2008-11-04



“Five-Man Pedersen (Prototype No.1)” 2003, Simon Starling. The sculpture is part of the coming exhibition in the DLA Piper series: This is Sculpture, Tate Liverpool, which will open on 1 May 2009. © Simon Starling

Collaboration is the answer

Successful collaboration is what distinguishes a successful exhibition from a flop. We have spoken to people who know how one transforms an institution into a flexible project organization.

Many organizations in the arts sector are sometimes criticized on account of their old-fashioned and hierarchical organizations, something that in the worst instance can be costly and can result in poorer productions. But there are a number of institutions that have succeeded in shifting from traditional matrix organizations into something flexible, effective and much more fun – to the advantage of both the staff and the public.

Broad public

At Britain’s Tate Gallery they have long placed projects at the centre and have let representatives from the cultural and commercial departments sit down together and plan future programmes. This has helped the Tate to become one of the most visited and appreciated museums in the world. In order to attract a broad public to their exhibitions, each new programme starts with curators and creators sitting down with staff from the education and communication units. The starting point then becomes not just what is going to be shown but who it is going to be shown to. This may sound self-evident but it was no simple matter to get these different groups to sit down at the same table.

“The curators were unwilling to involve themselves with these issues. They are afraid that their programme or their artistic integrity will be compromised” says Christoph Grunenberg who is head of Tate Liverpool.

“Creating dialogue and eradicating the traditional suspicion of our curators is one of the keys of success at Tate Liverpool.”

Starting from the programme

He explains that successful collaboration between different groups of staff is what distinguishes a success from a flop. Work always needs to be based on the programme of operations rather than the organizational hierarchy.

“The programme is what is most important and everything we do derives from it. Right from the beginning there is a consciousness that the people who will interpret the exhibition and communicate it to a broader public participate in the decision process. There has to be respect for each other’s expertise”, he maintains. “Working in this manner is still fairly unusual.”

Preserving identity

At the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg they have also realized the importance of taking the project as the starting point. According to the director of the museum, Margareta Alin, the most important thing is that each group of staff can preserve and strengthen its identity in order to be able to collaborate with others.

“Some people feel unsure of themselves when they meet certain groups. They feel that they are being trampled on”, she explains. “With each new project that is started, all the various professions take part on the same terms. There is a voice from each field. This is democratic and pays for itself in the long run. Otherwise the problems will appear during the course of the project.”

Organizational flower

An organization that works on the basis of the programme or project can be described as a flower. The centre of the bloom is the project itself while the petals surrounding it represent the units with their special competences: technical units, exhibition producers, communication experts and tour educators. All of the petals are equally valuable, equally large and equally important. They all take part in the planning from the very beginning, even though not all of them may be needed as much during the course of the project, depending on its nature. The pot in which the flower is planted represents the supporting functions like administration and project managers who enable the flower to flourish.

When, three years ago, it became evident that Swedish Travelling Exhibitions would be moving to Gotland, a decision was taken that the organization should be transformed from a matrix organization to a project-oriented organization.

“Did not talk enough”

“With the matrix organization things were more static. There were no obvious meeting points and people did not talk enough with each other. With the flower model no one risks being trampled on. Working with the flower is a matter of trusting other people’s competence”, Anneli Strömberg Fatty, head of the project office at Swedish Travelling Exhibitions explains.

She too emphasizes the importance of including education and communication right from the start instead of bringing them in last of all.

Every project is given a manager who keeps track of the project from the planning stage right through until the exhibition is taken down and evaluated.

“In the corporate world these are self-evident matters”, she notes.

Far from simple

Transforming a traditional organization is far from simple. The real work starts when the change has been effectuated, so that people do not fall back into their old ways. Basically it is a matter of letting individuals take the stage with all their personal qualifications.

“Moving from one hierarchical interpretation of the brief that one has received from, for example, a municipality with various directives, and moving on to a structure in which competence is decisive is difficult” notes Max Valentin who is head of Fabel, a firm of consultants that helps organizations to design processes to influence attitudes and values, with customers such as the Halmstad County Museum and the Historical Museum of Wines and Spirits in Stockholm.”

“Reaching the point in complex structures where people can take responsibility for a redefined role and can become curious about their professional position is an aspect of skills development. Unfortunately, very little is invested in skills development for museum staff today. This means that the structures already in existence are maintained.”

Romantic image

In the same way that certain professionals like to exclude certain groups, there are also professionals who have a romantic notion that everyone wants to participate. But this is not self-evident just because an organizational structure permits it. When Margareta Alin was head of Kulturen, the open-air museum in Lund, she realized that not everyone wanted to sit at the round table. “I found that not everyone wanted to take part on the same terms. There are different cultures. One cannot be sure that a builder or painter actually wants to sit still for several hours and discuss aims and ideologies. Professionals often have a dream of everyone being involved. But many people prefer to do rather than to talk. I am one of the “68” generation that had to revise my view of the world.”

Visitors generate ideas

At Tate Liverpool, they are challenging the collaboration between different professional groups. With the new exhibition, The Fifth Floor, the gallery has handed responsibility to a completely different group – visitors and people who live in the area. More than 1000 people have submitted ideas about how they want to experience an art exhibition and how visitors can interact with the art more satisfactorily.

“This is a very challenging and important model based on the closest cooperation between the education and exhibition departments”, Christoph Grunenberg notes.

Johan Nylander
Freelance journalist based in London and on Gotland. He is also the author of a book entitled 
”Förenkla – så räddar du kunderna, organisationen och dig själv från krångel” (Simplify – how to protect your customers, your organization and yourself from fuss), Liber 2008.