Revised on 7 November 2026. Should any information have changed, please notify me and I shall update it.
In an exhibition, the carrier, the installer, the printer, the catalogue designer, and, almost always, the curator are paid. That the artist is also paid remains a case-by-case negotiation. This guide separates the concepts that are conflated in that negotiation, summarises what the best practice documents in Spain state, and proposes how to request terms in writing. I have not located any Spanish regulation that establishes a minimum fee for exhibiting.
Three distinct components
The fee compensates your labour: preparation of the exhibition, meetings, supervision of the installation, presence at the opening, guided tours, and interviews. It is a provision of services and is invoiced as such.
Production covers the cost of creating or adapting the work for that exhibition: materials, fabrication, framing, equipment, and printing. It is an expense, and someone must pay it. If you pay for it yourself and are reimbursed, you have not been paid for your work.
Copyright assignment remunerates the use of the work. Publicly exhibiting works of art is an act of public communication under the Intellectual Property Act, and authorisation rests with the author, except when the institution owns the original: in that case, the law itself grants it the right to exhibit it. Added to this are reproductions in catalogues, posters, websites, and social media, which constitute a separate right and authorisation. If you manage your rights through a collective management organisation, part of this remuneration is collected by that organisation according to its rates.
When an institution offers you "a sum for the exhibition" without a breakdown, ask how much corresponds to each component. If the figure only covers production, the fee is still missing.
What best practices in Spain state
In 2007, the sector and the Ministry of Culture signed the Document of Best Practices in Museums and Art Centres. It is a text of recommendations, without the force of law, focused primarily on the governance of institutions: how directors are chosen and their independence. The Institute of Contemporary Art mentions updates in 2019 and 2021, and the Contemporary Art Sectoral Board has requested a revision to expressly include the remuneration of artists.
Artists' associations have gone further in their own documents: the code of the Association of Visual Artists of Catalonia, from 2007, and the manual of the Union of Visual Artists' Associations, from 2008. The Contemporary Art Platform of Catalonia publishes a remuneration guide with calculation formulas that take into account the duration of the exhibition, touring, and collective exhibitions.
A figure circulates online: that the artist's remuneration cannot be less than 15% of the total exhibition budget. It originates from the Chilean adaptation of the Catalan code, published in 2014, which supports it with the Chilean intellectual property law. I have not found it in any Spanish regulation. You may use it as an argument, but not as a right.
The gap between recommendation and practice is evidenced by data. The 2025 report by the association Women in the Visual Arts records, based on declarations by the artists themselves, institutions in Málaga that did not include fees in the exhibitions analysed and others that did.
How to request it
Before accepting, request the terms in writing. If the institution is public, the agreement will be a contract, even if it is a minor one, and you will have to invoice; the guide on charging public administrations explains that part.
This is the list I would request to be included, as a personal criterion: dates of the exhibition and installation; works included and their value for insurance purposes; fee, with its amount, concept, and payment date; production budget and who advances it; transport, packaging, and "nail-to-nail" insurance, and who pays for them; rights assigned, for what uses, in what media, and for how long; number of catalogue copies for you; what happens if the exhibition is cancelled; and what happens if any work is sold during the exhibition.
An exchange of emails can verify the agreement, although a signed contract reduces discussion regarding its scope. It is better than nothing and significantly better than a "we will discuss it later".
A method of calculation
My proposal: calculate the actual days of work required by the exhibition, excluding the production of the work, and multiply them by a daily rate you can justify, the same you would use for a commission. Add, separately, the copyright assignment for the uses requested. Compare the result with the total budget of the exhibition, if provided. If they offer a lower figure, at least you will know how much you are financing yourself.
Further reading
- How to budget for a small exhibition
- How to price an artwork
- Getting paid by an administration: minor contracts, FACe and payment deadlines
- Paid open calls and vanity galleries: how to identify them
On the open conversation
If you manage a gallery or an art centre and pay fees, or if you are an artist and have negotiated your own, your experience would assist others. This notebook remains open.
Sources
- Royal Legislative Decree 1/1996, consolidated text of the Intellectual Property Act, arts. 20.2.h) and 56.2.
- Document of Best Practices in Museums and Art Centres (Ministry of Culture, 2007).
- Contemporary Art Platform, guide to fair remuneration.
- Women in the Visual Arts (MAV), "Artists, here and now". 2025 Report.
- ACA, APECH and SOECH, Code of professional best practices in the visual arts, Santiago de Chile, 2014, adaptation of the AAVC code.