Whilst largely focusing upon the aesthetic issues of the exhibition, the main outcome of the day was the notion that the exhibition should provide a valuable, encompassing experience within which to encourage the audience to actively engage with the collection. Drawing on colour schemes from the objects themselves and incorporating traditionally styled Chinese display cabinets and lanterns, the Illuminate twist on the collection hopes to engage the audience through a new exhibition experience.
Reflecting on the themes discussed a fortnight ago, the session began by considering the order these themes may be structured by, and the arrangement of the objects within this.
The sections arrived at were:
- Stories of the Silks
- Their Use/Purpose
- Western Interpretation
- The Stories of the Donors
- Our Interpretation
- Animation.
Having seen the exhibition space available and discussed possible options for display, the group divided to research colour schemes and display arrangements, before working together to consider the ideas in practice.
The outcome from the session was thus a relatively detailed plan for the arrangement of the objects in the exhibition space, a confident idea of the narrative/direction of the exhibition itself, some strong ideas for the colour schemes which will flow through all aspects of the future design work (the current favourite explored here), and a vague idea of the forms of the display cabinets too.
Illuminate will soon be posting some images from the session, hopefully including the mood boards and display arrangements as well as some fine pictures of the members of Illuminate!! Grand.