Exhibition Rider

Letter from the Editor

Saturday, February 7, 2026

Dear _____,

Things are changing.

For a long time, it felt as if the artist had become redundant, endlessly replaceable within an expanding art economy. And yet the opposite has quietly become clear: the artist remains not only the symbolic core of this industry, but also its most functional protagonist. Artists generate content, meaning, visibility, and value while increasingly absorbing the economic risk themselves. They run their own studios as small enterprises: managing accounting, estimates, production schedules, contracts, Excel sheets, logistics, communication, and long-term planning, often without any institutional buffer.

Have you ever seen an artist announce the closure of their studio in a triumphant newsletter? Or use the phrase “becoming nomadic” as a poetic euphemism for bankruptcy, as so many gallerists do these days? Artists are struggling economically, and this struggle has become so normalised that it is often aestheticised rather than addressed. This is precisely why we accepted the challenge of extending a DJ friend’s booking rider, adapting it to the art industry, and at the same time updating Seth Siegelaub’s The Artist’s Reserved Rights Transfer and Sale Agreement.

There was a time when certain institutions functioned as shared horizons of value. For a stereotypical Berlin-based artist over fifty, the MoMA was once the ultimate goal, a place one would do almost anything to enter. Today, that symbolic power has eroded. Not only because of political shifts, but because many former lighthouses of taste and authority have gradually dismantled themselves through greed, mainstream programming, and institutional self-interest.

The same applies to formats once considered untouchable. Art Basel remains enormous, visible, unavoidable and yet increasingly hollow as a value signal. Some galleries still attend because they depend on the accidental buyer who wanders into their booth and actually purchases a work. Others have understood that it is often more precise, more economical, and more meaningful to orchestrate their own formats, their own publics, their own economies.

This shift is not unprecedented. Baselworld, once the world’s most important watch and jewellery fair, collapsed not because watches lost relevance, but because brands realised they no longer needed an expensive, centralised fair to stage their narratives. They built their own roadshows, controlled their own environments, and addressed their audiences directly. Once that logic took hold, the fair became obsolete almost overnight.

A similar dynamic is beginning to unfold in the art world. As the symbolic power of large fairs erodes, participation increasingly becomes a question of necessity rather than belief. When value signals weaken and risk continues to be externalised, the structure itself begins to fracture.

With the disappearance of shared epicentres of taste and with the art world no longer functioning as a coherent “world” but as an industry, one thing becomes unavoidable: standards must be redefined. If art operates as an industry, then artists must be able to earn within it accordingly. Not symbolically. Not exceptionally. Structurally.

So let us return to our primary asset: the artist. Highly educated. Highly specialised. Carrying decades of experience. What follows is not a protest and not a moral appeal. It is a baseline. A professional framework for working with artists today.

Yours,
PROVENCE

PS: We understand that this rider may not always work, or that in certain situations the artist may choose to break a rule. That decision, however, remains a veto held exclusively by the artist.

Contributions

PROVENCE

Exhibition Rider

This rider is a binding component of any exhibition, presentation, screening, performance, lecture, production, or collaboration involving the artist. Deviations are only valid if agreed upon in writing.

1. Honoraria
Solo Exhibitions
Commercial gallery solo exhibition
Flat fee: EUR 5’000
In addition, the gallery commits to purchasing two works in advance, paid prior to the opening.
These works may be resold by the gallery. Price adjustments require agreement with the artist.
If the price is increased by more than 20 percent within five years, the artist receives 50 percent of the additional revenue.

Small institutional solo exhibition
Honorarium: EUR 20’000

Large institutional solo exhibition
Honorarium: EUR 45’000
Honoraria are independent of sales.

Group Exhibitions
Group exhibition with existing work, gallery or institution
Handling and effort compensation: EUR 800

Lectures, Workshops, Juries
Lectures, workshops, panels
Fee: EUR 1’200 per day
A minimum of two paid preparation days applies.
Jury participation, advisory boards, selection committees
Fee: EUR 1’000 per day
No preparation days included.

Screenings and Performances
Screening fee per film
Minimum EUR 1’500
Performance fee
Minimum EUR 2’000

2. Travel, Accommodation and Per Diems
The artist is treated as a professional partner.
Accommodation: Minimum four-star hotel or equivalent standard.
Flights: Business Class for all flights unless explicitly agreed otherwise.
Train travel: First Class tickets.
Local transport: Driver service or taxi provided without request at departure and destination.
Per diem: EUR 120 per day, paid in cash or local equivalent.
Per diems do not apply to commercial gallery exhibitions.

