The online 3-day workshop on “Organizing Temporary Exhibitions from your Collections and Touring Strategies” took place from 18 to 26 May 2022, and was organized exclusively for Iranian cultural heritage managers.

18 heritage managers from Iran have been trained on how temporary exhibitions can enhance and promote the mission of a cultural organization, create new audiences, build partnerships and potentially generate revenue.

The format of the workshop was discursive and participatory. All participants were invited and encouraged to bring their own ideas and projects for discussion and development, allowing them to engage further with a more emotional understanding of the training they received. During the days of the workshop participants were trained on building an organizational strategy for exhibition making, as well as partnership building, and explored the process behind making temporary exhibitions for display at home and for tour. This included identifying exhibition objectives, shaping the narrative and content to create a compelling visitor experience, as well as strategies for touring exhibitions nationally and internationally.

The workshop has been conducted by Dana Andrew.

Dana Andrew, is an independent museum consultant and trainer specializing in temporary and touring exhibitions and international projects. Based in Dublin, Ireland, she is Professional Development Manager, trainer and mentor for TEG (Touring Exhibitions Group) and part-time Executive Director of ICOM UK (International Council of Museums UK). Supporting museums, galleries and cultural organizations to develop successful projects and programs with impact, and having the vision, structure and processes in place to do this, is the main focus of Dana’s consultancy and training work.

The workshop’s guest lecturers were Dr Moya Carey and Maria Blyzinsky.

Dr Moya Carey, is Curator of Islamic Collections at the Chester Beatty in Dublin. In 2022, she curated the exhibition “Meeting in Isfahan: Vision and Exchange in Safavid Iran”. Previously (2009-2018) she worked as the Iran Heritage Foundation Curator for the Iranian Collections, at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London. In 2017, she published “Persian Art: Collecting the Arts of Iran for the V&A”, a book about British collecting activities in late nineteenth-century ajar Iran. In 2019, this was awarded the International
Book of the Year prize in Iran. Dr Carey is interested in visual culture in all media, most particularly carpets, metalwork and the arts of the book, as well as the cultural contexts surrounding later appropriations, reuse and object biography.

Maria Blyzinsky, is a heritage consultant and independent curator specializing in exhibitions and interpretation. Her career began as a curator for the Royal Observatory Greenwich, where she now holds the post of Curator Emeritus. Later, as Head of Exhibitions for Royal Museums Greenwich, she managed a team of interpretation specialists, project managers and designers responsible for delivering a busy program of special exhibitions, gallery upgrades and touring shows. In 2007, Maria co-founded The Exhibitions Team, an association of independent museum professionals with a passion for exhibitions, collections and interpretation. She is a published author and is currently writing a book about generating ideas for exhibitions, due to be published in 2023.