The safety of transporting works of art has always been a key topic at our industry conferences and continues to be a significant concern. During our panel, we aim to highlight the importance of the safety of art handlers, a topic that is often overlooked. This issue is particularly urgent in Europe, where many museums and exhibition venues are situated in historic buildings with difficult access, requiring the expertise of technicians to use scaffolding, cranes, and stair lifts. Additionally, the movement of large artworks in churches, transferring heavy sculptures from archaeological sites and museums, and managing logistics in Venice demands extensive experience, knowledge, and a strong focus on worker safety. We will address these issues along with assessing the shared responsibility of the exhibition venue, the event organizer, and the handling company in ensuring worker safety.

France Muséums is a consulting and cultural engineering agency created in 2007 by an intergovernmental agreement between France and the Emirates of Abu Dhabi to work towards the creation of the first universal museum in the Arab world, the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Today this partnership leads France Muséums registrars’ team to share skills and to team up with Louvre Abu Dhabi registrars’ team.
Before Louvre Abu Dhabi opening, the artworks registrar job position did not exist in the United Arab Emirates. Since the opening in 2017, France Muséums has been supporting the museum in all its dimensions, including building a baseline collection, managing and coordinating artworks on loans from French museums, producing exhibitions, and create a consultancy project for staff capacity building.
We will present France Muséum registrars' missions to work hand in hand with Louvre Abu Dhabi registrar team. We will describe the stages that France Muséums implemented to transfer registrars’ skills with the aim of making the on-site team completely independent.
France Muséums registrars' team is working as a mirror of Louvre Abu Dhabi registrar team. Each France Muséumsregistrar leads an exhibition project together with a junior registrar in the museum. Through regular updates and shared information, France Muséums facilitates skill transfer to Emiratis via workshops, on-site presence, templates, one-to-one meetings, learning by doing.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is opening its borders to greater cultural exchange. This paper will focus on the growth of incoming and outgoing loans by the Royal Commission for AlUla. AlUla is located in the North-West Saudi Arabia. In the past five years, the Royal Commission has both hosted international and national loans in AlUla and organised outgoing loans and exhibitions.
The Royal Commission is engaged with creating cultural partnerships with a number of governments and major culturalinstitutions. Many of these agreements include the facilitation on international loans in and out of Saudi Arabia. The paper will include an analysis of the development of these loan practices within Saudi Arabia. It will seek to answer questions regarding engaging in loans and exhibitions with Saudi based institutions, such as the Royal Commission for AlUla.

The growth and impact of Arts and Culture in Saudi Arabia is unique in its speed and development. What has taken hundreds of years in Europe and the US is taking place in a timespan that is incredible. The development of museums and the professional profiles that are required to make a museum function are also under process and growth. It is important to Highlight the professional profile of the Registrar, both Collections and Exhibitions, which often goes overlooked. This workshop will discuss the processes currently being undertaken, particularly with Misk (the Mohammed bin Salman Foundation) and the Ministry of Culture Museum’s Commission, and on a private level, to teach about what the Registrar does and why it is so important in the network of new museums being created in the Kingdom.

Delving into the realm of private collections unveils a world not often considered by museum registrars and collections managers. The private collections world stands as a burgeoning sector within collections management, rife with significant differences pertinent to our field. Join us for a moderator-led roundtable discussion featuring registrars from the private collections sphere, as we offer a fresh perspective on collections care. Explore a diverse array of experiences, ranging from family, personal, and corporate collections.
This presentation aims to provide insight into the daily duties inherent to this work, illuminating how they diverge from conventional museum practices. Dive into the intricacies of working closely with individual owners or families rather than institutional boards, shedding light on the unique benefits and hurdles of managing collections beyond the museum's confines. Despite disparities, the core objective remains unwavering: the safeguarding and conservation of cultural treasures.
Embark on an enlightening journey into the dynamic world of private collections with our panel of seasoned registrars. Gain invaluable perspectives as we navigate through the nuances of this captivating realm, where multiple presenters converge to enrich our understanding of private collections management.

The Honours of Scotland, which comprise the Crown of Scotland, the Sceptre, the Sword of State and the Stone of Destiny have long been contested objects which continue to spark fierce public debate. They represent monarchy, conflict and nationhood and retain their ceremonial function as regalia. This ceremonial function as well as political change has brought them into focus in 2023 and 2024 with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the Coronation of Charles III and the return of the Stone of Destiny to a new museum in Perth. These objects are relevant and contentious because of their history and have been targeted by anti-royalists, independence protesters, activists and conspiracy theorists who would seek touse their high status and significance to draw attention to their cause. How then, do we balance the need for public access to these objects, both for visitors but also to allow them to be used ceremonially as they were intended?
Historic Environment Scotland manage these objects on behalf of the Crown and the Commissioners for the Safeguarding of the Regalia and are responsible for their transport, security and care. We will explore their history, from origin myths of the Stone of Destiny as the Stone of Jacob, to the events of 2023/2024 which brough them national and international attention. We will share our approach to transport, display and risk management for objects of high significance and high threat level in an environment of frenzied media attention and fierce public debate.