective drawings and has a greater providing rest areas. being inaugurated with this display of
capacity for abstract thought. In short, the aim is for the visitor on African culture. The exhibition was ac-
therefore decided to produce an ex- leaving the exhibition to have a grasp of companied by the music which is part of
planatory note on themes such as the concept of cultural relativity, a scale th‘e daily lives and the identity of the
‘ancestor-worship’, wich a glossary of of values, that will be instnacuve to the peoples.
technical terms. individual and, consequently, to society. [ Trdnslatedfrom Spanish]
This was followed up by documenta- In this way, the museum becomes a
tion for adults, consisting of a catalogue dynamic living source of information.
with a general introduction on ‘masks The itinerary of the exhibition was
and carvings’ and a specific introduction determined by space, the contents and
to each culture. The aim was to show that the criteria for presentation. To the right
al! manifestations of human life are valid of the entrance there was a double ‘SI, 11. For example, maps should be drawn with
and should be viewed without precon- designed anti-clockwise. The three spaces clearly contrasting colours. Cf. Friedrich Fröbel’s
early studies in 1825 on this theme or Itten’s
ceived value judgements. (A, B, C), as seen in the diagram (Fig. studies on the theory of contrast (the Bauhaus,
The psychological atmosphere we tried 7 7 ) , were separated by four columns on 1919-33).
A new temporag exhibition room in the National' Museum of Efhnol'ogy, M a d d 245

78-79
The new hall for temporary exhibitions with
exhibits for Scu&ure and mads from
Afnka Soi& of the Sahara.
246
Denis Serjeant
He is an architect who has worked on the designs of
schools and colleges. For ten years, he was involved
in the organization of a school of architecture in a
college of art, an unusual situation today for an
architectural school, but one which emphasized the
relation between all art. For six years, he has been
the Surveyor to the Royal Academy of Arts in Lon-
don, an appointment which involves him in all
aspects of the life of the institution, as well as the
care ofBurlington House, the beautiful home of the
Academy.
The Great International Art Exhibition
will be with us for a long time. The
author has argued the case that this must
be accepted, that the conservation prob-
lems generated by such exhibitions are
special and beyond the normal standards
for permanent exhibitions, and that con-
servators, owners, exhibition designers,
gallery directors, and those entrepeneurs
who mastermind the exhibitions, should
all recognise the specid responsibilities of
indulging in this questionable interna-
tional trade. Unfortunately, the reasons
which inspire the participants are many
and varied and few place care of the
paintings as a first priority. These notes
aim to provide a closer look at some par-
ticular perils.
Let us start by being positive. Those
who handle the works of art are superb.
Unconfhased by any thought other than
that of protecting the masterpieces, they
will tenderly remove the ~ o r kfrom its
permanent position on the wall, pack it
in its special container, and despatch it on
its journey happy that they could do no
more. The best ofthe international ship-
pers are using magnificently designed
travelling cases, structurally strong, with
secondary linings, providing controlled
environmental conditions. These cases
are of such beauty that one waits for the
day when they will be exhibited with (01
without) their contents (Figs.
Gone, one hopes, are the days when a
Duke would send great paintings to the
restorer on the back of an open farm cart,
in the care of the estate workers, a form
of transport observed by the author. The
confidence that the works will travel well
when placed in the hands 5fprQfesSiQnds
today can be extended to the care of the
works during the prepaxation, exhibi-
tion, and repacking, when the new
generation 05' young conservators are
responsible (Figs. 82, 83). Metkulous in-
spections at the beginning and at the end
of the exhibition, and continual observa-
tions during the exhibition will ensure
that any possible damage is reduced t~ a
minimum. In short, the art world owes
much to the loving care of the workers
who make our exhibitions possible, and
it would be wrong not to praise them
(Pigs. 84, $5).
It is when one C Q R ~ ~ Sto the parts
played by the eminent that anxieties
begin. It is the common story of divided
loyalties and responsibilities. How does
an ambitious art historian, determined to
create the greatest show of the decade,
reconcile his desire to have a unique
painting with the thought that the work
in question may be structurally unsound
and better left in peace (and in one piece)
on the wdl of its permanent home? After
all, he is dealing with opinions, perhaps
the advice from the conservatorsis not ab-
solute, perhaps there won't be any real
danger. And it is such a very beautiful
painting. The temptations are great.
These are &e temptations facing one who
acknowledges that conservation matters.
Would that this were universally true. Bn
murkier areas, the acrions of the great
may give off an odour of hypocrisy that is
really very unpleasant. Demands that
works be exhibited u n d a certain condi-
tions and answering promises that they
will be, are exchanged with all the
dishonest abandonment of dictators carv-
ing up a continent. Unfortunately, con-
servation in the art world contains
enough confusions, doubts, and dis-
agreements to allow plenty of I Q Q ~in
which the dictators can maneuvre. Only
The protection of pai&ng.r in loan exhibitions 247

80
Ron Douch and Bob Ashby begin the
excavations into a packing case.

greater knowledge and better under- 81

standing can provide the foundations for Further excavations by Ron and Bob in the
improved defences. presence of two Royal Academy
conservationists, Isabel Horovitz and Mandy
When sharp minds lay fresh and il- Pavlley.
luminating scientific propositions before
the world, reactions commonly fit into a
pattern. First, the revelation is greeted
with generosity by many as a useful addi-
tion to human knowledge, bringing new
understanding to the world around us.
Then a period of consolidation follows,
while fellow workers repeat and extend
the observations to reinforce the accuracy
of the propositions. Happily this process
frequently supports the original idea and
turns it into an accepted law. It is the
belief of the author that in conservation
matters much of our thoughts are some-
where between the two positions. There
is a generally accepted set of standards
laid out by the pioneers, and we all ought
to be grateful for their devotion to the
crusade. But have we reached the stage of
the final and universal transference of
these standards into laws? Certainly I am
not suggesting those standards are
82
wrong; that would be impertinent. ~

The Fhing of Marsyas, a late Titian. Details

Rather, it is because those laws are still are being recorded by a photographer
not yet universally accepted by all that I watched by an art historian.
suggest much remains to be done. Only
then can curators be adequately armed to
control the situation and bring protection
to the great art which is in their care
without the problems which are all too
frequent today.
The knowledge sought is simple but
collecting it is a monumental task. We do 83
not have extensive records of the condi- Norman Rosenthal, the Royal Academy
tions in which great paintings have sur- Exhibitions Secretary, starts a jig of pleasure
vived. Of course the major galleries with at the first sight of a painting; Piers
Rodgers, t h e Royal Academy Secretary, is
adequate staff to monitor and record can more controlled; and three couriers watch
provide such records, but even these may the unveiling through cool professional
be less than fully informative for the eyes.
248
growth of such recording has accom-
panied changes in the galleries as im-
provements have been made in the en-
vironmental conditions. These very
changes can destroy the evidence of the
conditions under which the paintings
have lived for so long. But we are talking
here of the great galleries which ate
reasonably fïmded. Outside these gal-
leries SO many paintings exist in private
collections, in churches, and in minor
art museums where there are no conser-
vators and no records. Often these are the
sources from which the bulk of
the organised exhibitions.
with a painting which has
same place in the same house for many
yeas and is in reasonable condition,
curiosity at least suggests that the records
of the environmental conditions should
ithout the knowledge
that such records could provide it is dif-
ficult tQspeak with CeEainty ofthe condi-
tions required for this work of art. Infor-
mation which tends to indicate that some
paintings have survived for many years in
srandards of temperature and humidity
outside the conventional norms does ex-
ist, but does this information justify the
application of generalised standards in all
situations? This must not be taken to
mean that the accepted figures are wrong
and that this discussion is an attack upon
those figures. We know many paintings
have not survived, those that have might
Ron Douch and Willie Jasper move the
Gephalus and Procris of Veronese into
~~ ~
be healthier if the conditions had been
nearer to our norms, and, ofcourse, some
are from the studios of painters who had
defective technical skills and who created
works of great fragility which are at risk.
