Download our loan guidelines as a pdf by clicking here

The Auckland Art Gallery supports the exhibition programmes of other public art galleries and museums throughout New Zealand and overseas by making its collection available for loan.

Borrowers should contact the relevant Curator or the Assistant Registrar prior to the loan application for assistance in identifying, selecting, or viewing collection items.

To borrow a work from the collection for exhibition, please send a formal letter of application to the Auckland Art Gallery's Director at least six months prior to the beginning of the proposed loan period. More advance notice is always helpful particularly if the request is of a complex nature or if it involves more than one venue or a large number of works.

Your loan request should include the following information:

You will receive an acknowledgement of your request within 4 weeks of receipt, and we may request additional information at this stage.

Late requests may be declined due to the Gallery having insufficient time to assess and prepare works for loan around other loan and exhibition commitments. If approved, late loan requests will attract a 50% surcharge on recoverable loan costs.

Your loan requests will be considered by Curatorial, Registration, Conservation and Preparatory staff who will assess the work's availability and ways of managing any potential risks arising from lending the work(s). We will also estimate the costs of preparing the works for transport and exhibition.

We will consider the following criteria when making the assessment:

The loan will be approved, or declined, by a formal meeting of the Gallery's Acquisitions Committee. If your request is approved you will be notified by the Assistant Registrar and sent loan agreements to complete along with an estimate of costs. If your request is declined, you will be notified by letter from the Director with reasons for the requested work(s) being unavailable.

We endeavour to conclude the assessment and approval within 90 days from receipt of the request.

We recognise that there may be a period of negotiation in which dates, management of risks and special conditions will be discussed. Once we have concluded our negotiation the Gallery will issue a final loan agreement for both parties to sign. The conditions contained in that document must be strictly adhered to and modified only by prior written agreement of both parties.

The borrower will be expected to pay for the following costs:

The borrower will also be responsible for all or part of any other associated costs of the loan, which may include the following (as advised during the loan approval and agreement process):

• Conservation treatment
• Photography
• Matting, framing, glazing and display mounts
• Security devices
• Travel frames, crate construction and fit-out
• Fumigation (if required for international loans)
• Customs clearance
• Costs of accompanying courier (fares, accommodation, and daily allowance)

The necessity of an accompanying staff courier will be assessed based on the loan involving risks associated with works of high financial or cultural value, fragility, or having complex installation or freight logistics.

A separate schedule of loan charges is available on request.

Further information about borrowing from the Gallery's collections is available from:

Jennifer Hale
Assistant Registrar
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki
PO Box 5449
Wellesley St
Auckland 1141
New Zealand

Ph: +64 (0)9 307 7407
Fax: +64 (0)9 302 1096
Email: jennifer.hale@aucklandcity.govt.nz