Session guide

Temporary exhibitions are at the heart of the museum visitor experience. They provide a way of bringing new research to visitors as well as an opportunity to display collections in a different way, often together with objects borrowed from other museums that may not have been seen before in the UK. 

For this session, we will use the recent exhibition Tantra: enlightenment to revolution as a platform to discuss planning and delivering a British Museum temporary exhibition.  We will use this session to introduce you to all aspects of temporary exhibitions from curation to interpretation and design and display to press and marketing.

Objectives

• What is the role of the curator in a special exhibition?
• Where did the inspiration for the exhibition come from and what is the process for moving forward with a special exhibition at the British Museum?
• How was the theme developed?  What story did the curator want to tell and why and how were the objects selected?
• An overview of the role of the designer for temporary exhibition.
• What were the key considerations in the Tantra exhibition – from a design perspective?
• Who were the team that worked on the installation and display of Tanta?
• An overview of marketing and press in the British Museum.
• The press and marketing opportunities for this special exhibition.
• How was the exhibition impacted by COVID and what did the team learn during the pandemic?