Travelling Exhibition Hosting Checklist: 15 Questions

Quick answer: Before booking a travelling exhibition, confirm that it fits your audience and mandate, your gallery can meet the physical and environmental requirements, your team understands the complete cost, and the lender’s authority, interpretation and permissions are clear. Then send one inquiry containing your dates, facility information, decision timeline and programming goals.

This travelling exhibition hosting checklist is for museum directors, curators, registrars, exhibition managers, galleries, cultural centres and university museums. U.S. teams may use the spelling “traveling exhibition”; the procurement questions are the same.

Use the checklist before requesting a hold on dates, then revisit it when reviewing the prospectus and loan agreement. It will help your team identify a strong fit quickly and avoid discovering a facilities, freight or approval problem after budgets and public dates have been announced.

The 15-question hosting checklist

1. Why does the exhibition fit your mandate and audience now?

Start with the visitor and institutional case, not an open date in the calendar. Name the audience you want to serve, the question the exhibition helps them explore and the connection to your collecting, education or public-engagement mandate.

A useful internal statement is specific: “This exhibition will support our 2027 programme for regional school groups and adult visitors interested in living artistic practices,” for example. “We need an Indigenous exhibition” is not a sufficient rationale. Indigenous peoples, Nations and cultural expressions are not interchangeable programme categories.

2. Who created the exhibition and who has authority?

Ask who originated and curated the exhibition, whose work and knowledge appear in it, and who approves interpretation, translation, photography, media and programme changes. Determine whether contributors were credited and compensated and how the originating team maintains those relationships during the tour.

For an Indigenous-led exhibition, the host should understand the exhibition’s specific cultural and geographic scope. The creators can speak for the work and relationships within that scope; they cannot authorize a host’s relationship with every Nation or community connected to the host location.

For deeper guidance on roles, permissions and shared authority, read How to Plan an Indigenous Museum Exhibit: A Collaboration-First Guide.

3. What exactly travels with the exhibition?

Request the current prospectus, object or component list and installation manual. Confirm which items are included:

• objects, artworks or regalia;
• cases, mounts, mannequins, barriers or platforms;
• wall panels, labels and graphics;
• audio, video, screens, headphones or playback equipment;
• lighting specifications;
• digital files and software;
• education and public-programming resources; and
• marketing images, captions and required credits.

Also ask which elements the host must fabricate, print, license, rent or supply. That distinction can change the true cost and installation schedule.

4. Will every crate, component and visitor route fit?

Compare the prospectus with measured gallery and back-of-house information. Floor area alone is not enough. Check ceiling height, doorway and elevator clearances, loading access, turning radiuses, crate staging, secure storage, floor loading and the space needed for installation equipment.

Map the visitor route at the same time. Include mobility devices, seating, school groups, interpreters, service animals, emergency egress and spaces where visitors may pause around audio or video.

5. Can your facility meet the climate and security requirements?

Prepare a current general facility report rather than relying on an old description of the building. Library and Archives Canada requires a facility report for loans and may request environmental readings for the same months as the proposed display period. The Smithsonian American Art Museum similarly asks prospective hosts to meet climate and security requirements and submit a standard facilities report.

Confirm required temperature and relative-humidity ranges, allowable fluctuation, light and ultraviolet limits, fire detection and suppression, intrusion protection, gallery supervision, housekeeping, pest management and emergency response. Include any temporary storage area, not only the public gallery.

6. Do you have the installation capacity?

Ask how many trained handlers are required, whether a courier or originating-team representative must attend, and how many days are allocated for unpacking, condition checking, installation, deinstallation and repacking. Identify required lifts, ladders, tools, carts, personal protective equipment, rigging or electrical support.

Protect the schedule from wishful thinking. Delivery, acclimatization, condition reporting, installation, lighting focus, media testing, cleaning and final approval all need time before the public opening.

7. How will visitors access the exhibition?

Review access as part of selection, not after design is locked. Ask about:

• step-free routes and turning space;
• label height, type size, contrast and reading level;
• seating and rest points;
• captioning, transcripts and audio access;
• sound bleed and sensory conditions;
• languages used by your visitors;
• accessible digital components; and
• advance information that helps visitors plan.

Clarify which interpretive elements may be adapted and who must approve changes. Translation should preserve approved Nation names, personal names, terminology and diacritics.

8. Does the full tour schedule work?

Look beyond opening and closing dates. Your working period begins with delivery planning and ends only after condition reporting, repacking, outbound transport and final documentation.

Ask whether your preferred dates are firm or flexible, where the exhibition travels immediately before and after your venue, and how much transit and contingency time separates bookings. International routes require additional time for customs, permits and brokerage.

9. What is the complete host cost?

The participation or rental fee is only one budget line. Build a total-cost estimate that identifies responsibility for:

• inbound and outbound freight;
• insurance or indemnification;
• customs, brokerage, duties or taxes where applicable;
• courier and originating-team travel;
• accommodation and per diem;
• local handling and installation labour;
• equipment rental and technical support;
• printing, fabrication and translation;
• programming and contributor fees;
• access services;
• marketing and opening events; and
• contingency and cancellation exposure.

Library and Archives Canada notes that borrowing institutions may be responsible for approved art shipping, transport, couriers, insurance, customs brokerage, crates, supports and specialized preparation. The exact division of costs for any exhibition comes from its prospectus and agreement.

Planning an upcoming season? Review the booking information for Powwow! Ohcîwin The Origins, then request current availability and the host-institution prospectus from MAG Exhibitions Curator Kim Verrier.

