With the deinstall of our latest exhibition Hag. Knowledge, Power & Alchemy Through Craft now behind us, it’s a good time to reflect on the environmental consciousness we built into the very core of the exhibition.
Reduce
From the outset, we decided to go as low impact as we could, starting with a reduction in the number of posters, postcards and catalogues we produced, as well as considering materials such as organic, sustainably produced cotton for a limited range of Hag. tote bags. All catalogues and bags sold out with no additional waste.
We encouraged and promoted public transport to all our physical events, and our sold-out exhibition opening included a vegetarian and vegan spread from the Granary Café on site.
The exhibition display banners and vinyl decals were made from PVC-free materials, which have a smaller carbon footprint and can reduce harmful toxins entering the environment.
We were again pleased to work with Ostrero Scotland to deliver a workshop on the final day of the Hag. exhibition, re-using these non-recyclable materials from the exhibition to save them from landfill and create useful objects such as bags, wallets and pencil cases.
Re-Use
We were very grateful to Leisure and Culture Dundee, Dovecot Studios and OnFife for the generous loan of plinths and display gear which we used to present the exhibition alongside our own existing plinths. One acrylic cover was custom-made by a local company to protect a delicate artwork.
Door in the Wall Arts kindly loaned a Neuk Access Pack with ear defenders, reading guides, magnifying glasses and fidget toys for visitors to use. This has now been returned ready to be used again at another exhibition elsewhere.
A kitchen table donated by a Fife Contemporary staff member was transformed to become our Touch Table, and donated sofa cushions became soft seating in the family activity area.
Recycle
All signage and labels for the exhibition were printed on Honeycomb board, a durable yet 100% recyclable alternative to the more commonly used foam board – a non-recyclable plastic-based polystyrene. These were shipped in paper-based packaging and can be recycled along with household paper and card once no longer needed.
During the install and de-install of the exhibition, recycling stations were set up to capture and sort as much material as possible and save it from landfill waste. Our fab install tech team helped us to recycle on site, and the artwork packaging was all kept for re-packing the precious artworks.
Results
The exhibition install waste only half-filled a single black bin bag. Exhibition installs are fast-paced environments, where all too often rubbish is scooped into bags for landfill – but by building recycling into the very core of the install environment we were proud with this result.
Waste generated at the end of the exhibition was significantly less, filling only a small portion of one bag.
While it might be impossible to create the perfect plastic-free, carbon-neutral exhibition, we can always aim to improve, coming closer and closer each time.
If you have any ideas of ways in which we can improve our exhibition-making, or if you’d like to talk further about what we did and how you might do it too, we’d love to chat! Get in contact with us at mail@fcac.co.uk.
