Gallery wall labels: short, long, digital or none at all?

ArtsHub takes a look at the shifting dynamic around gallery didactics: what has changed, and are we doing wall labels better?

13 Mar 2023

Gina Fairley

people reading the wall labels in an art gallery

Visual Arts

Do you read the wall labels in a gallery? Image: Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow. Photo: Shutterstock.

Do you read the wall labels when viewing an art exhibition? Do you like a lot of information to draw out connections and ideas, or are you more of a ‘let the artwork talk to me’ kind of gallery-goer?

ArtsHub caught up with a number of museum professionals to ask what the trends are today, and what they have found to be the most successful formula.

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina