Introduction
Art exhibition refers to the activity or process whereby things such as art, activities, talent, and products are displayed for public viewing. In other words, this is an event at which different aspects of art are presented in a public arena for the purpose of showing the value, quality, or traits associated with those aspects to audiences of interest. Art exhibition plays a key role in today’s contemporary society, where art remains a significant aspect of human life. One of the key roles and benefits of the art exhibition is that it helps to advance and promote the value of different aspects of art, thus enabling artists to achieve their goals in those aspects (Camarero, Garrido & Vicente, 2010).
More importantly, an exhibition of artistic works does not only help to create awareness, but it also draws special interest to the work being showcased, thus enhancing its monetary value. Obviously, good work or quality is presented in exhibitions where the targeted audience can have the opportunity to reach them freely and make strong judgments about them in terms of value and quality, among other traits. This research paper examines various aspects of an art exhibition in contemporary society through a number of topics as follows.
What Is Event Planning?
This refers to the process of organizing and managing social or art-related projects or activities. These activities may include but are not limited to exhibitions, conventions, meetings, forums, team building activities, and parties, among other social events. In other terms, event planning is the process of coordinating all aspects of a social project or activity to ensure that it is successfully implemented. Some of the key aspects associated with event planning include budgeting, designing of timelines, selection and reservation of the function sites, identification of venue for potential activities, food and beverage arrangements, transport coordination, equipment and facility arrangement, risk management, and development of contingency plans (Lawson, 2000).
The entire process of event planning starts with a focus on the goal that the event owner intends to attain. The event planner then engages in the arrangement and coordination of every detail that would be necessary for making the event successful at the end. In this regard, important aspects or units of the function at hand are identified and chosen by the planner and arranged to present the agenda of the activity in the most effective manner.
Among other key responsibilities, event planners are also entrusted with the role of identifying event sites or venues and prospective guests for the function at hand. More importantly, it is also their responsibility to know how the guests will get to the event.
As a matter of fact, event planning is a strategic aspect of an art exhibition, which calls for a lot of dedication and commitment. This is because the process entails many tasks that should be put together to ensure that the desired goals are achieved by both the planner and the owner or sponsor of the event. In order to successfully meet its objectives, event planning is carried out in the following key steps.
Development of function objectives
The first thing as far as this crucial process is concerned is to come up with an attainable goal of the function or event being prepared. This mainly involves the reason as to why the event is being organized and the goal that the event sponsor wishes to achieve.
Organizing a team
Team effort is necessary for the success of any event. In this regard, event planners will need to identify a team of key people that comprises officials and committee members for various units of the events they are managing (Fox et al., 2003). These units would include venue management, entertainment, speakers, sponsors, publicity, and volunteer management, among other units.
Date Setting
The next step is to set a date for the event, and this is done with some important considerations in mind. For instance, the planner should assign enough time to the planning process, depending on the nature of the function being organized. They should also be aware of any statutory, national, and religious holidays that may collide with the event. More importantly, it is necessary to confirm prospective function dates with key participants in the event, such as presenters, speakers, and guests, among other players.
Branding the event
For their events to stand out, planners should select a compelling theme that differentiates them from competitors. This goal can be achieved by the application of different approaches that include the use of brainstorm names or titles, creating compelling taglines, and designing an attractive logo that represents the event better.
Designing a Master Plan
A Plan comprising of all aspects of the event is designed to offer a smart guideline of how the entire process will be undertaken. These aspects include but are not limited to activities, speakers, venue and logistic plans, partner/sponsor management, and ways of registration to the event.
Determining administrative procedures
This entails how the planner will monitor important processes of the activity such as budget, registration, and speakers list, among other key aspects.
Identification and establishment of partnerships and sponsors
Event planners could decide whether they can attract sponsorships or even linkup with other associations to defray the expenses and diversify participation.
Creating a publicity plan
A publicity plan using different mediums of modern communication is essential to effectively carry the event’s message to the targeted audience. A good example here is through the use of interactive media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Whatsapp Messaging, among other common social networking sites.
Establishing Budget
A financial plan that takes into consideration all aspects featured in the Event Master Plan is drafted.
Determining the Evaluation Process
After setting up the objectives and goals for the event at hand, planners should make plans on the possible approaches that will be used to determine if the function is a success. This will help them identify their strengths as well as weaknesses as far as their job is concerned, thus creating room for future improvement.
Exhibition Requirements
There are several requirements that exhibitors should put into consideration in order to successfully plan and implement exhibition projects. These requirements would include all the necessary plans and arrangements that must be put in place before the event is launched. Following is a summary of the key exhibition requirements that exhibitors need to observe while planning for art exhibitions.
Completing the key exhibition plans
It is always necessary for exhibitors to ensure that all the exhibition plans and requirements have been put in place before the function can be launched (Erić, 2007). In this regard, a thorough revision of all the plans is essential to identify any loopholes in the arrangements and make a timely amendment to avoid failure of the project. These plans include things such as event objectives development, the formation of teams to take part in the event, preparation of a master plan, and creation of an effective publicity plan, among other key aspects.
Venue and cost plans
The venue is a key requirement in an exhibition that should come foremost in the mind of every exhibitor who is planning to showcase something to the public (Lee & Lin, 2010). Generally, exhibition shows can be held indoors or in open-air zones depending on the nature of the product or talent being showcased. In this regard, exhibitors should choose a suitable venue for their shows to ensure that the desired end goals are successfully achieved. Cost is another significant requirement for an exhibition that should be put into consideration when designing the activity. This is an inescapable requirement that should be handled wisely in ensuring that the exhibition goals are reached at a minimal cost.
Large Displays
Large displays using projectors or LCD HD screens are a key requirement in situations where the presentation of figures and data is necessary. In this regard, exhibitors must make arrangements to obtain large display systems that will be able to portray the intended message to the audience in the best form. Exhibitors can either purchase these displays or hire them from companies that offer such services at a fee.
Power supply
In most cases, all forms of the exhibition will need a power supply to operate. In this regard, exhibitors should ensure that the venue intended for the activity has a reliable power supply to facilitate easy coordination of those events and programs that require electricity to operate.
Art, Social and Corporate Events
Art, social and corporate events are three different forms of exhibition activities that are conducted differently from each other.
Art Events
These types of events mainly feature various products of Art as they are generated by human activities. These products mainly involve technical skills, and they include things such as paintings, photography, drawings, and carvings that represent different aspects of human life.
Social Events
Social events mainly comprise of activities involving people, and ones that are likely to bring people together for a common purpose (Lange, 2010). These events are mainly social, and they tend to feature a certain aspect of human life. Some good examples of social events include parties, family reunions, talent shows, weddings, graduation parties, fundraisers, and anniversaries, just to mention but a few. In most cases, these events are organized with the aim of enriching social life, celebrating an achievement, and promoting talent, among other purposes.
Corporate Events
This refers to those events that are held by corporations or businesses with the aim of marketing or promoting their products and services. In most cases, businesses tend to hold entertainment exhibitions and other events with the aim of reaching out to the public and creating awareness of their products and services.
Cover Invitation Promotional Materials
Cover invitation promotional materials are attractive design features that are mounted on the cover pages of invitation cards or pamphlets to help in promoting the objective of the message being passed. These design features include things such as logos, names, flowers, and other personalized invitation designs that are printed along with advertising messages on invitation cards to add more weight to the message.
These impactful materials or designs are applied with the aim of informing and delighting invitees using amazing ideas that can be welcomed by everybody and ones that are certain to attract many people to the intended function (Lupton, 2006).
An invitation design is the first aspect that greets the eye, and in that case, it has to efficiently communicate the essence of what event planners and sponsors are trying to achieve through the invitation. This need has, over time, led to the application of a variety of different printing techniques, both modern and conservative, that are likely to provide creative and compelling inspiration for invitations.
Ways of Promoting Art at the Exhibition
As it would be observed, there are various ways through which artists can promote their Art at the exhibition. Some of the most common approaches here are as follows.
Display Galleries
This is whereby artists get the opportunity to present their products at a gallery exhibition for people to see. Here, art products such as paintings, drawings, photography, and carvings are placed in fee-for-display gallery exhibitions where they are likely to attract the attention of viewers. Gallery display is one of the best ways through which artists can easily promote and market their products to the public.
Entertainment Exhibitions
This approach is common with social and corporate events, and it entails the use of various forms of entertainment for exhibition purposes. Here, impressive entertainment options such as music, dance, and comedy are used to draw large numbers of people to the show. An entertainment exhibition is the most convenient medium of an art exhibition, and it offers lots of opportunities for artists to showcase their products, talent, and qualities to the general public at minimal costs (Rectanus, 2002).
This form of display is open to a diverse range of audiences, and in that case, it offers artists a convenient platform to promote their products to a broader group that may be less informed about their artistic products.
Entertainment exhibitions offer a suitable platform for musicians intending to showcase their music to the public for promotional purposes. Here, artists are able to treat their fans with live music concerts, and they can also hand out free promotional giveaways such as DVDs, VCDs, and Audio CDs. Through this interactive medium of communication, artists use roadshows and other highly effective approaches to publicize their music and other artistic products, thus gaining fast recognition from the general public.
Social networking sites and interactive media
In a world where aspects of communication are changing so fast due to evolving globalization and technological trends, it is not enough for artists to rely on display galleries and entertainment exhibitions alone as approaches to showcase their products to the general public (Jernudd, 2005). Nowadays, artists have embraced modern mediums of communication to enhance the promotion of their products. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are serving as effective alternatives to traditional ways of an art exhibition.
Through these highly effective mediums, artists are able to reach out to diverse groups of people and communicate with them regarding their products. One major advantage of this approach is that it is less costly while being highly effective. Apart from social media, artists are also using other interactive mediums to promote their products to the public. These mediums include, but are not limited to, posters, press releases, catalogs, and exhibition cards.
References
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