How an Exhibition is Made (Behind the Scenes at the Museum) Vol. 21: Dismantling and Returning
This is a series where I explain, from the perspective of a curator, the step-by-step process of how an exhibition is held at a museum.
■ Previous article (↓)
■ See here for a list of all processes (↓).
33. Exhibition Closing
Well, the exhibition has reached its final day.
Just because it's the final day doesn't mean we do anything special. We don't go out for a big drink or anything like that.
If I had to say, since we enter a closed period for exhibition changes starting the next day, we might post notices about that where they can be seen in the museum, or upload the same information to our website.
The museum shop staff have various things to do during the exhibition change closure period, such as checking inventory and swapping out products for the next exhibition, but that is outside the curator's scope, so I will omit it.
34. Dismantling Work
Once the exhibition ends, we immediately begin the dismantling work. In the case of department store exhibitions, dismantling might take place on the night the exhibition closes, but museums and art galleries have a closed period, so we don't have to rush that much. We often start the work on the next business day.
Just like during the installation work, we enlist the help of workers from Yamato or Nippon Express.
We bring the packing boxes stored in the storage room into the gallery and pack the works one by one. However, before that, the curator must check the condition of the works and perform simple cleaning.
We walk around to check if there were any abnormalities in the works during the exhibition period.
Also, even if they were inside a case, works can sometimes have a slight amount of dust on them. We gently brush them off with a feather duster or similar tool before putting them in the boxes.
You can almost hear the works saying, 'Phew, I'm tired, I'm tired' (laughs).
After that, we also remove the panels attached to the walls and the banners hanging from the ceiling, one after another.
Compared to installation work, dismantling work is finished much faster.
Installation requires repeating fine adjustments while worrying about the placement of works, but dismantling is just purely cleaning up.
If there is still time left after all the packed works have been put away in the storage room, we move the display cases and movable walls for the next exhibition, or remove the spotlights.
In this way, an empty gallery is created. As I wrote in the installation work section, every time this happens, I think, 'Was our place always this big?'
35. Returning Borrowed Works
If it were a collection exhibition using only our own museum's holdings, the work would be finished here, but if we have borrowed works from others, we have one more job to do. Needless to say, it is the return of the works.
As with the collection time, we contact the lending museum or gallery to finalize the return dates. Naturally, this communication and coordination would not be in time if done after the exhibition closes, so we usually discuss it with the other party two or three months in advance, or even when we borrow the works.
If there are multiple return destinations, we have to devise a return route. We consult with the transport company's representative to create a return schedule.
On the day of the return, once the specialized art transport truck arrives at the museum, we carry the artworks out of the storage room and load them. We secure them firmly inside the cargo bed so they do not fall over due to vibrations during transport.
Then, the curator also boards the truck and we depart.
Upon arriving at the destination museum, we do not immediately put the artworks into storage; instead, we unpack them in a room (if the storage room is large enough, we may do it there).
Then, curators from both sides perform a condition check on the artworks, and only after confirming there are no issues do we store them in the appropriate location.
We report on the exhibition, express our gratitude for lending us such valuable works, and exchange other information with the curators there before departing.
Depending on the situation, we may stay overnight for a few days while traveling to various locations. Since we are there, let's eat some delicious local food in the evening (who am I talking to?).
Then, after returning all the works, we head home. This is the moment when we can finally relax our shoulders. After all, while we are entrusted with the artworks, there is always a part of our minds that is tense.
Phew, what a relief.
You can see a list of past articles here (↓).