Would that they had been cosseted by
conservators in past years.
But to return to OUT particular paint-
ing, seemingly happy though slumming
in improper surroundings, a situation
which should arouse curiosity a d pro-
voke comment. Is it luck that it is still in
good condition, though living dange-
rously? Why has the rackety life not in-
duced damaging stresses? Or rather how
has the painting accommodated such
stresses?Por, in an uncontrolled environ-
ment, they must exist. With some cau-
tion a tentative answer is attempted. If a
painting, its frame, and its stretcher are
all in good structural condition, then very
slow mCJvementS induced by very slow
changes in humidity and temperature
can be acceptable because everything
moves together. Observation suggests
that heavy buildings with great mass in
the construction, with few air changes,
and probably few visitors, move between
the summer heat and the winter cold very
gently and smoothly. Such buildings
seem to be safe homes for paintings. Cer-
tainly in such conditions pianos remain in
tune longer. Perhaps gdleries should
have pianos as well as hygrometers!If this
observation is correct, then it demon-
84
position.
85
The final act, a painting is f i e d to the
wall.
Denis Serjeant
strates how our painting can live within a
band of temperatures and humidities
wider than &e accepted norms. If these
limits are known it would be reasonable.
to suggest that it could be exhibited
elsewhere if the gallery had stable condi-
tions within the same limits, provided
that the transition were made skilfully. A
pattern for the move might be to pack the
painting into a heavily buffered case, SO
that it arrives at the gallery in its home
climate. The exhibiting gallery would ad-
just those conditions to those of the
gallery in a ‘decompression chamber’
over a period of time minimising the
stress before exhibiting the work. At the
end of the exhibition, the process would
be reversed. Such a system would involve
exhibiting galleries in the expense of pro-
viding equipment, space, stat=€, and
time, an additional burden on strained
budgets, but it would be a responsible
course of action. Beyond these ideas for
robust paintings lie specialized methods
for sensitive works, when it is necessary to
create micro-climates either in the
galleries themselves or within frames and
display cases for the works.
In conclusion, international loan ex-
hibitions involve risks of many sorts of
which disturbing environmental condi-
tions is one. To minimise these distur-
bances, the history of the conditions of
the permanent home must be known, the
gallery for the exhibition must offer
 The protection ofpaintings in loan exbibitions
stable humidity and temperature, and
discrepancies between the two (if they ex-
ist) have to be reconciled. In all, a heavy
task, but surely better than the exchange
of empty demands and promises com-
mon today. Such a programme will pro-
5
vide the conservator with the precise and
developed knowledge to protect each
R. H. Marijnissen
Born in Ghent, 1923. Entered into close collabora-
tion with P. Coremans in 1948. Was appointed
Deputy Director in 1958 of the Institut Royal du
Patrimoine Artistique, Brussels, since when he has
been in charge of the conservation department. His
doctoral thesis Het Sescbua’igde kunstwerk (Univer-
sity of Ghent, 1966)was published in French under
the title Dégrua’ation,consewation et restauration
de I’aeuvre d’art (Brussels, Arcade, 1967, 2 vols.).
He has also published monographs on the
allegorical aspects of Brueghel (1969) and Bosch
(1972). Since 1970 he has been a member of the
Belgian Royal Academy of Science, Literature and
the Fine Arts.
painting from the pressures of those
whose ambitions may lead them to
gambles in which the only losers will be
the paintings.
Muy we beep the Brezcgljed?
Most people tend to think of the typical
museum curator as someone surrounded
by books and priceless objects, commun-
ing with great minds and working in
monastic serenity, far from the world and
its madding crowds. Only a frew long-
dead scholars correspond to this stereo-
type. Gone are the days of the distin-
guished absent-minded intellectual, well
past the age of retirement, but still
holding sway over the artistic clutter in
his office while his successor is provi-
sionally installed in a spare corner.
The museum has changed. For some
time now its raison d’être has been
challenged. While Marinetti and the
Futurists were for burning it down, the
post-war avant-garde called for the in-
terpenetration of the museum and the
street: the museum would be merged in-
to the street, and the street into the
museum.
The museum has been described by
some as afflicted by rigor mortis. But the
museum is not the only institution sub-
ject to rust and decay. Any human under-
taking that fails to change is nearing its
end. The fact that things are now moving
in the museum world is a welcome piece
of news.
What will the museum be like a few
decades hence? To caricature what it has
been in the past is not difficult, for the
museum lends itself to such caricature.
As to its future, only a crystal-gazer could
hazard a guess.
Threatened by an ultimate cataclysm
which defies the imagination, faced with
age-old ethnic conflicts for which there is
no solution, disrupted by industrial
revolutions and population explosions,
this world of ours seems ill-disposed to
listen to those who study the vestiges of
249
l. The photographs Were taken at the Royal
Academy of Arts, London, during the installation
of the exhibition The Genius of Venice,
1500-1600. From November 1983 to March 1984,
147 paintings were shown, together with
drawings, prints, sculptures and documents in a
grand total of 355 works of art. It was an
astonishing exhibition with great names and
great works and the public loved it, coming in
their thousands day after day.
the past. It may indeed seem ludicrous
for us in our comfortable archairs to
discuss the future of museums at a time
when each and every one of the world’s
inhabitants is sitting on a bomb. It seems
that the written, printed or spoken words
which until recently were instinct with
meaning have now become defined by a
semantic discipline devoid of any
context.
‘I am one of those who believe a
human life to be more important than
Chartres Cathedral,’ declared Jean-Paul
Sartre (Sitzzations, ZlI). And Giacometti
is reported to have said that, froin a house
on fire, he would have saved the cat
before saving the Rembrandt. To be sure,
‘the Cathedral will not produce new men
to replace us if we die for it’; however, let
us not anticipate the eventuality that any
survivors would rebuild Chartres, by
making idle comparisons between in-
commensurableconcepts: both living be-
ings and works of art should be saved. In
any case, Giacometti never suggested
that the Rembrandt should be left to be
consumed by the flames.
Aware as we are of the possibility of
disappearing once and for all like a
luminous green spot fading from the radar
screen, let us leave these interstellar spaces
and return to our subject: museums. It
will be seen that this is asubject which fre-
quently and rapidly changes ground.
Exhibitions have become the fashion:
Everyone is for them: scholars and scientists
call for scientific demonstrations, the public is
thirsting for the topical and the contem-
porary, politicians regard masterpieces as
diplomatic instruments and curators wish to
display their know-how. In the old days, a
good curator was someone who built up a
I
museum; today, he is someone who takes it to has visited it. Little matter: the public is ed by Bazin as anxious to show what they
pieces.’ drawn. People queue for hours to view it can do.
in atrocious conditions, and emerge ex- Let us pause a moment to consider
The famous exhibition of Flemish asperated and exhausted. what they know. Unfortunately, their
Primitives mounted in Bruges in the SO long as they come! They even elbow files are sometimes of a confidential
summer of 1902 was a veritable revela- their way through the crowd to get a bet- nature. Successivelycoaxed and threaten-
tion, marking the arrival on the interna- ter look at a particular show-case! ed, the curator comes round and agrees to
tional scene of the old masters of the Low It is true that the public comes. But lend the jewel of his collection. Things
Countries. Although its results have since does it come back a few weeks later to ad- then take an unexpected or even ludi-
been taken several stages further, what it mire at leisure the equally fine, equally crous turn. Everyone knows the story of
achieved remains of scientific value. imporrant items forming p u t of the per- the priceless manuscript lent on formal
Organized by reliable scholars, it was a manent collection? Alas, no; neither the instructions after laborious discussions
well-deserved success in its time, bearing crowds nor the 10 per cent for whom, it and correspondence; in the end it is
in mind the resources then available for is claimed, the exercise of ‘bringing art to fetched by the organizer of& exhibition
comparative studies. the people’ has been a fruitful one. Just in person. It is then promptly brought
Compiling lists of publications for the what exactly does the public come to see? back by a cdé-owner who has just found
purpose of catdogue notes is admittedly This, we are told, is an élitist argu- it lying on his premises ‘left behind by a
a useful activity. By d l means let us ment: the ultimate insult. g e n t h ” who dropped in for a coffee’.
celebrate centenaries of the births and To argue in favour of safeguarding After a three-month stay abroad, a
deaths ofgeniuses, but let us not imagine works in order that years hence the public valuable painting returns to its home. It
that there is anythkhg scholarly about able to admire a Bot- has travelled all the way in its snug,
bringing together a collection of available eyden, a Brueghel or polystyrene-lined crate. It ha5 not been
works. For pity’s sake let us not dignify a the Books of&ds; is that redly to display damaged, but it is unrecognizable, the
mere marker survey, disguised as a na- an élitisr attitude? varnish has become opaque, incrusted
tional tribute to a dynasty of painters, by 1 remember a radio interview in which with chalky dust. The lorry-driver has
calling it a contribution to science. Put- the director of an institute well known for signed the delivery receipt, the museum
ting on a meticulously prepared exhibi- its major exhibitions referred to the likewise. The report on the painting’s
tion, in order ro reved art which has been transient-nature of things in order to put conditions drawn up at the time of its ar-
previously overhked, or even decried, into perspective the risks entailed in rival for the exhibition says nothing
can promote the advance of knowledge: mounting such exhibitions. Since we on- about the state of the varnish. What can
this is not tme of bringing priceless works ly live once, we have the right to ‘con- the curator, who willingly agreed to lend
from the other end of the earth in order sume’ masterpieces -such, at least, in the painting, do? Admit he was wrong?
to illustrate some sweeping theme such as its broad outlines, was his argument, Or place it in the reserve collection, and
‘The image of man in taken from the doctrinaire terminology discover six months later that the varnish
It is the physical presence of the works Of Some §OdOhgkt. needs to be completely removed?
that is now required. ‘The physical In short, SO that the masterpieces of art In another typical case, the panels of a
presence of the original art works achieves may be presented to the public, the right famous triptych are deemed to be essen-
an altogether different impact, that goes is arrogated to destroy them. tial for an exhibition devoted to the
beyond the pure instmction to be derived The politics of organizing major ex- iconography of a particular saint. Con-
from books.’ The argument is a strange hibitions is an important and painful sulted by the Church Vestry, the ec-
one, since everyone is supposed to know subject. There is policy at the highest clesiastical authorities authorize the loan
that works of art and books are not the level, and local provincial policy which ‘providing that the proper security
same thing. The requirement itself is aims at being international or at least at measures are taken’. Displayed in an
mildly musing, particularly when voiced promoting a grand design for art. The overheated building, the triptych is later
by art historians who tend to prefer former has national inrerests in mind; the reinstated in the church, and it is only
photographs to art. Remember the heart- latter seeks to bring together the entire after six months that blisters begin to ap-
felt cry: ‘Bother the originals!’ CQ@Z~S ofa famous artist, the pride of his pear; later, the paint flakes away. The
The public’s hunger for all things or her native or adpoted town. Old daily grind of administrative COT-
topical is an inexhaustible but dangerous masters are lauded as being the best am- respondence begins: the organizers daim
subject, to be given a wide berth. bassadors, and are therefore dispatched to have a watertight insurance policy,
It may well be that the public attends to the four corners of the earth, on good- while the insurance company flourishes
an exhibition of Hittite art on learning will missions. Any objections one might its duly signed receipt, wherein the
from the media that Princess So-and-so have should be silenced, since it is the na- Church Vestry acknowledges the triptych
tion’s interest that is at stake. was returned safe and sound. As regards
1. G. Bazin, Le temps des musées, p. 276, 1967. Finally, there are the curators describ- the d m a g e reported six months after the
May we heep the Breughel'? 251

86
A lectern was sent on loan to an important
exhibition. The base, broken during its
removal, was deposited in the restoration
laboratory with a request that it be repaired
in time for the exhibition which was to
open a week later. It was only the base, but
the base of an eighteenth-century work of
art, and is not this the very base or basis of
our profession?
252
contract had expired ... The ecclesiastical
authorities, for their part, point to the ex-
tremely explicit reservation formulated in
their letter. The Church Vestry, covered
by the authorization received from the
ecclesiastical authorities, takes the
organizers to task; they, in turn, refer the
Vestry to the insurance company, and the
story goes on.
A badly worm-eaten fourteenth-
century polychrome statue was knocked
over by a visitor during an exhibition.
The work was in fact destroyed, since any
attempt to restore it would have been
tantamount to creating a fake. The in-
surance company’sreasoning was typical:
first, the policy did not cover pre-existing
damage; and secondly, the statue had
already been treated in an effort to con-
solidate it in the 1960s; accordingly, as
regards the accident in question, it ap-
peared that the statue was not strong
enough to stand up to the hazards in-
herent in its transportation and display, a
defect for which responsibility could not
be ascribed to the owners ofthe sculpture
or the organizers of the exhibition, who
took refuge in the fact that the work
had been treated for the purpose of
strengthening it by the Belgian Institut
Royal du Patrimoine Artistique. No one
has ever seen a fourteenth century arte-
fact that has not been marked by the
ravages of time, in other words, that
shows no signs of ‘pre-existing damage’.
On the other hand, the insurance com-
pany was perfectly right about the earlier
consolidation treatment: the precaution
had been omitted ofproviding the statue
with suitable rubber shock absorbers that
would have helped to cushion its fall.
When the &Iona Lisa started on its
travels, what do YOU suppose was the sum
for which the picture was ensured? For
50,000 French francs, that is, the
estimated cost of a major restoration
operation.
But the $act is that any mutilation is
definitive, the best possible restoration
never being any better than a more or less
successful prosthesis (Pig. 86).
Once the insurance policy has been
signed and the premium paid, can one
honestly believe that everything possible
has been done? The jurist will put for-
ward a dozen answers to this tricky ques-
tion, all larded with specious arguments.
Intellectual honesty allows only one
reply.
A work of art never returns the better
for wear. The damage ranges from cracks,
scratches, warped panels, split joints,
torn or pitted canvasses, to the Vermeer
cut out of its frame with a razor-blade by
a mentally unbalanced visitor who walks
off with the canvas stuffed into his
trousers. The Rijksmuseum will long
remember the ‘art-for-all’ festival or-
ganized by Europalia.
The extremely fine . % h e Catherilze
went to Cologne for the exhibition
organized as a tribute to the Parler fami-
ly, although it is regarded as a key work
of André Beauneveu. It then travelled to
Paris for the Fastes da Gothique exhi-
bition, which was mounted in order to
demonstrate in spectacular, albeit super-
fluous, fashion that fourteenth-century
French art was the equal of German art of
the same era. There are a great number of
these ‘once-in-a-century’ shows in a
single century!
What does one discover by reading
serious art reviews? That curators apply
the method of mutual blackmail in order
to arrange f i r exchanges. That they re-
joice in belonging to ‘a kind of interna-
tional freemasonry of directors and
curators of museums’. Ps it, in other
words, a highly élitist club that takes all
the decisions regarding major non-élitist
events? This is not possible. Surely the
published interview does not reflect what
the Chief Curator actually said.
‘The warnings voiced by restorers can-
not be taken t o seriously.’
