What is a loan, and how may one be requested?

Destacado de préstamos

A loan is a brief temporary transfer of a work from the Collection to form part of exhibition projects outside the museum. Most works from the MACBA Collection may be requested on loan except for those which for reasons of preventive conservation must not be allowed to leave the museum premises. Requests from public museums, institutions and foundations will be considered, but given the museum’s responsibility over heritage no works may be lent to individuals, private companies, commercial galleries or for promotional or propagandistic purposes. Evaluation of a loan request will be based on factors intrinsic to the work such as its state of conservation and how often it has been exhibited and others extrinsic to it such as the quality of the exhibition project and the conditions offered by the space, which should be established using a Facilities Report.

Where have they travelled to?

Works from MACBA Collection exhibited in 2022

Map of the itineraries of works in the collection

Would you like to request a work on loan?

Loan requests should be sent to the curator and head of the Collection or to the museum’s management. They should include the basic information (location of the exhibition, title and dates) as well as a brief description of the exhibition project they will be part of. Once requests are received, they will be evaluated by the Internal Loan Committee; the committee will evaluate the importance of the loan on the conceptual level but also take into account the technical aspects provided by the records, conservation-restoration and audiovisual teams. Once loan requests have been approved, the Record department will contact the borrower to inform them of the decision, begin all of the procedures related to managing the loan and coordinate the teams to carry it out. Before the work leaves the museum, the conservation-restoration team will prepare the work for transport and proper exhibition. In cases where it is deemed necessary, a conservator-restorer will accompany the work to ensure correct installation and check the state of conservation

Evolution of the Collection Loans

Chart of works loaned and applicant entities