Life and death in audience development. The exhibition on pompeii at the British museum, 2013

Values and orientations of cultural professionals are important to understand the performance of the institutions they manage. While there are striking differences in orientation across countries, their impact has rarely been investigated systematically. This paper offers a case study of a blockbuster exhibition mounted by the British Museum in 2013 using objects loaned by the Superintendence of Napoli and Pompeii. Based on interviews and documentary sources, the study analyzes and explains the perceptions of the Italian professionals with relation to the value and the payoffs of the exhibition, and critically compares these to those of the British Museum. The Italian authority did not recognize the strategic potential of the partnership with the British Museum. Consequently it did not pursue or win any significant gains in the areas of resources, reputation or audience development.