The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum actively contributes to the staging of national and international exhibitions by lending out works of art from its collection. As part of its mission to promote and enhance knowledge, the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum actively collaborates with initiatives whose projects deserve its support while also helping to raise the profile of its collection through temporary loans of works of art.

 

Loan request

The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum asks bodies which stage exhibitions to request the loan of works from its collection up to one year in advance.

 

Relevant information to be included in the loan request

The loan request must include the following information:

1. The title and dates of the exhibition
2. A description of the theme of the exhibition and an overview of its contents
3. A justification of the request for the loan of the work(s) concerned within the context of the exhibition

Requests must be addressed to:

António Filipe Pimentel
Director
Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
Av. de Berna 45 – A 
1067-001 Lisboa, Portugal

 

Approval of requests

When a request is received, it is assessed by the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum’s team of curators and conservators. The result of this assessment is submitted to the Board of Trustees of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation for a final decision. This decision will subsequently be communicated to the organizer by the Museum’s Director.

The following factors play a part in the decision:

1. The state of conservation of the work(s)
2. The preventive conservation plan drawn up for the work(s)
3. The quality of the exhibition project
4. A substantiated justification of the request of the selected work(s)
5. The availability of the work(s) requested
6. An assessment of the consequences of the absence of the work(s) from the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum’s permanent exhibition

 

Once the temporary loan of the work(s) has been approved, the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum will send the organizer a document detailing the conditions of the loan together with a written confirmation of it. When these conditions have been accepted, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation will sign the loan contract.

 

Packaging, transportation and exhibition conditions

The organizer must send to the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum a Facility Report containing essential information on the conditions in which the works will be displayed (installation and security), and the environmental conditions at the venue in question.

The works of art cannot leave the facilities of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation unless an insurance certificate and the signed Loan Agreement are received prior to the departure of the works.

The environmental conditions at the exhibition venue must be monitored twenty-four hours per day. Detailed information on the security conditions at the exhibition must also be provided.

The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum will ensure that the work(s) belonging to its collection will be accompanied by a designated courier.

 

Loan costs

All costs relating to the preparation, necessary restoration, packaging and transportation of the work(s) are the sole responsibility of the organizer of the exhibition, as are all courier and insurance fees.