Collection loan request

Letter for loan request

To request a loan of one or more items from the museum's collection, the curators at the requesting museum or centre that will host the exhibition must send a request letter to the director of the MNA. This letter must:

Identify and present the applying organisation and its curator(s), as well as the exhibition venue (or venues, in the case of a travelling exhibition).
List the name, purpose and dates of the exhibition.
Identify and present the scientific and technical managers and the person who will be in charge of processing the loan with their details (telephone number and e-mail address).
Present an outline of the exhibition project, its subject matter, its exhibition concept and its physical organisation, as well as the main characteristics of the exhibition hall: dimensions, location in the building, accessibility, environmental conditions and fixed resources, security measures, etc.
Precisely identify the pieces requested (including their inventory numbers), their role and location within the exhibition concept and their spatial distribution.
Provide an express declaration that the applicant entity will bear all costs incurred by the loan, be responsible for the entire security and safekeeping of the goods for the full duration of the loan and accept all general and specific conditions required by the lender, i.e., the MNA.
Along with the application, you must attach the exhibition dossier, a map of the exhibition hall(s) and a document with the technical details regarding preventive conservation and security of the exhibition hall(s) and, if applicable, the planned exhibition set-up (facilities report).

Loan form

Once we have received your application, the museum team will assess the loan request and send you a response. If the request is approved, then we will start the actual processing of the loan. For this step, you must complete the loan form, which is made up of three documents:

Loan application. With the exhibition details [download the application form ].
Annex I. With the list of items requested for loan and their valuation for insurance purposes. We will fill in this document at the museum and send it to you to sign [download Annex I ].
Annex II. This document sets out the terms and conditions of the loan; it must be signed and returned to us to indicate your acceptance of these conditions. The conditions have two parts: the basic general conditions that we require, which comprise a common document for all the museums of the Subdirectorate General of State Museums [download Annex II ], and the more specific technical conditions that we set for each asset according to its material, its condition and its cultural values.

These three documents must be completed, signed and sent by post to the MNA in order to start the loan application processing at the Ministry of Culture and Sport.

Administrative management of the loan

Once all of the above steps have been completed, we will send all the documentation to the Subdirectorate General of State Museums, accompanied by our positive recommendation, for the approval of the Director General of Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts and the issuance of the mandatory authorisation by Ministerial Order, which we will send to you for your records.

Once the administrative management of the loan has been completed, all that remains is for us to agree on the technical details and to schedule the packing, transport and installation of the good(s) at the destination exhibition, and on the procedure for returning the good(s) to the museum once the exhibition is over. You must also send us a copy of the paid insurance policy before proceeding with the physical movement of the goods.

If the exhibition is to be held outside of Spain, you must also apply for a temporary export authorisation, in accordance with current regulations. This requires more time. For further information, please visit the Ministry of Culture and Sport website .

This procedure is governed by the following regulations:

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