10. Who manages freight, customs and couriers?

Put one person in charge of transport coordination. Confirm the approved shipper, vehicle and handling standards; crate dimensions and weights; pickup and delivery windows; loading-dock requirements; secure overnight storage; courier travel; route approval; and responsibility between venues.

For cross-border bookings, identify the importer or exporter of record, customs broker, temporary import process and return-export documentation. Ask whether any materials require additional permits. Canadian Heritage notes that international movement of material from species controlled under CITES may require temporary import permission. Do not infer an exhibition’s material content; ask the lender for the current object and materials documentation.

11. What insurance and condition reporting are required?

Confirm the required coverage value and whether the lender expects wall-to-wall coverage, including transit, unpacking, storage, display, repacking and return. Ask when the certificate of insurance must be issued and whose names, venues and dates must appear.

Condition reports establish the documented state of each object or component as custody changes. Canadian Heritage describes progressive condition reporting at packing and unpacking points as fundamental to establishing when and where damage may have occurred. Decide who is qualified to complete each report, where it will happen, who receives it and how photographs are stored.

12. What does the agreement allow?

Read the loan or participation agreement alongside the prospectus. Confirm:

• dates, fees and payment schedule;
• care, display and security obligations;
• photography, filming and livestream rules;
• marketing and sponsorship permissions;
• label, translation and design approvals;
• education and programme rights;
• incident and emergency procedures;
• cancellation, force majeure and additional costs;
• credit lines and acknowledgements; and
• return documentation and close-out requirements.

Do not announce dates, reproduce supplied images or promise programming until the appropriate approvals are documented.

13. Which interpretive and marketing materials are supplied?

Ask for the final approved label package, image library, captions, credits, press text, visual identity requirements, education materials and digital assets. Determine what can be resized, excerpted, translated or adapted and what must remain unchanged.

Your campaign should describe the actual exhibition rather than reducing it to a broad cultural theme. Give audiences the creators, scope, medium, questions and visitor experience they can expect. For Indigenous work, keep specific identities and authorship visible rather than replacing them with generalized language.

14. What programming is appropriate?

Programming can deepen the exhibition when roles are clear. Ask whether curatorial talks, creator conversations, school sessions, performances, demonstrations or online programmes are available and what travel, fees, technical needs and permissions apply.

Work with local Nations and communities through existing or appropriately developed relationships, with clear invitations, roles, compensation and the ability to decline. Local participants should not be asked to validate an exhibition they did not create or presented as representatives of every Indigenous person in the region.

15. Who can approve the booking, and by when?

Name the decision owner, budget authority, contract reviewer, facilities approver and communications lead. Work backwards from the lender’s hold deadline and your board, procurement or funding calendar.

A good inquiry is short but decision-ready. Include:

• institution, city, province or state, and country;
• preferred dates and acceptable alternatives;
• gallery dimensions, ceiling height and loading access;
• facility-report status;
• anticipated audience and programming goals;
• budget status and decision deadline; and
• the curatorial, exhibitions or registration contact.

Considering Powwow! Ohcîwin The Origins?

Powwow! Ohcîwin The Origins is an award-winning Indigenous-led travelling exhibition created by Patrick and Marrisa Mitsuing of Powwow Times with Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery. It presents complete regalia and recorded origin stories connected with seven powwow dance styles.

The exhibition is available for booking inquiries from museums, galleries and cultural institutions in Alberta, Saskatchewan, elsewhere in Canada, the United States and internationally. Current dates, technical requirements and commercial details are available through the host-institution prospectus.

Request availability: Visit the Powwow! Ohcîwin The Origins travelling exhibition page, then email MAG Exhibitions Curator Kim Verrier at kim.verrier@reddeermuseum.com. Include your institution, location, preferred dates, gallery size and decision timeline.

Frequently asked questions

How far ahead should a museum book a travelling exhibition?

Begin as early as your exhibition-planning cycle allows, particularly for cross-border dates. Availability, routing, freight, facility review, agreements, insurance and programming can all affect lead time. Request the exhibition’s current calendar rather than assuming a universal booking window.

What is a museum facility report?

A facility report summarizes the building, gallery, environmental controls, security, fire protection, loading access, staffing and emergency procedures relevant to a loan. Lenders use it to assess whether their objects and exhibition components can be cared for safely.

What costs should a host museum expect?

Depending on the exhibition, costs may include a participation fee, freight, insurance, brokerage, couriers, travel, installation labour, equipment, printing, translation, access services, programming, marketing and contingency. Confirm the precise responsibility for every line in the prospectus and agreement.

Can a travelling exhibition cross the Canada-U.S. border?

Yes, when the originating and host institutions agree that the tour is feasible. The plan may require customs brokerage, temporary import or export documentation, approved transport, insurance and permits related to specific materials. Assign these responsibilities before dates are confirmed.

Should a museum change an Indigenous exhibition for its local audience?

Only within the permissions established by the exhibition’s creators and agreement. A host may add clearly identified local context through appropriate relationships, but should not rewrite contributor identities, cultural scope or approved interpretation without authorization.

What should we send with a booking inquiry?

Send your institution and location, preferred and alternate dates, gallery dimensions, facility-report status, audience and programme goals, budget status, decision deadline and lead contact. This gives the booking team enough information to assess fit and discuss the next step.

Sources

• Library and Archives Canada: Request a loan for exhibition
• Canadian Heritage: Travelling Exhibitions Indemnification Program application instructions
• Canadian Heritage: Information for lenders and applicants
• Smithsonian American Art Museum: Traveling Exhibition Program
• Smithsonian Affiliations: Choosing a traveling exhibition
• Exhibits USA: Resources for successful exhibitions
• Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery: Powwow! Ohcîwin The Origins