~ Here speaks a
curator who seems willing to listen. But
who will decide what is to be lent, and
what is not? That is the question he
raises. Those who finance exhibitions,
policy-makers, scientific commissions,
one’s colleagues, the owners ofworks, or
the restorers, who always refuse? ‘Itis the
restorer who is always behind the veto in
the exhibition business. ’ The curator
reiterates that it is the role of conservation
technicians to draw attention to the
dangers to which works of art are expos-
ed, asserts that the restorer is duty-bound
to take all necessary steps to prevent them
from being damaged, but has nothing at
all to say about what happens when a
work is returned in lamentable condi-
tion. We listen politely to what the ex-
perts have to say, then carry on regardless.
This approach, which is as old as the hills,
has pxticularly serious consequences
when adopted by people who acknow-
ledge their incompetence in such mat-
ters. ‘Theseproblems are already difficult
enough, particularly since they touch
upon fields about which we museum
people-let’s be honest-have only a
superficial notion, such as a knowledge of
climatology, thermic protection, the
behaviour of materials at extreme levels
R. H. Afarzjmssen
of vibration during air-freighting, and so
on. ’
A final quotation, taken from the of-
ficial correspondence of a museum direc-
tor: ‘My colleagues are not shunning
their responsibilities: they will have no
share in the responsibility for destroying
priceless, vulnerable and irreplaceable
works.’ Yet the same director also says: ‘I
have always been an opponent of major
exhibitions, but I have always colla-
borated. ’
Does science then not provide the
necessary basis on which to decide the
matter calmly and dispassionately? Un-
doubredly it does. Although it constantly
reveals our information to be inadequate
and imprecise, science has also provided
enough indisputable facts for us LO know
what type of treatment we must certainly
avoid inflicting on works of art. Museum
attendants may perhaps use humidifiers
to keep the beer c o d for their lunch, but
this is hardly a sacrilege.
Shall we consider the subject of how
bogus science comes to be developed?
We begin with Leonardo da Vinci, and go
on to polyvinyl acetate; first Rogier Van
eyden, and then polycycllohex-
The thickness of the coat of paint
of a Brueghel expressed in microns is a
valuable item of information; but leave
enjoy the Brueghel!!
ho is right, who is wrong?Let us face
the facts: it is the works themselves that
are automatically right. We realize this
the day we become aware of the fact that
we have contributed to their deterio-
ration.
YOUsay that I am agaitzst exhibitions?
Let us say rather: I a m f o r works of art.
H
[ Tb-anslatedfrom French]

THE W F F M CHRONICLE
The roZe of the pniute und thep"ic sector
in munuging the natiomd caZtaraZ hen'age:
the exumpke of Canada
A s spokesman for the activities o f the
friends of museums throughout the
world, the W F M stands between the
public andthe private sector. I n this con-
text, the W F M presents below extracts
from a report which reveals how Cana-
dian museum professionals feelabout the
role of the two sectors. T h e report,
published last December a n d erztitled In
Pursuit of Financial Stability for Cana-
dian Museums, deals with the relation-
ships between museums, government
andthe community. I t was draftedby the
Association of Canadian Museums andits
aims were to put forward the p o i n t of
view of professional museum circles in
Canada a n d to formulate recommenda-
tions which would serve as a working
documentfor the government committee
responsible for preparing the outline of
national policy on museums in Canada.
Canada has about 2,000 museum institu-
tions (in the broad sense of the term, as
defined by ICOM); in 1968 there were
635. Most of these institutions are small,
with an annual budget of less than
40,000 Canadian dollars. They employ
15,000 people full time, 11 per cent of
whom are voluntary workers. They wel-
come 44 million visitors each year-81
million, if the parks are included. This
figure is virtually equivalent to the
number of people who go to the theatre,
concerts, ballet or opera in Canada. At
present, 80 to 90 per cent of the budget
of the national museums comes from
government sources, whereas in non-
national museums, assistance from the
private sector (individuals and com-
panies) is twice and, in certain cases, four
times as great as assistance from the
public sector. In real terms, however,
government subsidies have been halved
in comparison with ten years ago.
253
Private sector support
It is necessary to encourage philanthropy,
in other words to revitalize the sense of
private fesponsibilityon the part of Cana-
dian society. Corporations and individu-
als should be encouraged to support the
charitable and cultural projects of their
choice and to view their support as a sup-
plement to the role of governments.
There are several steps to be taken to
achieve greater private sector support for
museums.
First, museums must work to improve
their public profile. The general public
has a poor understanding of the role of
the museum, and public-awarenesspro-
grammes are recommended to promote
the visible and invisible operations of
museums, the different types of mu-
seums, the importance of museums to
society and the excitement of collections.
Secondly, museums should be assisted
in developing their fund-raising exper-
tise. At present, very few museums have
a development officer among their staff.
If museums are to be encouraged to look
to the private sector, then they must be
assisted by government to develop the in-
house expertise necessary to seek non-
government funds. It should be remem-
bered that it costs money to raise money.
We propose that the federal government
establish a grants assistance programme
to encourage the hiring and training of
development officers over a three-year
period of decreasing support. '
Thirdly, the government should in-
troduce tax incentives to encourage do-
nors, both individuals and corporations;
incentives that are as direct and visible as
possible and which may be seen as reduc-
ing taxes paid, as opposed to being tax
deductible.
There is an apparent decline of cor-
254
porate philanthrophy in favour of COT-
porate marketing support and the latter is
often the more generous. There are, how-
ever, distinct philosophical differences
between the two. The marketing thmst is
designed to promote the corporation’s
products or services, and generally there
are specific advertising or other endorse-
ment ‘strings’ attached to the project.
Although there is a rightful and wel-
come place for marketing projects, we
feel there is a need for clarification and
distinction between corporate donations
and marketing grants and that tax incen-
tives should recognize this distinction
and should place priority on donations of
a philanthropic nature.
There is a need for fundmental chan-
ges in social attitudes to the support of
cultural and other socially beneficial
endeavours in this country. Priority must
be placed on establishing greater long-
term financial stability for the cultural
sector. Annual fund raising appeals pro-
vide little stability and cannot guarantee
consistency. In order to provide greater
long-range stability, priority should be
placed on incentives to encourage the
establishment and development of en-
dowment funds for the support of
cultural institutions. Furthermore, as
with all private-sector funding, there
should be less emphasis on capital pro-
jects which tend to be more lasting, and
more emphasis on tax incentives and
charitable regulations governing opera-
tion§.
The encouragement of gifts-in-kind,
such as services and products, will be of
benefit to the cultural community; Reve-
nue Ganada should recognize the fair-
market vdue of donated professional
services.
RECOMMENDATIONS
That a tax credit system be implemented
as a direct incentive to encourage
greater financial donations from the
private sector, and that it be equitable
for all cultural institutions.
That the priority for tax credits be placed
on the establishment and develop-
ment of endowment funds to provide
long-term financial stability for the
operation of the museum.
That the federal government encourage
the hiring of development officers at
museums by providing salary assis-
tance over a three-year period of
decreasing support.
Thar the public profile and understand-
ing ofthe needs of museums and other
cultural institutions be raised.
WFN
That incentives be introduced to en-
courage charitable foundations to raise
their level of giving to the cultural sec-
tor, as well as a programme to en-
courage the establishment of new
foundations and other deferred-giving
plans.
That the use of tax incentives put priority
on donations to the ongoing opera-
tions of existing institutions, as well as
to assist in acquisitions of collections.
,That tax regulations be introduced to en-
courage gifts-in-kind including do-
\,nates products and prQfe§§iod
services.
In the case of financially significant dona-
tions, there is inequitable tax treat-
ment exclusively available to Crown
institutions. These institutions are
able to give tax receipts, which can be
deducted fully from taxable income,
whereas donations to all other charities
cannot exceed 20 per cent of the tax-
payer’s income. An equitable tax
policy should be developed for dona-
tions of artistic and cultural property
similar to &at for donations to the
crown.
That steps be taken to explain the various
tax treatments of donations of proper-
ty to museum professionals and to the
general public.
That a public promotional programme
be undertaken to actively encourage
collectors to donate their collections to
museums, either through deferred giv-
ing plans, or estate planning.
That improved benefits be developed for
artists to donate their art works to
museums.
Throughout Canada, there are approx-
imately 12,000 volunteers and u n p d
worlrers in museums, galleries, historic
houses and heritage sites. Without their
knowledge and commitment, both large
and small institutions would suffer
severely and many, indeed, would be
forced to close their doors.
Greater recognition of the volunteer,
both as tmstees and as museum workers,
is imperative. Professional training needs
ape high for this group, but they are not,
as yet, considered eligible for the majori-
t y of existing funding programmes.
Volunteers would also derive enor-
mous benefits from the sharing of infor-
mation on successful volunteer program-
mes m d projects, yet, to date, there has
been no attempt to co-ordinate even the
most basic newsletter to facilitate this.
The role of the private and the public sector in managing the national cultural heritage: the example of Canada
This lacuna is directly attributable to the
lack of financial resources.
RECOMMENDATIONS
There is a need to recognize and respond
to the important contribution of the
volunteer.
Grants should be made available for
organizations involved in the profes-
sional training of volunteers. Con-
sideration should also be given to
holding discussions with the federal
manpower training programmes to ex-
plore ways and means of funding train-
ing programmes for volunteers.
Improving efficiency
Generally speaking, museums are well
managed institutions. A considerable
amount of attention has been focused on
museum management development, es-
pecially at the mid-career level, in the
past dozen years or so. Many museums
have undertaken rigorous studies to
review their mission, structures, policies
and controls. Mission statements and
plans do not, however, exist in all institu-
tions and this exercise might be used ef-
fectively to develop and sustain greater
support from the museum’s community.
An important aspect that frequently
remains unclear or underdeveloped is
the role of the Board of Trustees. There
are few effective development oppor-
tunities for trustees and most important
there is no real encouragement or support
for trustees to avail themselves of such
development. Creative and innovative
training opportunities are needed for ex-
isting or potential trustees. These oppor-
tunities must be positive, direct, com-
pulsory and easily available in the
community. Expensive and time-con-
suming courses held in distant locations
do not reach a significant number of peo-
ple, or the trustees who really need the
development.Just as there exists a code of
conduct for museum workers, there is a
need for a code of ethics for trustees to
help clarify their rights, behaviour and
responsibilities.
As in all fields, museum efficiency can
be improved through greater use of the
new technologies. While this will be
capital intensive, as well as training in-
tensive, it will pay dividends in greater ef-
fectiveness in the long run. Areas of ap-
plication include the traditional areas as
well as other applications more related to
marketing including closed circuit
satellite transmissions of special exhibits,
home video cassettes, videodisks, data
255
banks, etc. Where museums cannot af- willingness on the part of more and more
ford or justify the required technology museums to introduce a charge as long as
and support services, co-operative local the fee is not too high, since price
area networks should be developed, such resistance sets in at a level which is
as those already in existence in southern perceived to exceed the value of the pro-
Ontario. duct. At least one major museum has
already experienced price resistance from
RECOMMENDATIONS visitors, and was forced to reduce admis-
That programmes be established to im- sion fees from $5 to $3.50 for a highly
prove the development opportunities publicized exhibition.
of trustees, to clarify their role and However, the young, the disadvantag-
responsibility, and that of the Chief ed and low-income groups should not be
Executive Officer. denied admission, especially to govern-
That museums be encouraged to develop ment affiliated institutions. The in-
and implement clear cut mission troduction ‘of voluntary admission fees
statements based upon consultation has been used successfully at many
with the concerned stakeholders, in- museums as has the free day concept.
cluding government where appro- Admission fees must be kept to a
priate. reasonable level and the priority should
That museums be regarded and recogniz- be to increase attendance through
ed for effective and innovative marketing strategies, and thereby in-
management, and that the develop- crease total admission revenue. Increased
ment of surpluses for the long-term attendance would have more overall
financial stability of the organization economic impact especially with the help
be encouraged. of the tourist industry which benefits
That the use of new technologies be en- heavily from neighbouring museums,
couraged in management areas, as well historic sites, and nature parks. In terms
as innovative projects in communica- of the American market, which the
tion, audience development and government is interested in attracting, a
enhancing educational opportunities. recent study prepared for the Minister of
Tourism indicates that Americans find
Earned reuenue our cultural differences to be the primary
motivating factor in deciding to visit
There is considerable potential for in- Canada. Museums, historic sites and
creasing the revenue of museums. Con- other cultural activities are in a prime
sidering the large attendance at position to attract large numbers of
museums, earned revenue is relatively tourists. In a sense, we are the marketing
low. Among areas that could be in- ‘loss leaders’ by providing low cost and
vestigated for potential increases are ad- universal accessibility.
mission fees, membership development, In order to play a more dynamic role by
book and gift shop sales, art rentals, attracting larger audiences including
restaurants, royalties, rentals of facilities, tourists, museums need to develop better
etc. The implications of some of these ac- marketing strategies. Most museums do
tivities and the true net cost must not have a marketing plan or any
however be carefully considered: The marketing expertise among their staff.
benefits of such activities must also be They depend on assistance from the
adapted to Revenue Canada’sregulations tourism agencies of government. This is
affecting non-profit and charitable not adequate. There is a need to under-
statuses. , take a national public awareness cam-
The following lists the regular en- paign to improve the public’s under-
trance fees at the 583 museums included standing of the role and importance of
in the study ‘Source Statistics 1982’ (ad- museums, to change the public’s percep-
ditional charges, however, are often tion that museums are dull, static, and
made Tor admission to special ex- unchanging. Some excitement and in-
hibitions) : novation are needed in museum promo-
66 per cent do not charge a fee. tion. Larger museums should be en-
12 per cent charged less than $1 per couraged to have a marketing staff, and
person. smaller museums in a given region could
17 per cent charged between $1 and $2. share a coroperative approach among
4 per cent charged between $2 and $3. themselves or with related attractions.
1 per cent charged between $3 and Membership or a friends programme is
$4.50. a valid means of increasing revenue, but
However, there is a growing trend and more important it is an effective means to

256
build a support base or a constituency.
Membership should not be restricted but
should be open to all and administered
democratically. Emphasis should be plac-
ed on the friends making a commitment
to the well-being of the museum rather
than buying a service.
Several large American museums have
developed gift and book-shop operations
which are very profitable. They take ef-
fective advantage of the market place in
the metropolitan city in which they are
located, as well as of national and inter-
nacional mail order services. Few Cana-
dian museums have the ability to draw
upon such a large market place.
Earned revenue services should be en-
couraged, and museums should offer
unique products to the public which
complement the stated educational ob-
jectives of the institution. It is important
to stress that the proceeds from the shop
operations go directly to support the
operations of the museum.
Most shops are marginally profitable in
Canada only because they are partially or
heavily staffed by volunteers. Few shops
are effectively marketed to the general
public. Museum publications such as ex-
hibit catalogues are rarely marketed
beyond the museum and it is not uncom-
mon to write off large stocks of unsold
catalogues. Reproductions developed by
one museum are rarely marketed beyond
its doors.
There is potential in the further devel-
opment of museum shops. However, due
to the size of the Canadian market place,
there is need for more co-operation bet-
ween museum shops in order to be more
effective.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The establishment of a Canadian Mu-
seum Shop Marketing Agency. Its ob-
jectives could be:
,
K'FFM
To improve the efficiency of museum
shop operations and their further
development.
To establish strategies to enlarge existing
markets.
To improve cost effectivenessthrough co-
operative projects.
