9 texts for the exhibition
You finally got the exhibition space! The effort of the application process was worth it. But not all work is done yet. Because even at the exhibition site there is one or the other that you have to write down.
speech
Surely the first thing you think of is a speech. However, you only need to prepare it yourself if it is a solo exhibition and there is no one else at the exhibition site who will hold it. It can also happen that the speaker is not too well prepared, for example at a solo exhibition in a town hall, where someone from the city has agreed to speak but is not really used to talking about art. In these cases, you need to prepare yourself. However, it is difficult to give “instructions” for this. Every exhibition venue, every audience is different. I would therefore like to limit myself to a few general recommendations at this point:
- Be prepared for your audience – in most cases quite mixed. Avoid too intellectual speech and don’t brag about insider knowledge from the art world and art history. Just be yourself. Most people are very fond of authentic presentations.
- Make sure to include some humorous aspects, perhaps an anecdote.
- If you want to thank people, you should definitely know their full names and pronounce them correctly.
- Write down keywords and practice your speech.
Everything else – including the actual content – is a matter of taste.
Labels
There are two important principles for designing labels for your artwork:
- Make it uniform and easy to read.
- Be sure to write a contact option (e.g. telephone number, email address, website) and a clear identification of the work of art (number or title) on each label. So guests can easily take a quick cell phone photo for later if interested.
Flyer
It’s always good when guests can take something home. A professional flyer with photos and text about your art is a great option. You can design the flyer independently of the current exhibition so that you can display it on several exhibitions.
Information signs
Sometimes you need a sign for certain purposes, e.g. if you want to refer to a guest book or your mailing list. Since it is always the worst to judge whether signs are seen and understood without asking, you should test your signs on a few good friends and take their suggestions for improvement seriously.
