When a temporary exhibition closes, the work doesn’t stop there. Have you ever wondered what happens when a show is over? The people responsible for dismantling our exhibitions explain the many things that have to be done.

ISABEL CENDOYA – Exhibitions Coordinator

Taking down an exhibition involves two weeks of intense work: checking the condition of the pieces, taking them off the walls or out of their display cases and packing them securely for transport. At the same time, it also means the end of a process, of a project to which you have devoted many hours of effort, and saying goodbye to objects you have probably been living with for weeks and months.

As far as the exhibition coordinator is concerned, the job is basically about managing the teams that carry out all the dismantling tasks. A timetable is drawn up with the transport company for the reception of the couriers (qualified personal of the lender museum that accompanies the museum’s works during trips) and the dispatch of the works.

Team coordination.

A schedule of work is then prepared on the basis of the dispatch timetable so that the pieces can be inspected jointly by the conservation and restoration team and the couriers, who will also supervise the packing to ensure that the pieces are transported properly. It is also very important to organize the dispatch of the pieces in conjunction with the museum’s security staff. Then, once all of the pieces have been removed from the exhibition rooms the firms who will dismantle the temporary display structure they were exhibited in get down to work.

By the end of the whole process the exhibition space has to be left perfectly clear, ready for the setting up of the next show.

EDUARD VALLÈS – Conservator and curator of the exhibition “Picasso vs. Rusiñol”

As a rule, the curator usually has very little to do with the taking down of an exhibition. There are exceptions, though: for example, when the curator is a member of the host institution and this has a relatively small number of staff. In these circumstances the curator and the exhibitions’ coordinator may well be the same person, and he or she will be involved in both processes.

Works packed.

One of the most striking impressions for the curator during the dismantling of an exhibition is watching one of its key aspects, its physical implementation, disappear completely. The whole team has a similar feeling, but in the case of the curator, who is generally the one who has thought the project through from the beginning, from zero, this sensation is particularly intense. The creation of the discourse, the selection and often the research of the exhibits and the writing of explanatory texts and labels, among others, will have represented a huge amount of work that does not disappear with the dismantling of the show.

Fortunately, there remains the catalogue, and the new technologies that allow a visual and audio-visual record of the exhibition to be kept. Normally the curator will have been very closely involved with the communication and publications departments in the creation of these materials that will extend the exhibition in time. To the extent that curators are well aware of the ephemeral nature of the exhibition’s existence, they increasingly attach more importance to these mechanisms that will conserve the discourse, often in virtual spaces.

ANNA VÉLEZ – Restorer

During the dismantling of a temporary exhibition the department responsible for the preventive conservation and restoration will inspect the works that have been on show. The “condition report” will detail the state of conservation of each piece to ensure it is in the same condition as it was when the exhibition was set up.

Details of restoration work at the museum.

For this report to be complete it must include the technical details of the piece, a description of its conservation status detailing any changes that have occurred, the necessary graphic and photographic documentation, the parameters within which the piece must be kept, such as the lighting (the maximum amount of lux), relative humidity and temperature, a description of the packing system and materials, and the system of presentation required, among other things.

When the works are sent with a courier, he or she will be present at the inspection with reference to the “condition report” and the taking down and packing for the return of the work will be carried out with the specialist technical team. In other words, many of the people who originally received and installed the works meet again during the dismantling process.

A temporary exhibition usually brings us into contact with works from other museums, collections and institutions… It’s always an enriching experience to collaborate on the setting up and taking down with the professionals who work with these pieces — which often we have only seen in pictures — and share their knowledge and personal insights with us.

The 1st September was noteworthy in the museum world for an innovative initiative promoted by the untiring Jim Richardson, Ask a Curator. In short: 343 museums from 23 countries from all over the world put their curators at the disposal of the questions users wanted to ask them through Twitter.

The figure alone for the amount of participation is significant in itself. More than 9.000 tweets have been recorded. But I would like to highlight some other interesting factors.

For the users of museums and/or Twitter this signified putting within their reach hundreds of museums who were disposed to satisfy their curiosity, to explain the most unknown facts, and to give the point of view of professionals, the curators, who by definition due to their work tend to be in little direct contact with the public, both onsite or online.

For the museums this signified an extraordinary diffusion, given that throughout the day the museums, their practices and their collections became the star attraction of one of the most widely reaching social networks. The topic #askacurator was yesterday’s trendy topic all over the world, the number 1 topic of the day on Twitter. Museums have never before achieved such virtual popularity.

