Together with ten Dutch museums and four design agencies, the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences led the practice-based research called The Exhi- bition Designer of the 21st Century (2017-2019), which was funded by Regieor- gaan SIA. Researching the effect of intentionally designed museum experiences, the project focused on how four design strategies (participatory practices, sto- rytelling techniques, atmosphere and interactive media) affected visitors’ level of inspiration, the degree they were emotionally touched and to what extent they felt they had learned valuable information. In this article, the case study of one Dutch museum will be discussed to 1) address the methodology used in our pro- ject to research the effect of designers’ intentions and 2) present results from our research concerning six interactive media installations used in two exhibitions at this museum. The goal of the project is to develop an instrument that will allow museums to research their own expectations when developing new exhibitions.
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This interactive virtual museum provides insights into LGBTIQ+ issues by presenting the history and utilization of pride flags and different legal situations worldwide and by pointing out the meaning of identity markers and their interconnectedness. This is complemented with an intimate engagement through photography, personal narratives from members of the LGBTIQ+ community and a fully immersive pride parade, allowing users to engage and learn with various stylistic, factual and fun exhibitions.
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‘Staying Alive’ is the title of an exhibition and of the 7th book in the Ebifananyi series and two exhibitions. One of the exhibitions took place at Afriart Gallery, the other one on the balcony of the new six story inpatient building of the Uganda Cancer Institute. Books and exhibitions present photographic documentation from the late 1960s and early 1970s and from more recent pasts, and reflections in words on the photographs and the history of the institute by Marissa Mika and I.The Uganda Cancer Institute was the first major cancer research and treatment facility in the Great Lakes region. It celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. While part of the reputation of the institute was/is that it is a place where people (are sent to) die, the aim is of course to keep them alive and develop knowledge about the disease that caught them.
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Under the umbrella of artistic sustenance, I question the life of materials, subjective value structures, and working conditions underlying exhibition making through three interconnected areas of inquiry: Material Life and Ecological Impact — how to avoid the accumulation of physical materials/storage after exhibitions? I aim to highlight the provenance and afterlife of exhibition materials in my practice, seeking economic and ecological alternatives to traditional practices through sustainable solutions like borrowing, reselling, and alternative storage methods that could transform exhibition material handling and thoughts on material storage and circulation. Value Systems and Economic Conditions —what do we mean when we talk about 'value' in relation to art? By examining the flow of financial value in contemporary art and addressing the subjectivity of worth in art-making and artists' livelihoods, I question traditional notions of sculptural skill while advocating for recognition of conceptual labour. The research considers how artists might be compensated for the elegance of thought rather than just material output. Text as Archive and Speculation— how can text can store, speculate, and circulate the invisible labour and layers of exhibition making? Through titles, material lists, and exhibition texts, I explore writing's potential to uncover latent structures and document invisible labor, considering text both as an archiving method and a tool for speculating about future exhibitions. Using personal practice as a case study, ‘Conditions for Raw Materials’ seeks to question notions of value in contemporary art, develop alternative economic models, and make visible the material, financial, and relational flows within exhibitions. The research will manifest through international exhibitions, a book combining poetic auto-theoretical reflection with exhibition speculation, new teaching formats, and long-term investigations. Following “sticky relations," of intimacy, economy and conditions, each exhibition serves as a case study exploring exhibition making from emotional, ecological, and economic perspectives.
A series of elective courses and exhibitions in which students at Minerva Art and Uganda Christian University are in dialogue about and through portraits they make