NEW: The NEMO Standard Loan Agreement is now available including paragraphs on Ethics and Provenance!

As lending and borrowing for exhibitions are core activities of museums the Lending to Europe report (Council resolution 13830/04) recommended that NEMO should develop European guidelines to increase the mobility of collections.

Through the development of a standardised loan agreement that is applicable by all kinds of museums NEMO wants to encourage a widespread collaboration between museums working towards a common cultural aim and to increase the mobility of works of arts in Europe.

In summer 2005, NEMO carried out a survey within the EU member countries. Approximately 360 different loan contracts and best practice exampleswere collected, examined and finally resulted in the NEMO Standard Loan Agreement.

It contains information about the lender and the borrower, the objects which are to be lent, the details of the exhibition, data on insurance and cost figures.

In order to make the handling of information easier for the lender as well as the borrower the standard loan Agreement is accompanied by separate Loan Conditions. They are an integral part of the Loan Agreement and state the lender’s stipulations for the loan(s) listed in the Loan Agreement.

NEMO has developed an online-tool-kit, that will enable all European museums - lenders and borrowers - to create their own loan document online, choosing between different versions according to the specific conditions and requirements of the loans.