ABSTRACT
<<ABSTRACT The use of buy-ins (exhibitions for hire) in Australian institutions is examined in this chapter. Buy-ins allow museums to meet demand for changing content and are one of a suite of tactics used to increase audiences. The packaged nature of a buy-in can be an efficient way for the host institution to mount an exhibition: many cultural workers argue that they enable a break in programming that subsidises other, perhaps more research driven, exhibitions. This chapter establishes the nature of the buy-in exhibition and the circumstances that have influenced it rise. It argues that audience familiarity is key to the success of buy-ins so topics are limited to help ensure broad recognition and interest. The risks of buy-ins are considered in light of the Australian market whereby their potential for financial return is not assured and an overreliance on imported content can have detrimental effects. This leads into a discussion of new frontiers for buy-ins that involve less overheads and potentially deliver greater returns. Underpinning this discussion is the question: is the educational role of museums, as learning and research centres, compromised by this uptake of the buy-in?
Key exhibitions
Masterpieces from Paris: Van Gogh, Cézanne, Gauguin, and Beyond: Post Impressionism from the Musée d’Orsay, Canberra, 2009–10
Harry Potter the Exhibition, Sydney, 2011–12
Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, Melbourne, 2011
Tutankhamun: His tomb and treasures, Perth, 2016–17>>
