1. Purpose

The purpose of Exhibitions and Displays at RMG is to engage a broad range of audiences with the Museum’s collections, sites and themes. They create space for new thinking and perspectives in relation to the Museum’s mission of connecting people to time, space, place and belonging.

2. Context

Royal Museums Greenwich (RMG) comprises the National Maritime Museum (NMM), Royal Observatory Greenwich (ROG), Queen’s House (QH), Cutty Sark (CS) and the Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre (PPMCC). Our programmes of temporary exhibitions, galleries and displays form a vital part of the Museum’s work with audiences and of our mission, in Greenwich, Southeast England and more widely with our UK and international partners.

The Museum’s collections and subjects are many and varied, ranging from Tudor seafaring to modern astronomy. It is impossible to display all the collections or interpret all the subjects within our remit at any one time, so the Museum has rolling programmes of temporary exhibitions and of longer-term gallery renewal, that aim to meet this challenge and to retain existing audiences as well as to develop new audiences.

The content of our exhibitions and displays is aligned with the Museum’s guiding principles and thematic priorities as set out in Charting Our Course. Our strategic ambitions in terms of audiences will be set out through an Audience Development Action Plan, which will be created over the course of 2024.

3. Scope

The aim of this document is to provide a clear summary of RMG’s exhibition and display activities, its approach to ideas generation and selection, and to the management of exhibition, gallery and display projects including process and governance.

4. Types of Exhibitions:

4.1 Exhibitions – this term is used to mean large-scale temporary exhibitions staged onsite, including those that tour to other venues or are produced in collaboration with other institutions and external partners. Their purpose is to provide opportunities for diverse publics to engage with RMG collections, sites and/or subjects. Exhibitions may be focused solely on RMG collections or may include material or visual culture loaned to or deposited with the Museum from other institutions, private lenders and community partners as well as RMG collections. We may also use our spaces in more experimental ways with ‘shows’ that are not object-based. Exhibitions are staged in several spaces, but chiefly: an 815m² Special Exhibitions Gallery, a smaller 185m² ‘New Insights’ Gallery and the Queen’s House art gallery, where exhibitions are carefully co-ordinated with the permanent hang of the collection, and a programme of annual rotations. There is also an annual exhibition of RMG’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year (APY) competition, currently staged in a 265m² Photography Gallery. Over the period of this policy feasibility will be undertaken on the potential for more flexible exhibitions space in ‘Oceans Court’ at the heart of the National Maritime Museum site. Exhibitions have historically run for 3-6 months, but in the post-pandemic period, longer runs of 9-12 months have become standard to attract sufficient footfall and make a return on investment. It is important to keep a rhythm of shows over many years so that we build reputation and an audience of repeat visitors.

4.2 Galleries – this term is used to mean semi-permanent displays focused on RMG’s collections and long-term loans. In addition to thematic galleries at the National Maritime Museum, this definition includes interpreted spaces on Cutty Sark, such as the ‘Tween Deck and Lower Hold, and interpreted spaces within the historic fabric of the ROG such as Flamsteed House, the Meridian Building, Great Equatorial Telescope Building and the South Building/Astronomy Centre. Over the period of this policy, the primary focus for the programme of gallery renewal will be at the ROG. An important principle in this scheme will be to ensure a degree of flexibility in the display approach adopted in new and/or refreshed galleries to ensure that they can be maintained easily, and that content can be refreshed and updated over the lifespan of the gallery in response to new thinking and changing audience needs.

4.3 Displays – this term is used to mean smaller exhibits staged at any of RMG’s sites. These can vary from contemporary art installations, to single ‘object in focus’ or new acquisition displays, the display of vessels or artistic interventions on the Museum’s grounds, or the creative outputs of partnerships with community groups. Displays are often ‘agile’ projects, produced to shorter lead times. They may occasionally emerge opportunistically ‘in year’ rather than being defined in the annual planning process. Displays enhance the visitor experience, respond to emerging and/or contemporary issues and contribute to ongoing relationships with external stakeholders. They are likely to have an impact on Museum operations, as they are not confined to discrete gallery spaces or a set format. It is therefore important that the relevant Museum teams are consulted and engaged in a timely fashion (see 6. Process and Governance)

5. Forums for creative oversight and governance

5.1 Content Strategy Group – The Content Strategy Group (CSG) is the creative heart of the Museum. The group’s purpose is to define, develop, co-ordinate and deliver RMG’s Content Strategy in relation to research, interpretation, content development, programming, exhibiting and dissemination.

CSG’s strategic aim is to ensure all activity is aligned with RMG’s social purpose, approach and guiding concepts so that we maximize coherent outputs and outcomes, communicate effectively and work efficiently.

CSG’s creative aims are to nurture and support the development of ideas in line with the strategy and to ensure collections are made accessible to the public; are researched and interpreted in a way that is relevant to our visitors, communities and stakeholders.

Ideas generation: ideas are generated in a number of thematic sub-groups of CSG: Oceans (Environment); Oceans (Maritime Histories); Creativity; Society; Universe - and presented to the main group who actively contribute to development/shaping. They advise on potential outputs and interdependencies, ensuring clear cross team communication.

5.2 Exhibitions and Galleries Project Board – The EGPB is a sub-group of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and the Executive Committee (EC) to which the governance of live exhibition and gallery projects is devolved. Responsibility for project governance is passed to EGPB once project proposals have been generated, reviewed and refined at Content Strategy Group and its thematic sub-groups, selected for further development, and finally presented to EC for approval alongside an Activity Tracker detailing projected resource requirements and budget estimates.

The aims of the EGPB are to:

  • ensure that the design and content development of exhibition and gallery projects are rigorously managed, and delivered within the budget and programme tolerances sanctioned by EC;

  • to scrutinize, approve and monitor the business case for exhibition and gallery projects;

  • to monitor risk levels associated with time, cost and resource across the exhibitions and galleries programmes;

  • to provide executive decision-making when the Exhibitions team presents recommendations and options;

  • to ensure that the exhibitions and galleries programmes are aligned with the guiding principles of the Museum’s content strategy;

  • to grant permission for exhibition teams to pass through project ‘gateways’ at key milestones in the exhibition's lifecycle, at:

    • the end of stage 2 of the RIBA Plan of Work (Concept Design);

    • the end of stage 3 of the RIBA Plan of Work (Spatial Co-ordination);

    • Prior to procuring a Principal Contractor, the point where major financial commitments are made. Nb. This may be at end of stage 4 of the RIBA Plan of Work (Technical Design) or earlier in the process depending on whether a traditional procurement route or a ‘two-stage tender’ is being used.

EGPB meets ten times a year, at the end of each month, except August and December. Dashboards reporting on project progress, key risks and proposed mitigations are prepared in advance by individual Exhibition Project Managers and reviewed by the Head of Exhibitions and Design before being circulated to the attendees.

6. Process and Governance

Once green-lit, major exhibitions and gallery projects follow a well-established process from inception to project closure. Content and interpretative development progresses in co-ordination with design stages defined by the RIBA Plan of Work. Mid-stage and end-of-stage design reviews are conducted during Concept Design and Spatial Co-ordination, so that all design information can be assessed by the Design Manager and the Head of Exhibitions and Design before a more concise presentation of project progress is given at EGPB. Stakeholder Reviews are also undertaken and managed by the Exhibition Project Manager. On larger exhibition and gallery projects Quantity Surveyors are engaged to prepare cost plans at each stage of the design process and assist the Museum with value engineering, contract management and change control. This is supported by internal benchmarking against previous projects, pre-tender market engagement with specialist contractors, prototyping and sampling of materials.

On larger exhibition and gallery projects front-end, formative, and summative evaluation may be commissioned from external consultants to test audience understanding and interest and the success of the interpretative approach. ‘Wash up’ meetings are convened at the end of projects to collate lessons learned which can be applied to future projects. Closure reports are prepared for larger exhibition projects, which are submitted to the Board of Trustees.

Due to their agile nature and often short lead times, displays necessarily follow a lighter-touch process. With these initiatives, feasibility is undertaken before a commitment is made to a display project. Collections Services are consulted on the status of any material coming into the Museum from third parties and any preventative conservation considerations that may apply. Exhibitions & Design provide advice on design management, resource, and schedule. Timescales and parameters for text writing and editing are set in liaison with the Interpretation and Editorial teams. Art and Object Handling resource is ringfenced through early discussion at RMG’s regular Collections and Exhibitions Programme Schedule (CEPS) meetings. If a display is proposed in the main public/circulation spaces of the Museum, the Visitor Experience team is consulted to agree on any operational impact.

Over the first twelve months of this policy, and in time for its first review in January 2025, the Senior Leadership Team will actively review the process for display development and co-ordination.

7. Partnerships and Touring

RMG has a record of working with other museums and galleries to co-produce temporary exhibitions. This may result in a two-venue partnership or a wider tour, and benefits to the partners through sharing expertise, bringing together complementary collections and defrayment of costs. RMG has worked this way with both UK regional and international partners and is likely to do so during this policy period. Touring potential is assessed at project inception, but we do not have a ‘rolling’ or large-scale touring programme. Astronomy Photographer of the Year is often placed with receiving venues in the UK and abroad, but with rare exceptions we do not tour physical prints, preferring to transfer digital assets to our partners, for local production and installation.

In addition to its relationships with sectoral partners, RMG also collaborates with external stakeholders representing communities of identity, interest and/or place. These collaborations may result in co-curated displays and gallery interventions. The Museum also undertakes pilot projects to build relationships of trust and understanding with community stakeholders, and develop our interpretative approach, before setting a brief for major gallery projects.

Displays may originate from a wide variety of collaborations. These may include working with living artists on the display of newly commissioned pieces, either being acquired into the collection or loaned to/deposited with the Museum for a fixed period; working with community groups on displays associated with major annual festivals/events; working with external organisations and displaying the creative outputs of participation projects with underrepresented or marginalised groups.

8. Sustainability

In collaboration with the RMG’s Sustainability Manager, the Exhibitions and Design department is developing sustainable design guidelines to embed best practice. Where possible, temporary exhibitions and displays re-use infrastructure such as demountable and moveable showcases and modular display systems. Where graphic elements will be sacrificed at the end of a short-term project and do not require the robustness demanded of a longer-term gallery, the Museum uses fully recyclable graphic substrates. For capital projects we aim to review material specifications to understand and where possible mitigate their carbon impact across their whole life-cycle.

Authors: Matthew Lawrence, Head of Exhibitions and Design; Daniel Martin, Head of Collections Services; Helen Mears, Head of Curatorship and Research; Sarah Lockwood, Head of Engagement; Claire Warrior, Senior Content Curator