Rethinking the Museum-Exhibition Relationship: A Call for Temporary In-House Shows

Fabrizio Federici argues that the exhibition has supplanted the museum as the primary mode of experiencing art, forcing museums to rethink their operations. He proposes that museums should present their collections as temporary, six-month-long exhibitions focusing on specific periods, movements, or local history, thereby increasing institutional dynamism and encouraging repeat visits. This approach would also address loan controversies, such as the February 2020 disputes over Raphael's *Leo X* lent to the Scuderie del Quirinale and forty works from Capodimonte sent to Fort Worth, Texas. By harmonizing exhibition calendars with loan schedules, museums could create a virtuous cycle where absent pieces are not missed. Federici cites art historian Roberto Longhi, who in 1959 criticized superficial exhibition themes like 'light and shadow' and called for museums to become 'permanent exhibitions' with an advantage over improvised shows. Federici concludes that museums must learn from good exhibitions and declare, 'The exhibitions? We are the exhibitions!'