Hang the Exhibition! Sir Norman Ackroyd Discusses the Royal Academy of Arts' 2013 Summer Exhibition

There are no rules about what media artists can and can't use - anything goes.

The display opens with the impressive steel sculpture Shadows by Anthony Caro RA. This sets the standard for the dozens of sculptures of every shape and size by artists known and unknown, including pieces by recently elected RAs Ron Arad, Sean Scully and Jock McFayden.

There is a room dedicated to portraiture featuring works by Frank Auerbach, Tom Phillips RA, Michael Craig-Martin RA and Alex Katz. Another rooms is devoted to photography and film.

The climax of the Summer Exhibition is a series of six tapestries, entitled The Vanity of Small Differences, by Grayson Perry RA. Perry presents a modern interpretation of the rise and fall of Tim Rakewell, inspired by Hogarth's A Rakes Progress. The tapestries, which reflect Perry's interest in aesthetic taste and social mobility, feature people, incidents and objects seen while travelling through Sunderland, tunbridge Wells and the Cotswolds.

Sir Norman Ackroyd answered questions about the complexities and the enormous privilege of hanging the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition.

FS: It must be an absolutely massive task, where do you begin?

Sir Norman: You can imagine the scale of this operation - we get over 12,000 submissions. The Royal Academy is a truly democratic organisation. When the 12,000 items were initially looked at we did not know who had done them. They are selected on the strength of how good they are as pictures, scultures, whatever. We don't really curate this exhibition, we just choose the best things and put them on the walls so that they enhance each other.

FS: How many items from the general submission make it to the Academy walls?

Sir Norman: About 900 works come from the general submission and these are mixed with 400 works by members of the Academy - the RAs. The general submissions come from all parts of the UK and from all over the world.

FS: How many works can an RA submit?

Royal Academicians can put in up to six works, but we have an unwritten rule that they don't put in six massive pictures or whatever. We need to leave space for the open submission. This is really what the show is about.

FS: Do Academicians exhibit in every Summer Exhibition?

Sir Norman: We have a legal obligation to exhibit every year. If we don't exhibit for six years running we forfeit our academicianship. That is strictly in the rules. It's also part of our legal foundation that we put this exhibition on, we have to do it.

FS: It must be very exciting to be part of the hanging committee.

Sir Norman: It's great, great fun.. it's hard work. This is an exhibition for artists, selected by artists, hung by artists in galleries that the artists own.

The 2013 Summer Exhibition will be open from 10th June to 18th August 2013. There will be an interesting programme of public events including photography workshops, family gallery tours and workshops, as well as special activities for younger visitors. Full details of all events, and tickets for the exhibition, can be obtained from the Royal Academy of Arts.