To establish a co-operative national mail
order service to operate in Canada and
internationally.
To establish standards of quality on pro-
ducts and reproductions.
To provide professional advisory services
to museum shops.
There is a necessity for the government to
support the role and activities of associa-
tions. Cultural associationsare vital to the
well-being of the arts and heritage sec-
tors. They provide a role with both im-
mediate benefits and long-term signifi-
cance KO thousands of organizations and
individuals.
At the present time, national service
organizations are funded on an ad hoc
and unco-ordinated basis. There is need
for an equitable and co-ordinated fun-
ding policy regardless of which agency
administers it. Associations must be en-
couraged to seek a reasonable level of
financial self-sufficiency through mem-
bership and earned sources of revenue.
Since associations are essentially invisi-
ble brokers, it is extremely difficult to at-
tract significant corporate support which
is naturally more interested in concrete
and highly visible projects.
RECOMMENDATION
The establishment of an equitable and
co-ordinated funding policy by the
federal government to assistin the sup-
port of national associations in the arts
and heritage fields.
Constantly rising printing and postage
costs are forcing newspapers and
journals the world over to raise their
prices. Unfortunately, Museum is no
excepcion.
TOour great regret therefore we
must announce that in 1987 the price
of a single issue of fl.¿%sez&m
will go up
from its present price of 4to 48
French francs. The cost of a one-year
subscription will increase from 138 to
156 French francs.
Unesco publications: national distributors
ALBANIA: N. Sh. Botimcve Naim Frasheri TIRANA.
ALGERIA: Office des PublicationsUniversitaires (OPU) Place Cen-
tral: Ben Aknoun. ALGER:ENAL, 3 Bd Zifout Youkef, ALGER.
Penodzca/r ou/y: ENAMEP, 20, rue de la Liberté, ALGER.
ANGOLA: Distribuidora tivros e Publicaçöes. Caixa Postal 2848,
LUANDA.
ARGENTINA: Librcría El Correo de la Unesco, EDILYR, S.R.L.,
Tucumán 1685, 1050 BUENOS AIRES.
AUSTRALIA: PuUicutions: Educational Supplies Pty. Ltd.. P.O.
Box 33, BROOKVALE 2100. N.S.W. Periodtca/s: Dominie Pty.
Subxriptions Dept. P.O. Box 33, BROOKVALE 2100, N.S.W:
Sub-agents: Unitcd Nations Association of Australia. 341 Collins
St., MELBOURNE Victoria 3000; Hunter Publications, 58A Gipps
Street, COLLINGWOOD.Victoria 3066.
AUSTRIA: Gcrold &Co. Graben 31 A-1011 WIEN.
BAHAMAS: Nassau Stadbners Ltd P:O. Box N-3138 NASSAU.
BAHRAIN: T h e Arabian Agencies and Distributing Ci., AI Mutan-
bi Srrect P.O. Box 156 MANAMA.
BANGLADESH: Bangladesh Books International Ltd., Irtefaq
Bnildin 1 R.K. Mission Road Hatkhola DACCA 3.
BARBAD&: University of the West Indie; Bookshop, Cave Hill
cam us, P.O. Box 64. BRIDGETOWN.
B E L G I ~ Mean
: ~ De Lannoy, 202, Avenue du Roi, 1060 BRUXELLES. ISRAEL A.B.C. Bookstore Ltd., P.O. Box 1283,71 Allenby Road,
CCP 000-0070823-!3.
BENIN: Librairie narionale B.P. 274 PORTO NOVO. Ers. Koudjo
G. Joseph, B.P. 1530, dOTON0U;'Librairie Notri-Dame. B.P.
307, COTONOU.
BOLIVIA: Los Amigos del Libro casilla postal 4411 LA PAZ.
Avenida de las Heminas 3712, c h l a postal 450, COC~ABAMBA: 541, ABIDJAN 04 PLATEAU.
BOTSWANA: Borswana Book Centre P.O. Box 91 GABORONE. JAMAICA: Sangster's Book Stores Ltd.. P.O. Box 366, 101 Water
BRAZIL: Fundaçao Getúlio Vargas, serviç0 de Pulhcaçocs. caixa
pzzal 9.052-ZC-02, Praia de Botafogo 188, RIO DE JANEIRO
(tin).
BULGARIA: Hemus. Kantora Literatura, boulevard Rousky 6,
SOFIIA.
BU@NA FASO: Librairie Attic, B.P. 64, OUAGADOUGOU; KENYA: East African Publishing House, P.O. Box 30571,
Librairie Catholique 'Jeunesse d'Afrique', OUAGADOUGOU.
BURMA: Trade Corporation no. (9), 550-552 Merchant Street.
RANGOON
CÄNADÄ-'kcnouf Publishing Company Ltd.. 61 Sparks Strect.
OTTAWA.Ontario KIP 5A6.
CAP VERT lnsriruio Cabovctdiano do Livro, Cmxa posril 158.
PHAIA
CHADi'Librairie Abssounout. 24 av. Charles de Gaulle, B.P. 388,
N'DJAMENA.
CHILE: Bibliocentro Ltda., Constitución no 7 Casilla 13731
SANTIAGO(21); Editorial 'Andres Bello', Av. R.iyon 746. Casilla
4256. SANTIAGO PC r - l l c
..-.. . -
CHINA: Chi%a Na_r_i
t k n , 1,
COLOMB
18-24,
COMORC
MORONI.
CONGO: Commission Nationale Con$olaise pour l'Unesco. B.P.
473 BRAZZAVILLE.Librairie Populaire B.P. 577 BRAZZAVILLE
(brinches in Pointe'Noire, Loubomo, Nkayi, MakaLana. Owendo.
Ouesso and Impfondo).
COSTA RICA: Librería Trejos S.A. apartado 1313 SAN OSE
Librería Cultural 'Garcia Monge': Ministerio de' la Cu/turi
Costado Sur del Teatro Nacional, Apartado 10.227;SAN JOSÉI
Librería Coopctativa Universitaria. Cuidad Universitaria
Roderi o Facio', SAN JOSB.
CUBA: Eiicioncs Cubanas O'Reilly No 407 LA HABANA. For
"The Courier": Empres;Coprcfil, DragonciNo. 456 ellealtad
y Campanario, HABANA 2.
CYPRUS: MAM. ArchbishopMakarios 3rd Avenue, P.O. Box 1722,
NICOSIA.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA: SNTL S p a h a 51 PRAHA 1. (Permanent
displa ) Zahranicni literaiura. 11 Soikenicka. PRAHA 1. For
S/ova&on/y: Alfaverla Publishers. Hurbanova nam. 6 , 8 7 3 31
. BRATISLAVA. For the &uners on/y: PNS-UED, Jindrisska 14,
PRAHA 1.
DEMOCRATIC YEMEN: 14th October Corporation, P.O. Box
, 4227, ADEN.
DENMARK MunksgaardExport and SubscriptionService. 35 Nprre
Spgade, DK-1370 KCBENHAVN K.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Librería Blasco Avenida Bolivar, No.
402 esq. Hermanos Deli ne SANTO DdMINGO.
ECUADOR Perio&a/s o& Dinacur Cia. Ltda, Santa Prisca n.O.
276 y Pasaje Sans Luis. Oficina 101-102, Casilla 112-B. QUITO.
Nueva Imagen. 12 de Octubre 757 y Roca, Edificio Mariano de
esús. QUITO.
EdYPT: Centre for Unesco Publications. 1 Talaat Harb Street,
CAIRO.
ELSALVADOR: Librería Cultural Salvadoreña S.A., Calle Dclgsdo
No. 117, apartado postal 2276. SANSALVÀDOR.
ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian National Agency for Unesco. P.O. Box 2776.
ADDIS ABABA..
