You're making an exhibition of yourself...
I was recently recommended an exhibition at Casa del Lector by a fellow ‘Arts Across Borders’ Collie (his name is Tom Rees and you can check out his experiences in Madrid here) so we went on the last day it was open. The exhibit was called La Villa de los Papiros and was all about reading / books / papers from Herculaneum (one of the cities to be destroyed by the same eruption of Vesuvius that famously preserved Pompeii). This was a GREAT exhibition and I mean great. I do not give compliments lightly as you will see from the following abundance of criticism….
Now, I am not a curator, and nor do I design / make exhibits on a regular basis. I am, however, fairly familiar with convention and best practice in exhibition design as I learned a lot while doing my AMA. I have a particular interest in accessibility (in its broadest sense) of exhibitions as I think this is really key on not putting your potential audience off, and ensuring they spread the word about their positive experiences to new potential audiences! I visit a lot of exhibitions, on a wide range of topics – I find them a great way to learn about new things as well as reinforcing pre-existing knowledge (I've never been able retain facts simply by reading them). Active learning, learning through objects and artefacts, tangible history works better for me than learning dates by rote at school ever did.
As much as I like exhibitions, the more I visit, the more I have to bemoan. And, the more I understand the incredibly un-diverse audiences I see particularly at large renowned institutions. Before leaving the UK I was in London with my family, and we visited the British Library to see a free exhibition that my Dad was really interested in. The exhibition was called Beautiful Science: Picturing Data, Inspiring Insight (and it’s on until the 26 May if you fancy it…). It’s a display of the various ways that scientific data has been represented across the ages, to help people understand it. Great, huh? “From John Snow's plotting of the 1854 London cholera infections on a map to colourful depictions of the tree of life [on an interactive prezi-style screen]” what’s not to love?! Don’t get me wrong, the content was great – it’s brilliant that FOR FREE people can visit the library and see documents that show how the pattern of cholera breakouts matched certain water sources – history coming to life.
As I said, the content was awesome – the actual exhibit was the problem. It was in a very small space and there was a whole lot of stuff to look at with not enough space around it for numerous people to see it at the same time. In spite of the vast blank walls available the interpretation was all on tiny text panels, right next to each object (in what I am pretty sure was smaller than the minimum of size 14 font recommended by most best practice guides…).
These aren't just snide remarks I am making to demonstrate that I know a bit about exhibitions, these things are best practice for a reason. I honestly believe these small things add up and really detract from the real aim of the exhibit which must stem from the BL aims which are “advancing the world’s knowledge […] to inspire people around the world through our content”
You can’t advance your knowledge and be inspired by something you can’t see / interact with. As people stood close enough to look at / interact with a paper / object / screen they blocked it totally from the view of other visitors – unavoidable really. However, because of the proximity of the text panels and their small size these were also hidden from the visitor until they were right next to the object. Why not put the short explanation of the object in massive text on the wall? or on a takeaway sheet so that visitors can read about the object from a distance? then look at it close up (if the description sparks their interest) and not cause massive congestion and frustration for other visitors as they have to stand so close to the object just the read the interpretive text....
I have really just scratched the surface of the issues I had with the BL exhibition, and The Casa del Lector one did just the opposite. There was a pathway built through the (ample) space, so it felt like there was a narrative to the exhibit. There was massive text on the walls throughout, in various and creative ways. And not just facts and figures stuff, but philosophy quotations and creative responses to the exhibition content. I didn’t feel bored, or rushed and [and this is a real key] I didn’t feel excluded – even though the exhibition was not in my first language.
Weirdly this language usage thing harks back a bit to my ‘family friendly’ post prompted by our visit to the circus – as yet again, the audience experience was not dependent on a certain level of language ability which meant that lots of people could access the information in there. Sure, I got more out of it as I can read some Spanish and Italian, but I LOVE to read all the panels and everything in detail and most visitors don’t. My point is that the exhibition was not text heavy, where there was important text it was blown up or projected in massive letters on the wall for everyone to see. It was so much more fun and a better learning experience because of all of these things. A good space : content ratio, large text panels (or not panels), a narrative and journey through the exhibit in the design, but not conscripted. It was like any good presentation - it seemed spontaneous but had actually taken a lot of work and preparation to get it there.
How can this be the case? Surely the British Library has many experts on board who know how to design and produce an interesting and accessible exhibit? Even if it is free entry. And anyway, surely free exhibitions / activities are the most important as these are where you attract your newest customers and hopefully convert them into loyal attenders….?
I am going to continue attending exhibitions here in Madrid, and back in the UK (and pretty much anywhere I go. And I will continue to LOVE the most interesting and accessible ones. I just hope that the more I see, the better they get and that we are not regressing....