Profession exhibition registrar

Exhibition registrars organise, manage and document movement of museum artefacts to and from storage, display and exhibitions. This happens in collaboration with private or public partners such as art transporters, insurers and restorers, within the museum and outside.

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Personality Type

• Conventional / Investigative
• Enterprising / Conventional

Knowledge

• Collection management software

  Be familiar with specialised collection management software used to document and keep record of the museum collection.

• Conservation techniques

  The procedures, instruments, techniques, materials and chemicals used in conservation and archiving.

• Museum databases

  The tools and processes involved in working with museum databases.

Skills

• Implement risk management for works of art

  A registrar determines risk factors to an art collection and mitigates them. Risk factors for artworks include vandalism, theft, pests, emergencies, and natural disasters. It is the responsibility of a registrar to develop and implement strategies to minimise these risks.

• Advise on art handling

  Advise and instruct other museum professionals and technicians on how to manipulate, move, store and present artifacts, according to their physical characteristics.

• Document museum collection

  Registrars are concerned with documentation and record keeping of museum collections. Documentation includes information about an object's condition, provenance, materials, and all of its movements within the museum or out on loan.

• Respect cultural differences in the field of exhibition

  Respect cultural differences when creating artistic concepts and exhibitions. Collaborate with international artists, curators, museums and sponsors.

• Advise on loans of art work for exhibitions

  Working together with curators and museum collection managers, a registrar evaluates the condition of art objects for exhibition or loan purposes. The registrar also decides whether or not an artwork is able to withstand the stresses of travel or exposition.

• Ensure safety of exhibition

  Ensure safety of exhibition environment and of artefacts by applying safety devices.

• Communicate in English in a competent way

  Competent use of English; R351refers to level C1 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

• Supervise artefact movement

  Supervise any movement of museum artefacts and ensure their security.

• Prepare loan contracts

  Compose loan contracts; understand and implement accompanying insurance conditions.

• Manage loans

  Evaluate and approve or reject commercial, real state or credit loans. Follow up their status and advice borrowers on financial status and payment methods.  

• Advise on tax policy

  Advise government officials on changes in tax policies and procedures, and the implementation of new policies on a national and local level.

• Advise on government policy compliance

  Advise organisations on how they may improve their compliance to the applicable government policies they are required to adhere to, and the necessary steps which need to be taken in order to ensure complete compliance.

• Assess object condition

  Work together with the collection manager or restorer, to evaluate and document the condition of a museum object for a loan or an exhibition.

• Deliver correspondence

  Distribute mail correspondence, newspapers, packages and private messages to customers.

• Compose condition reports

  Document the condition of artworks prior to and after movement and manipulation.

• Cope with challenging demands

  Maintain a positive attitude towards new and challenging demands such as interaction with artists and handling of artistic artefacts. Work under pressure such as dealing with last moment changes in time schedules and financial restraints.

• Work independently on exhibitions

  Work autonomously on the development of a framework for artistic projects such as locations and workflows.

• Use ICT recources to solve work related tasks

  Ability to choose and use ICT recources in order to solve related tasks

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB