Speaker Details

Alan Draeger is an Associate Director at the American Museum of Natural History, responsible for developing and managing international collaborations with museums and other cultural and scientific institutions in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America. Mr.Draeger's 8 years of experience at AMNH also includes operations management of the museum's extensive program of traveling exhibitions both in the USA and overseas; and as a developer in the museum's exhibition department, where he had project management responsibility for the Einstein, Petra and Pearls exhibitions, among others. Prior to joining AMNH, Mr. Draeger had a 25-year career with financial services group HSBC Holdings plc, serving as an international manager in Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, the Solomon Islands, India, the USA and the UK. Mr. Draeger is a permanent resident in the USA but remains a citizen of the United Kingdom, where he obtained an MA in History from Cambridge University.

Presentation Abstract:

A global/local model for traveling exhibitions The American Museum of Natural History has devised a global/local model for traveling scientific exhibitions : firstly the creation of world-class physical exhibitions by teams of collaborating institutions from many different countries; and secondly the option for delivery of the intellectual property in digital format, enabling local production and customization to take account of local audiences and circumstances. Each year two major traveling exhibitions are produced on this model: a new team of from 4 to 9 international institutions is assembled for each exhibition; collaborators make equal financial contributions and send representatives to meetings at which the design, content, educational messages etc are discussed and agreed. Exhibition subjects have included Dinosaurs, Darwin, Mythic Creatures, The Horse, Water and Climate Change. Collaborators share the credit for the exhibition as it travels, with other benefits. A complete digital file of each exhibition is then created for distribution on hard disc. This “Intellectual Property (IP) Package” includes the exhibition’s design and graphics files, interactives, videos and text, as well as information on public programming, marketing and education. These files are used by licensees to mount exhibitions using economical local resources, and with the freedom to customize and add local content.

Status: Confirmed