FINLAND: Akateeminen Kirjakauppa, Keskuskatu 1, SF-00100
HELSINKI 10: Suomalainen Kirjakauppa Oy, Koivuvaarankuja2,
01640 VANTAA 64.
FRANCE: Librairie de l'Unesco. place de Fontenoy, 75700 PARIS.
CCP 12598-48.
GABON: .Librairie, ,So alivre (Libreville Port Gentil and
Franceville) Librairie fiachette B.P. 392; LIBREVILLE.
GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC: Buchhaus Leipzig, Postfach
~ 140, 701 LEIPZIG or international bookshops in the German
Democratic Republic.
GERMANY FEDERAL REPUBLIC O F S. Karger GmbH Karger
Buchhandlung An erhofstrassc 7 Postfach 2 D-8034 'GERME.
RINGIMONCHiN 8NO-Vcrlag kimrockstrask 23 D-53000
BONN 1 Forscient$c map1 o&: Gco Center Postfich 800830,
7000 ShTTGART 80. For 'The Courier': Mr Herbcrt Baum
DeuucherUnesco:Kurier.Vertrieb, Besaltstnsse57.5300 BONN 3:
GHANA: Presbyterian Bookshop Dcpot Ltd. P.O. Box I75 Ac.
CRA: Ghana Book Sup lias Lrd., P.O. Box 7867, ACCRA:The
Univcrsiry Bookshopof%hana. ACCRA:The University Bookshop
of Cape Coast; The University Bookshop of Lcgon. P.O. Box 1,
1FCnN..
GREECE Internarional bookshops (Elefthcroudakis. Kanffmann,
etc.); John Mihalopoulos & Son S.A., International Booksellers
75 Hermou Street. P.O.B. 73, THESSALONIKI; Commission Na:
rionale Hcllénique pour l'Unesco. 3 rue Akadimias. ATHENS,
GUADELOUPE Librairie Carnot. 57. ruc Barbb, 97100 POINTE.
A-PITRE.
GUATEMALA: Comisiún Guatcmaltcca de Cooperación con la
Uncsco. 3a Avcnida 13-30, Zona 1, apartado postal 244,
GUATEMALA.
HAITI: Librairie 'A la Caravelle', 26, rue Roux, B.P. 111-8.
PORTAU-PRINCE.
HONDURAS: Librería Navarro, 2a Avcnida No 201, Comayaguela,
TEGUCIGALPA.
HONG KONG Swindon Book Co., 13-15 Lock Road, KOWLOON:
Federal Publications (HK) Ltd. 2D Freder Centre, 68 Sung Wong
Toi Road, Tokwawan, KOWLOON: Hong Kong Governmcnt In-
formation Services. Publication Section. BaskervillcHouse, 22 Ice ROMANIA: ARTEXIM Exportllmport, Piara Scientcii no 1, P.O.
House Street. HONG KONG.
HUNGARY: Akadémiai Känyvesbolt, Váci u. 22, BUDAPEST
A.K.V. Könyvrárosok Boltja, Népkoztársaság utja 16. BUDAPEST
VI.
ICELAND: Snaebjörn Jonsson & Co., H.F., Hafnarsuaeri 7,
REYKJAVIK.
INDIA Orient Longman Ltd., Kamani Marg. Ballard Estate, BOM-
BAY 400 038; 17 Chittaranjan Avenue, CALCUTTA 13; 36a Anna
Salai. Mount Road, MADRAS 2; 80/1 Mahatma Gandhi Road,
BANGALORE560001;5-9-4111 Bashir Bagh, HYDERABAD 500001
(AP); 3-5-820 Hyderguda. HYDERABAD 500001. Subdepotr:
Oxford Book & Stationcty Co., 17 Park Street, CALCUTTA
700016: Scindia House, NEW DELHI 110001: Publications Sec-
tion, Ministry of Education and Social Welfare, 511, C-Wing.
Shasui Bhavan, NEW DELHI110001.
IRAN Iranian National Commission for Unesco, SeyedJamal Eddin
Assad Abadi Av., 64th St., Bonyad Bdg., P.O. Box 1533,
TEHRAN.
IRELAND: TDC Publishcrs, 11North Frederick St., DUEL".
TEL AVN 61000.
ITALY Licosa (Libreria Commissionaria Sansoni S.p.A.). Via
Lamarmora 45 casella ostale 552 50121 FIRENZE: FAO Book-
shop Via dell; Terme ¡! Caracalla' O0100 ROME.
CbTE D'IVOIRE: Centre d'édition et h e diffusion africaines 04 B.P. SURINAME: Suriname National Commission for Unesco, P.O. Box
Lane, KINGSTONUniversity of the.West Indies Bookshop, Mona,
KINGSTON.
JAPAN. EastcrnBook ServkeInc., 37-3 Hongo 3-chome, Bunkyoku,
TOKYO113.
JORDAN: Jordan Distribution Agency. P.O.B. 375, AMMAN.
NAIROBI; Africa Book Services Ltd, Quran .House. Mfangano
Street. P.O. Box 45245, NAIROBI.
REPUBLIC OF KOREA: Korcan National Commission for Unesco,
P.O. Box Central 64, SEOUL.
KUWAIT The Kuwait Bookshop Co. Ltd., P.O. Box 2742, , BANGKOKNibondh& Co, Ltd., 40-42 Charocn Krung Road, Si:
KUWAIT.
LEBANON:.Librairies Antoine. A. Naufal et Frères. B.P. 656,
BEIRUT.
LESOTHO: Mazenod Book Centre P.O. MAZENOD.
LIBERIA. Cole & Yancy Bookshopsitd. P.O. Box286. MONROVIA.
LIBYAN', ARAB JAMAHIRIYA: Gkneral Establishment for
Publishing. Distribution and Advertising. Souf Al Mahmoudi St.,
P.O.BOX757, T~IPOLI.
LIECHTENSTEIN: Eurocan Trust Reg., P.O.B. 5 , FL-9474,
SCHAAN.
LUXEMBOURG: Librairie Paul Bruck, 22 Grand Rue, LUXEM-
BOURG. For the Unesco 'Conrier' on/y: 202 avcnue du Roi, 1060
BRUXELLES.
MADAGASCAR Commission nationale de la République
Démocratique de Madagascar pour l'Unesco. Boîte postale 331.
. _........ .
ANTANANARlVn
MALAWI:
Chi
MAL/
LUMPUR 22-11.
MALI: Librairie populaire du Mali B.P. 28 BAMAKO
MALTA: Sapienzas, 26 Republic itreet, VÀLLEITA
'MAURITANIA: GRA.LI.CO.MA, 1, rue du Souk X, Avcnue Ken-
nedy, NOUAKCHOTT.
MAURITIUS: Nalanda Co. Ltd., 30 Bourbon Street, P0RT.LoUIS.
MEXICO: SABSA, Insurgentes Sur no 1032-401, MGXICO 12, DF;
Librería El Correo de la Unesco' Acti an 66 (In-
suegenreslManacar). Colonia del Valle, O$lOO M&ICO. DF.
MONACO: British Librarv. 30. boulevard dcs Moulins. MONTE
CARLO.
MOROCCO: Librairie 'Aux belles images', 282, avcnue
Mohammed-V. RABAT, C.C.P. 68-74. For 'The Courier' (for
teachers): Commission nationale marocaine pour ]'Education, la
Science et la Culture, 17, rue Oqba, B.P. 420, AGDAL-RABAT VENEZUELA: Elite C.A. La Gran Avenida
(C.C.P. 324-45); Librairie des écoles, 12, avenue Hassan II,
CASABLANCA; Société Chérifienne de Distribution et de Presse YUGOSLAVIA: Jugoslovenska Knijiga, Trg Re ublike 5/8, P.O.
SOCHEPRESS. ande rues de Dinant et St Saëns. B.P. 683:
CASABLANCA 05.
