Blenheim Art Foundation
Complex Installations in a Heritage Site
For over ten years, Williams & Hill has been the trusted logistics partner for the Blenheim Art Foundation, managing complex exhibitions within the unique setting of a 300-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our role encompasses the entire project lifecycle, including international shipping of loans, specialist packing of unconventional media, and the ambitious on-site installation of large-scale sculptures.
Our team thrives on creative problem-solving, demonstrated in exhibitions for artists like Michelangelo Pistoletto and Maurizio Cattelan, where we fabricated and installed custom gantries to suspend major artworks over the Palace’s water terrace fountain. This technical expertise is complemented by our specialist customs team, who seamlessly manage everything from NIRU and CITES certification to bonded storage, ensuring every deadline is met for these landmark exhibitions.
Williams & Hill have provided Blenheim Art Foundation with storage, packing, shipping and installation services since our first exhibition of Ai Weiwei in 2014. Our shows are typically complex from a logistical perspective, involving international loans, unconventional media and the added complication of a 300-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site as an exhibition venue.
The W&H team always goes above and beyond to provide the highest level of service. No job is too soon, too big, or too complicated. Throughout our ten-year exhibition programme, the team have assisted with the shipping of loans internationally, from supervised air-freight of high-value sculpture, to dedicated 40” sea-containers containing the contents of an entire exhibition.
We can rely on the installation team to devise creative solutions to realise the most ambitious of installations. Our 2016 Michelangelo Pistoletto and 2019 Maurizio Cattelan exhibitions are a case in point here, where the team fabricated custom gantries to enable the suspension of large outdoor sculptures in the Palace’s water terrace fountain. The installation process is always professional, involving site visits, RAMS, and seamless collaboration with third-party conservators and fabricators when necessary, ensuring that installations come together smoothly.
What is more, W&H’s customs specialists are extremely knowledgeable and efficient, providing us with crucial guidance and services, including bonded storage, assistance with NIRU management, obtaining export licences and CITES certification, always pushing through to meet critical deadlines.
W&H's exceptional professionalism, expertise, and dedication have been instrumental in ensuring the seamless execution of Blenheim Art Foundation's complex exhibitions over the past decade.