"Don't Ask for the Mona Lisa":
Exhibitions Collaborations between Academics and Art Galleries
AAH Museums and Exhibitions Workshop 18th March 2009, University of Leeds

For full details and to book places, visit http://www.aah.org.uk/page/3251
Tickets are strictly limited, and early booking is recommended.
Tickets cost £30 for non-members, £18 for AAH members.

Funded by the Association of Art Historians and organised by the Museums
and Exhibitions Group of the AAH, the seminar will be in Leeds at
Devonshire Hall on March 18th 2010, and is entitled Don't Ask for the Mona
Lisa: Exhibition Collaborations between Academics and Art Galleries. The
Group is currently putting together a set of guidelines aimed at academics
who wish to collaborate with a museum or gallery in putting on an
exhibition or display but may not know how to go about it and it is hoped
that the event will feed into this publication.

The seminar will focus in the morning on three collaborative papers, where
curators and academics will reflect on their experience of working
together on exhibitions. The day will conclude with a round table
discussion, with curators, academics and representatives of the key
funding councils participating. Registration will begin at 10.30am and the
day will conclude at 4pm, and there is space for an audience of 40.

With the increase in funding initiatives aimed at encouraging knowledge
transfer and collaboration, the event is aimed at academic art historians
who have had little or no experience of organising exhibitions and is
meant to be practical above all. It aims to explore questions such as; Can
particular academic research projects influence exhibition planning? Who
contacts who; the researcher or the gallery and who has the initial
concept? Should the aim be to fit into a wider set of themes proposed by
the Gallery in its programme planning? How do you prepare the proposal;
should it consist of a written proposal or a formal presentation? Should
you use illustrations and suggestions for exhibits as part of your
proposal? Does the gallery and the researcher develop their own views of
how the exhibition might look, or is this the role of a designer at a
later stage? Does the proposal have to progress through several stages
before it is finally accepted? How long does this process take? How long
does it take from having the proposal to the opening of the exhibition? At
what stage do you agree the allocation of responsibilities between the
curator and the researcher for producing the exhibition? How much is the
average overall budget for producing an exhibition? What are the
benefits/limitations/problems of working in collaboration with researchers
from outside of the gallery?

We are hoping to attract an audience of both curators and academics and
the afternoon session will aim to be as interactive as possible in order
to assist colleagues in exhibition planning, funding application
preparation and developing collaborative partnerships.

Speakers:

Prof Catherine Karkov (University of Leeds) with Ellen Tait, Curatorial
Assistant-Exhibitions, Henry Moore Institute (now at National Railways
Museum) - Exhibition project: 'Roman to English: the migration of forms in
early Northumberland.'

Prof David Jackson (University of Leeds) with Edwin Becker, Head of
Exhibitions, Van Gogh Museum - Exhibition project: ' Christen Kobke:
Danish Masters of Light

Prof David Hill (University of Leeds) with May Redfern (former Head of
Collections at Harewood House) - Exhibition project: 'Turner in the North'

Roundtable participants:

Dr. Christiana Payne, Oxford Brookes University
Dr. Gemma Blackshaw, University of Plymouth
Corinne Miller, Head of Arts and Museums, Wolverhampton Arts & Museums
Dr. Patricia Allmer, Manchester Metropolitain University

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