Museums showed a good disposition for an open attitude, and to be accessible and transparent, something that is coherent with the practices many are developing on the social media, but throughout the day reached all corners of the institution.

Internally, this also meant a greater awareness-building within the museum itself with regard to the reach and effect of Twitter in the world. For some this meant the discovery of a network they didn’t know, and for others the chance to understand better the potential of communication, of networking, of sharing and of outreach. Also, people and centres interesting to follow in Twitter have been discovered.

In terms of diffusion, the museums have moreover gained in numbers of followers of Twitter, and also of other social media they may have used as platforms for the event, as well as more visits to their official websites.

For the Museu Picasso, the day was active and interesting. We used the social networks in the following way:

· Twitter: to receive and respond to everything. In the language in which the question was asked.
· Blog: to speak about the initiative beforehand and afterwards (now) to carry out an evaluation.
· Facebook: on the days prior to the event, to spread the activity, and during the day itself, to broaden the responses that required more space than 140 characters of Twitter.

Some figures:

­· Questions received at @museupicasso: 20
­· Comments and feedback of the users to the museum’s answers: 13
­· Information and questions answered by the museum (including the replies to some of the questions asked generically to all the museums): 28
­· New followers: 23 (the daily average tends to be about 10). Total number of followers at the end of the day: 2,185

Some of the questions received by our museum:

· How does the idea of a temporary exhibition emerge?
­· How do the new technologies influence the work of the curator?
­· Do you collaborate with other Picasso Museums (Malaga, Paris)?
­· Picasso was a friend of poets (Apollinaire, Max Jacob), did he write poetry?
­· What’s the most difficult challenge for a curator?
­· What percentage of works do you have in the permanent exhibition and in the storeroom?
­· What are the benefits for the institution of working on social media?
The answers can be found in the Twitter of the Picasso Museum

Nobody, however, asked: why is it that Barcelona has a Picasso Museum? So we asked ourselves the question on Twitter, linking directly to the answer.

With regard to the technology, I’d like to point out two factors. First of all, to regret the amount of spam. So as to neutralise it, as well as denouncing its sender, the hashtag (the key word for identifying all the messages around a topic) was changed from #askacurator to #askcurators. And secondly to comment on the well-known lack of usability of Twitter for certain functions. Although it is true that it allows you to identify specific topics of interest within an ocean of messages, and the fact of being able to see the tweets that refer to a specific museum, however, when gathering together the questions-answers, this has to be done manually (does anyone have any clues to doing this?). Furthermore the stream of previous messages can suddenly become unavailable at any moment.

Some final thoughts

·There exists an authentic interest by the public to know more about museums.

· It is worth highlighting the interest to know processes more than results: how an idea for an exhibition emerges, how the works for the permanent exhibition are selected, how technologies affect the work of the museum etc.

· Maybe museums don’t explain well or effectively enough the work we do. This seems to be the conclusion when so many users ask what a curator does.

· As nowadays we have so many social channels, with Facebook at the forefront, it’s surprising the success of the event in terms of participation: on any day of the year, at any moment, users can ask any questions they want, and museums need to be able to respond in an agile way.

· Maybe the most positive thing of the day was the encounter, sort of a meeting point where the public have discovered open and dialoguing museums, and curators have come into direct contact with the public (and with Twitter).

We would like to pass on our gratitude for the interest of all the participants, for those who asked questions, and for those who read the flow of messages. Thanks also go very specially to the curators and technical staff of the museum who were ready all day long and answered in greater detail when the topic so required: Eduard Vallès, Anna Fàbregas, Isabel Cendoya and Anna Vélez.

If you participated by asking a question to any museum, the organisers would be grateful if you could fill in a brief feedback questionnaire. If you are a participant museum, here you’ll find the evaluation form for institutions.

A similar initiative in the near future, to be done in a few months time so not saturate the social space, could be #askadirector Maybe on 1st September 2011?

Conxa Rodà
Project Manager

Other evaluations:
My thoughts on Ask a Curator, Jim Richardson
Twitter asked, curators answered, Carolina A. Miranda
What We Can Learn from Ask a Curator on Twitter, Melissa Mannon

Did you have any more questions you wanted to ask? What else would you like to know about museums in general or the Museu Picasso particular?