3. Production, Transport and Logistics
Transport, customs, packing, handling, installation and de-installation are fully covered by the commissioning body.
No cross-calculation between different works.
Production costs are split fifty-fifty unless otherwise agreed.
All works are returned to the artist after the exhibition at no cost.
Temporary storage prior to return is provided free of charge.

4. Insurance and Liability
Nail-to-nail insurance is mandatory.
Coverage includes transport, storage, installation, exhibition and de-installation.
Insurance value is based on current market value, not production cost.
In case of damage, either full restoration or full value compensation applies.

5. Photography, Reproduction and Image Rights
Any photographic or video documentation requires prior written consent.
No images may be distributed to third parties without approval.
Usage rights are limited to communication of the specific exhibition.
No portraits or images of the artist without prior agreement.
Institutions must ensure that visitors and press respect these rules.

6. Press, Communication and Social Media
All texts, press releases, wall texts, labels and online content require approval before publication.
No quotes without written consent.
No contextual framing that alters the meaning of the work without consultation.

7. Sales, Discounts and Transparency
Maximum discount without consultation: 15 percent.
Higher discounts require written consent.
Sales reports must be provided within seven days of each transaction.
Full buyer details must be shared with the artist.

8. Access and Artistic Integrity
The artist has final say on installation and presentation.
No changes without approval.
Full access during installation and de-installation.

9. Archiving Obligation
After the exhibition, the institution provides the artist with press clippings, documentation images, social media material, PDF publications and exhibition views.

Additional Clauses

10. Cancellation and Postponement

Cancellation
If an exhibition, presentation, or project is cancelled less than 30 days before the scheduled opening, 50 percent of the agreed honorarium is due, regardless of reason.

Postponement
If an exhibition is postponed beyond three months after the originally agreed opening date:

- all work already completed must be compensated in full
- production costs already incurred must be reimbursed
- postponement beyond six months triggers full payment of the agreed honorarium, unless otherwise agreed in writing

Postponement may not be used as a substitute for cancellation.

11. Payment Schedule and Liquidity

Payment schedule
- 50 percent of the honorarium is due upon contract signature
- 50 percent is due no later than the opening day

Late payments
- payments overdue by more than 14 days incur an automatic surcharge of 5 percent
- if payment is delayed beyond 30 days, the artist may suspend all obligations until payment is received

All payments must be made without deductions.

12. Availability and Working Time
There is no expectation of continuous availability.

Extended coordination, repeated revisions, additional meetings, or ongoing project management beyond reasonable preparation require additional compensation.

Openings, walkthroughs, talks, panels, press appointments, collector events, and guided tours count as working time and must be compensated unless explicitly agreed otherwise in writing.

Unpaid labour is excluded.

13. Sustainability
Slow shipping and ground transport are preferred over air freight whenever possible.

Exceptions require the artist’s consent.

14. Photography, Documentation, and Image Use

Photography
- Only one designated institutional photographer may document the exhibition
- The artist has the final right of approval over the photographer

Image use
- All photographic or video documentation requires prior approval
- Usage rights are strictly limited to communication of the specific exhibition
- No third-party reuse is permitted

The following are explicitly excluded without written consent:

- reuse of images by third parties on social media
- “documentation” drifting into marketing, branding, or promotional campaigns
- use of images for future, unrelated institutional communication

Portraits or images of the artist require separate approval.

15. Sales Transparency and Settlement

Payment to the artist
- proceeds from sales must be transferred to the artist within 30 days of receipt of payment from the buyer

Currency and fees
- payments are made in the currency stated in the contract
- all bank fees, transfer costs, and currency conversion charges are borne by the gallery or institution

Reporting
- each sale must be reported within seven days
- buyer details must be shared in full, unless legally prohibited

16. Commercial Gallery Commitment (Clarification)
For commercial solo exhibitions, the gallery’s obligation to purchase two works upfront constitutes:

- a binding commitment, not an advance against sales
- works to be selected jointly prior to the exhibition
- prices to be fixed in writing before opening

Whether these works are included in the exhibition or held separately must be clarified in advance.

Any resale price adjustments are subject to the conditions outlined in the sales section of this rider.

Closing
This rider is not excessive.
It reflects reality.
The artist is not an expense.
The artist is the producer of value.

PROVENCE