The museum collection currently holds around 400 pieces. It is expanding its collections mainly through the acquisition of the display rights directly from the artists and/or their representative galleries – but also through donations, legacy and loans from artists, institutions and individuals, in particular from members of the Society of Nothing (SON) in Johannesburg.
Numerous art works in the collection were realized for exhibitions and public projects that have been carried out by the NO SHOW MUSEUM.
Donate to the Permanent Collection FAQ
How do I offer an item/s for donation to the NO SHOW MUSEUM?
If you have works, artifacts, images or other items of relevance to the art of nothing that you believe might interest the Museum’s curators, please send us an email to the address below:
Email: info@noshowmuseum.com
What kind of information do I need to provide about the item I wish to donate?
Please describe your proposed donation and provide your preferred contact information. If possible, include a picture of the item and its measurements.
What is the process of consideration for my donation?
Your donation will be evaluated by a curator, who may follow up with any questions. If your proposed donation fits the criteria of the Museum’s collecting policy, it will be recommended for consideration to the Museum’s Collections Committee. Upon review by the committee, you will be contacted regarding next steps.
How long does it take for the NO SHOW MUSEUM to review proposed donations?
Typically, the process will take about 8 to 12 weeks from the time your request has been received. If your donation offer is submitted for consideration to the Collections
Committee, a member of the Collections team may contact you to make arrangements
to have the item shipped or dropped off for first-hand inspection. If the item does not
require physical inspection and fits the Museum’s collecting criteria, you will hear from a
member of the Collections team soon after the Collections Committee review of the
donation.
What is a Deed of Gift?
The final step in the donation process involves completing Deed of Gift paperwork for the
donation, to document its legal transfer to the Museum. On this form, you will be asked to
specify a credit line for the donation which shall accompany the item whenever it is
publicly used or displayed. Once the Deed of Gift has been completed by the donor, it will
be co-signed by the Museum Director. Your receipt of this co-signed document indicates
that your property has been legally transferred to the Museum in perpetuity.
Will the NO SHOW MUSEUM appraise my donation for its monetary value?
The Museum does not provide appraisals of the monetary value of your donation. Monetary appraisals would create a conflict of interest, as museums and libraries are “interested parties” and their primary purpose is to acquire and safeguard materials for the public’s educational benefit. However, professional appraisers
will perform this service for a fee.
Will the NO SHOW MUSEUM exhibit the items in my donation?
The Museum cannot guarantee that any object or image donated to its collection will be
exhibited in perpetuity, or temporarily, unless expressly collected for that purpose. Like
most museums, only a small fraction of our collection is on view at any given time. All items accepted into the permanent collection serve as a valuable resource for
research and education, and may rotate onto public view from time to time. Uses include
display in art historical and special exhibitions on specific artists and themes, short-term loans to other museums and libraries, educational programs, and Museum publications, collections catalogue and web features.
If I donate artefacts or documents, will they be returned to me at my request?
The Museum cannot return donated items or records to the donor or his/her heirs once
they have been legally accessioned into the permanent collection. By donating your
materials to the Museum, you are passing private control of such material to a new
owner or educational entity on behalf of the public whose understanding for nothing and its various manifestations in art history will be deepened through access to such art works and primary historical evidence.
Can artefacts or documents be removed from the museum's collection?
The Museum may, with approval from the Board of Directors, remove objects and
documents from the collection through a process called deaccessioning. Artifacts
or documents that are damaged beyond repair, have a condition that puts other
parts of the collection or the staff and public at physical risk, are a duplication of other
items in the collection, or are outside the interpretive scope of the collection may be
considered for deaccessioning. This practice is a rarity, and will be undertaken only
for exceptional reasons. Deaccessioned material may be transferred to another
museum or cultural/educational organization, destroyed, or sold. Any proceeds from
the sale of deaccessioned material are placed in a restricted acquisition fund
to further enrich the quality and scope of the Museum’s permanent collection.
Does the museum accept long-term loans?
The Museum occasionally accepts items on long-term or indefinite loan. While it does accept privately owned material for certain research and short-term display uses, the Museum prefers to commit its storage resources to the preservation of materials in the permanent collection.