MOZAMBIQUE: Instituto Nacional do Livro c do Disco (INLD),
Avenida 24 de Julho. 1721-rlc e 1' andar, MAPUTO
NEPAL Sa'ha Prakashan, Polchowk.,KATHMANDU
NETHERLANDS: Publrcuhonr: Keesing Bocken B.V., Hogehilweg
13, 1101 CB AMSTERDAM or Postbus 1118, 1000 BC AMSTER-
DAM. Periodtcals: Faxon-Europe, Postbus 197. 1000 AD
AMSTFRDAM
tado 67, MANAGUA.
NIGER: Librairie Mauclert. B.P. 868, NIAMEY.
NIGERIA: The University BookshorfIfe;,The UniversityBookshop
of Ibadan. P.O. Box 286: The nivctsitv Bookshop of Nsukka;
The University Bookshop of Lagos: The Ahmadu Bello Universitv
Booksho ofiaria. -
NORWAY! Pub/icutions: Johan Grundt Tanum. Karl Johans Gare
41/43. OSLO 1; Universiters Bokhandelen, Universireusentrer,
P.O.B. 307. Blindcrn, OSLO 3. For 'The Courier': AIS Narvesens
Litreraturtjencste. Box 6125, OSLO 6.
PAKISTAN Mirra Book Agency 65 Shahrah Quaid-i-Azam P.O.
Box 737, LAHORE 3; Unesco P;blicarions Centre. Rc ional Òffice
for Book DcvcloDment in Asia and the Pacific (R8BDAPI.
"
Delhi Housing Sbciety. P.O. Box 8950, KARACHì 27.
PANAMA Distribuidora Cultura Internacional.. h .a r t a d o 7571.
Zona 5 . PANAMA.
PARAGUAY: Agencia de Dianios y Re istas. Sra. Nelly de Gracia
Astillero, Pte. Franco 580. ASUNC16d.
PERU Librería Studium PlazaFrancia 1164 Apartado 2137 LIMA
Libreria La Famili?. Pksaje Pcïíaloza 112,kpartado 4177,'LlMA.'
PHILIPPINES: National Book Store Inc.. 701 Rizal Avenue.
MANILA.
POLAND: ORPAN-Im ort, PalacKultury. 00-701 WARSZAWA:AU Unesco Book Coupons can be used to purchase all books and pc-
Polona-Ruch. Krdowskic Przcdmicscie No 7. 00-068
WARSZAWA.
PORTUGAL:Dias & Andrade Ltda. Livraria Portugal. ruado Carmo
70, LISBOA.
PUERTO RICO: Librería Alma Mater, Cabrera 867, Rio Piedras.
PUERTO RICO 00725.
Box 33-16 70005 BUCURESTI.
V, SAUDI ARAkIA Dar Al-Wk?n for Publishin6 and Information.
Olaya Main Street, Ibrahim Bin Sulaym Building, P.O. Box 3310,
......-._.
RIYADH
SENEGAL: Librairie Clairafrique, B.P. 2005, DAKAR; Librairie des '
4 venrs. 71, rue Blanchot, B.P. 1820, DAKAR: Les Nouvcllcs
Editions Africaines, 10 rue Amadou Hassan Ndoye, B.P. 260,
DAKAR.
SEYCHELLES: New Scrvicc Ltd. Kingsgate House P.O. Box 131,
MAHÉ;National Bookshop, P.b. Box 48, MAHG:
SIERRA LEONE: Fourah Bay College, Njala University and Sierra
Leone Diocesan Booksho s, FREETOWN.
SINGAPORE: Federal Pubkxtions (S) Pte. Ltd.. Times Jurong, 2
urong Port Road, SINGAPORE 2261.
SdMALIA: Modern Book Shop and General, P.O. Box 751, MO.
GADISCIO.
SPAIN: Mundi-Prensa Libros S.A., Castelló 37, MADRID I; Edi-
ciones Libcr, a artado 17, Magdalena 8. ONDARROA(Vizcaya);
Donaire, Ronfa de Outciro, 20, apartado de correos 341. LA
C0RUNA;LibreríaAl-Andalus. Roldana, 1 y 3 , SEVIuA4;tibrería
Castells, Ronda Universidad 13. BARCELONA 7.
SRI LANKA: Lake House Bookshop, Sir Chittampalam Gardiner
Mawata P.O. Box 244 COLOMBO 2.
SUDAN: k Bashir Boodhop, P.O. BOX1,118, KHARTOUM.
2743, PARAMARIBO.
SWEDEN: Pub/icufions: A/B C.E. Fritzes Kung. Hovbokhandel.
Regcringsgatan 12. Box 16356. S-103 27 STOCKHOLM. For 'The
Courier :SvcnskaFN-Färbundet, Skolgränd.2. Box 150 50, S- 104
65 STOCKHOLM. (Postgiro 18 46 72). Subscnptions: Wennergr.cn.
Williams AB, Box 30004, S-104 25 STOCKHOLM.
SWITZERLAND: Eumpa'Verlag, Rämistrasse 5 , 8024 ZURICH Li-
brairiesPayot (Geneva, Lausanne,Basel. Berne, Vevey. Montreux.
Neuchâtel. Zurich).
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC Librairic Sayegh, Immeuble Diab, rue
du Parlement. B.P. 704, DAMAS.
THAILAND: Suksapan Panit, Mansion 7, Rajdamnern Avcnue
yaeg Phaya Sri, P.O. Box402. BANGKOK: Suksit Siam Company,
1715 Rama IV Road, BANGKOK.
TOGO. Les Nouvelles édirions africaines 237 Bd Circulaire. 4862
B.P. LoMB. '
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: Trinidad and Tobago National Com-
mission for Unesco, 18 Alexandra Street. St. Clair, PORT OF
SPAIN.
TUNISIA': So&é tunisienne dc diffusion, 5 , avenue de Carthage,
UNITED REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON: Le SecrétaireGénéral de la
Commissionnationalc de la République Unie du Cameroun our
l'Unesco B.P. 1600 YAOUNDB.Librairie des édirions Clé k P .
1501, Yi0dNDÉ:Lidrairie St Pail. B.P. 763, YAOUNDB:Liitairie
aux Messagerics. Avenue de la Liberté. B.P. 5721, DOUALA;
Librairie aux frères réunis. B.P. 5346, DOUALA; Ccntre de Dif-
fusion du Livre Camerounais, B.P. 338, DOUALA.
UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA; Dar es Salaam Bookshop,
P.O. Box 9030. DAR ES SALAAM.
UNITED STATES: Unipub. 10033 F King Highway. LANHAM,
Maryland 20706.
URUGUAY Edilyr Uruguaya. S.A., Maldonado 1092, MON-
TEVIDEO.
USSR VIO Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga, UI. Dimitrova 39, MOSKVA
1130%.
Rcsidcncias Caroni - Locales 3 y 4 CARACAS.
- Plaza Venezuela
Box 36, 11-001, BEOGRAD: Drzavna Zalozba S?ovenije, Titova C,
25, P.O.B. 50-1, 61-000 LJUBLJANA.
ZAIRE: Librairie du CIDEP, B.P. 2307, Kinshasa; Commission na-
tionale zaïroise pour l'Unesco, Commissariat d'Etat chargé de
I'Education nationalc B.P. 32 KINSHASA.
ZAMBIA: National Ed&ational Distribution Co. of Zambia Ltd.
P.O. Box 2664, LUSAKA.
ZIMBABWE: Textbook Sales (PVT) Ltd., 67 Union Avenue,
HARARE.
37
UNESCO BOOK COUPONS
riodicalsofan educariond. scicnrificor~ulruralcharacter. For full in-
formation please write to: Unesco Coupon Office. 7, place de
Fontenoy, 75700 Paris (France). . [74 1.1
ISSN 0027-3976