Our exhibitions aim to arouse visitors' curiosity and encourage them to discover and engage in dialogue with themselves and others.
Basic rules guide us when we start to work on an exhibition’s concept:
- Putting people at the centre of the visit
- Understanding exhibitions as a whole; create a red thread throughout the visit
- Involving visitors from the moment they arrive at the exhibition
- Considering the individual pace of visitors.
Five essential criteria determine how we imagine the exhibition’s activities and their interaction
It is essential to imagine situations that catch the visitor’s attention. Unexpected or unusual situations (or objects) are used to surprise and intrigue visitors and put them in an inner movement that generates curiosity, interest, and desire. During their experience, visitors will be disrupted and must leave their comfort zone to explore new territory. The unexpected situations may act as catalysts for visitors to assess their beliefs, feelings, and values and to build the confidence to experiment in new ways.
We assume that people play in the same ways as they act and interact in their personal and professional lives. They use the same skills, carry the same mindsets, and value the same outcomes. Play theories demonstrate that in playful situations, people tend to be more open to taking risks, being vulnerable, and having their attitudes and assumptions challenged. An essential factor in exhibitions is that playful situations are perceived as safe and joyful spaces where success and failure are part of the game. The most important aspect of these experiences is that they occur with joy.
Social interactions in communication and cooperation are a vibrant component of the visit. The exhibition is a sharing and co-learning experience without any pedagogical or theoretical overload. The exchange happens among the visitors. Collaboration with other visitors creates an emotional link and fosters cohesion, with the satisfaction of achieving something together.
Exhibitions, especially those that deal with human and social subjects, need to be imagined as an experimental set-up where the visitors are part of it. Personal experiences lead to better self-understanding and enhance the skills of observing and listening to others. The exhibition works like a role-play and follows a script. Visitors need to act, interact, experience, and make decisions. They are unable to stay at arm’s-length from the exhibition. They are active contributors (subjects) or observers (objects).
Real-life stories and objects, human encounters, and exchanges are essential to creating a safe space, raising awareness, developing empathy, and leading to further reflection on the topic (and perhaps even engagement).
