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Vox pop | Are there too many temporary exhibitions?
Three museum professionals respond to our question
Caroline Jones
Director and chief executive, Story Museum, Oxford
“Temporary exhibitions are a way of opening another door to the infinite possibilities of our 1001 Stories Collection for families. With each one, we invite visitors into an imaginary, immersive world. There are opportunities to commission artists, co-create with young people and make new relevancy for audiences yet to visit us. We hope to co-produce with other museums in the future. Temporary exhibitions are a crucial and creative aspect of our public offer.”
Liz Power
Director, London Museum of Water & Steam
“How often do we expect our visitors to come to museums in a post-Covid world? Museums often spend so much time and money on exhibitions, while other areas of the venue get more and more tired. This is an exhausting treadmill for the staff, often driven by a marketing need, more than a visitor need. Why not slow things down and give visitors longer to see temporary exhibitions and spend time and money improving permanent displays that might attract new audiences?”
Jan Freedman
Freelance museum consultant
“Temporary exhibitions are great for telling new and relevant stories, using collections that may not normally be out on display. Permanent exhibitions are fixed, static, and difficult and expensive to update. Temporary exhibitions are relatively inexpensive, and allow visitors to be challenged by experiencing new stories pertinent to today’s world. Climate change, decolonisation and Black Lives Matter are among the important issues that temporary exhibitions can tackle.”