In 2023/24 temporary exhibitions represented 8% of our total carbon footprint, which is 1,358 tonnes of carbon (tCO2e). Even though the carbon impact is smaller than other areas, including how we heat the museum, we want to build show stopping exhibitions with the least impact on the planet as possible.
To start this process, we created an Exhibitions Working Group, with experts from different departments, including Design, Exhibitions, Curatorial, Conservation, Loans, Technical Services and Sustainability.
Measuring exhibition emissions
To understand the impact, we measured the carbon emissions of three past exhibitions: Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature, Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear and Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto. Out of the three exhibitions, Chanel had the highest total emissions (211 tCO2e), followed by Fashioning Masculinities (184 tCO2e) and Beatrix Potter (53 tCO2e).
While Chanel had the highest overall emissions, when looking at carbon per visitor it wasn’t the most carbon intense. Fashioning Masculinities was almost double the carbon per visitor. So it’s important when improving exhibition design, we reduce total carbon and carbon per visitor.
Our results found the best ways to save carbon is to focus on how we build exhibitions, transport objects on loan for the exhibition, and for fashion exhibitions, mannequins.
Reducing carbon through reuse
Reuse is now considered from the start of exhibition planning. At V&A South Kensington, a designer was appointed across both Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence and Marie Antoinette Style, with reuse being a key part of the design process.
Acrylic sheets and mirrors were reused from Great Mughals to Marie Antoinette. Modular walls were designed to be reused in different ways, with removable parts that could be easily detached, changed, repainted and reinstalled for the next show.
In the Porter Gallery at V&A South Kensington, a set of re-useable walling was designed to be used for three exhibitions: Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence, Jameel Prize: Moving Images and Design and Disability. It has now been reused for a fourth time for Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific. Between the shows, the walls were reclad with non-toxic eco-board rather than MDF. Eco-board is strong, stable, and can hold screws so it can be reused.
If we had built brand-new walls for these three exhibitions, they would have produced around 11,332 kgCO₂e. Instead, we reused existing walls and made simple changes, such as adding new timber frames and repainting them. This reduced the total carbon impact to 7,789 kgCO₂e.
By reusing instead of rebuilding, we saved more than 3,500 kgCO₂e. That’s about the same amount of carbon produced by driving a petrol car for 9,000 miles.
The more we reused the walls, the more carbon we saved. We have now used these modular walls in four exhibitions, showing that designing for reuse can reduce carbon emissions and give exhibition materials a much longer life.
A large circular plinth was reused three times – Donatello, Tropical Modernism and onto Young V&A for Making Egypt.
For Inside Aardman: Wallace and Gromit and Friends at Young V&A, visitors step into the kitchen where Wallace and Gromit were first imagined. The curved walls framing the entrance were reused from Making Egypt, which recreated the banks of the River Nile.
The central wall from Making Egypt, which had the inner sarcophagus of Princess Sopdet-em-haawt, now houses Wallace and Gromit’s living room.
What’s next?
We’re building sustainability into every stage of how we design, build and deliver exhibitions. Next, we’ll track the materials we use, reuse more between exhibitions and work closely with designers to lower the carbon impact.
Our reusable Porter Gallery walls have already reduced carbon by 31%. They prove that simple design choices can have a big impact.
