The chances are that it was a temporary exhibition bringing things to you that are not normally on display, or a touring show that brought together a rich display of objects not previously available at that venue.
My last visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) was to see the Surrealism show, and then for a giggle I popped in to see Kylie's hotpants - just like thousands of others who have helped to make it one of the most popular exhibitions that the museum has ever put on (21,000 advance bookings in the first week of opening is pretty good going). The point is that temporary exhibitions and touring shows are popular with visitors.
This month sees the publication of research by the Touring Exhibitions Group (TEG) into the current state of touring. The findings show that, although touring exhibitions are good for venues, visitors and staff alike, museums often lack the budget and expertise to generate or host them (see page 15).
And it will come as no surprise that some local authority museums are faring quite badly in terms of exhibition budgets. A quick phone round of museum services revealed a mixed picture.
Interestingly, some of those that have gone to trust status such as York and Sheffield appear to have done well, both in retaining a core budget and fundraising on top of it. But the majority that we spoke to are struggling with small exhibition budgets and many say they are the first thing to get cut when push comes to shove (one service has had its budget reduced to a fifth of what it was ten years ago).
According to the TEG research, there is also a perception that hire fees are too high. But the irony is that most touring exhibitions don't make a profit and at best break even.
And some organisations go out of their way to make sure their exhibitions are accessible to cash-strapped venues: the British Museum rarely charges a hire fee and its touring exhibitions are heavily subsidised to minimise costs for receiving venues.
The other good thing about these exhibitions is that they can show something new to existing visitors while attracting new visitors at the same time.
So at the Kylie show, for example, V&A veterans rubbed shoulders with V&A virgins making for an interesting social mix and no doubt ticking some visitor profile boxes that the museum doesn't normally reach. (It helped that the show was free, apparently at Kylie's insistence.)
The research also suggests that there has been a change in the motivation for producing touring exhibitions, so it's less about making money and more about getting collections out and visitors in. Which, despite the financial constraints, can only be a good thing.
Sharon Heal, editor
sharon@museumsassociation.org
My last visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) was to see the Surrealism show, and then for a giggle I popped in to see Kylie's hotpants - just like thousands of others who have helped to make it one of the most popular exhibitions that the museum has ever put on (21,000 advance bookings in the first week of opening is pretty good going). The point is that temporary exhibitions and touring shows are popular with visitors.
This month sees the publication of research by the Touring Exhibitions Group (TEG) into the current state of touring. The findings show that, although touring exhibitions are good for venues, visitors and staff alike, museums often lack the budget and expertise to generate or host them (see page 15).
And it will come as no surprise that some local authority museums are faring quite badly in terms of exhibition budgets. A quick phone round of museum services revealed a mixed picture.
Interestingly, some of those that have gone to trust status such as York and Sheffield appear to have done well, both in retaining a core budget and fundraising on top of it. But the majority that we spoke to are struggling with small exhibition budgets and many say they are the first thing to get cut when push comes to shove (one service has had its budget reduced to a fifth of what it was ten years ago).
According to the TEG research, there is also a perception that hire fees are too high. But the irony is that most touring exhibitions don't make a profit and at best break even.
And some organisations go out of their way to make sure their exhibitions are accessible to cash-strapped venues: the British Museum rarely charges a hire fee and its touring exhibitions are heavily subsidised to minimise costs for receiving venues.
The other good thing about these exhibitions is that they can show something new to existing visitors while attracting new visitors at the same time.
So at the Kylie show, for example, V&A veterans rubbed shoulders with V&A virgins making for an interesting social mix and no doubt ticking some visitor profile boxes that the museum doesn't normally reach. (It helped that the show was free, apparently at Kylie's insistence.)
The research also suggests that there has been a change in the motivation for producing touring exhibitions, so it's less about making money and more about getting collections out and visitors in. Which, despite the financial constraints, can only be a good thing.
Sharon Heal, editor
sharon@museumsassociation.org
