Exhibition stories = Structure + Emotion + Attitude + Magic

Like stories, exhibitions unfold – beyond the dramaturgic conceptual work – their own life. Exactly as a text writes itself to a certain degree in a way difficult to rationalise, new connections and unexpected layers of meaning come to exist during the making of an exhibition. Right in the middle a fantastic idea is born and directs the line of argumentation in a different direction. Suddenly a context becomes visible that was hidden at the beginning. And it is the objects that are responsible for this. Because of their sensual quality and multifaceted character it is hard to force them into a corset of meanings. Besides, often astonishing effects are created during the growing of the exhibition into the space, effects that were not predictable during the planning phase. To accept this and not to deny it because of rational reasons, allows to unfold this magic fully for the visitors. Interesting, appealing exhibitions live from this in-between, this added something, this certain extra hard to explain. And therefore, apart from all achievement for clarity, magic is always at the heart of the matter.

Picture from The New York Public Library

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. (1905 – 1920). Brush the mystic: the Hindu basket Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/b5cfbf49-a5ae-7548-e040-e00a18060aef

Exhibition stories = Structure + Emotion + Attitude + Magic

Stories always contain an attitude regarding the topic. I want to express this as clearly as possible. To hold a clear position means to make myself vulnerable and attackable. This does not mean I become visible as a person, as Ariane Karbe. But I do get involved in my role as exhibition dramaturge and I do not hide behind the museum. The means to achieve this are various and depend from content to content. Thus, I don’t deny my enthusiasm for an issue but use it as an engine to attract the audience’s attention. There is nothing wrong with a strong handwriting – as long as you say clearly that it is your handwriting and not a truth produced by the museum. It depends on each project if one or several perspectives are discussed. By making my approach transparent, I enable the visitors to positon themselves and to pass criticism. Thus I take the audience serious.

Next time: Magic!

Picture from The New York Public Library

Science, Industry and Business Library: General Collection , The New York Public Library. (1859). Fantasmagorie page 383 Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/1de62bf0-27ce-0132-48df-58d385a7bbd0

Exhibition stories = Structure + Emotion + Attitude + Magic

My work as exhibition dramaturge is to compose the information units into comprehensible stories that also attract emotions. I develop the stories based on scientific research but understand myself first and foremost as communicator. Emotions are productive in order to motivate the museum visitors to engage with the topics. I try to use dramaturgic devices as consciously as possible in order to create specific effects. Do I intend to puzzle, surprise or unsettle the visitors? Do I want to overwhelm them or to make them laugh? This may sound manipulative, but: it is impossible not to produce any effects. If you don’t want to create them intentionally, you run the risk of producing disappointment and boredom. People want entertainment, and that is an important aspect for my work. To find out how to satisfy this need by telling certain exhibition stories, without simplifying, is a thrilling challenge. An exhibition that resembles a Hollywood film, a soap opera, a poem – why not? While doing this, it is important to explore the borders between facts and fiction carefully. Every exhibition narrative, as objective as it may seem, contains a forming und deforming of the content. It is the aim of my research to explore the creative potential comprised in that – and my passion.

Next time: Attitude!

Photograph from The New York Public Library

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. Josie’s Legacy (cinema 1914) Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47df-02d4-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Exhibition stories = Structure + Emotion + Attitude + Magic

A worked through storyline is the backbone of every exhibition – this is my conviction. But to realise exhibition projects is a complex challenge. It is necessary to research objects and topics, to write texts, to apply for funding and to look for sponsors. And time is always scare. Often you forget the crucial point. Which story to tell? What is the central topic of the exhibition? Are all hypotheses well explained? In order to keep the essence of this multi-layered production process in mind it is helpful to focus on the structure. I understand exhibitions as arrangements of information units, they may be objects, texts or multi media stations. As an exhibition dramaturge I am responsible to select these units and to place them in the room. The arrangement of the units is essential to create suspense, for instance. At this point my work overlaps with the designers‘ work: they work out how to support the storyline visually and to translate it into the space. The more conscious I am as exhibition dramaturge about what to tell, the more successful this cooperation can be.

Next time: Emotion!

Picture from The New York Public Library

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. (1773). Cette planche représente la derniere couche des muscles…. Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dd-e94d-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

I remember standing in the schoolyard trying to tell a joke to my sister and her friend. It was winter and we shivered with cold in our anoraks and pink-coloured mittens. I knew the joke by heart, I had practised it well, I loved the payoff – and to this day I have strong memories of their faces full of expectation. But I confused the plot hopelessly, and even before I battled my way to the end, the two of them took each other by the hand and hopped laughingly away.

Inspired by the Museumsakademie Museion²¹, I recently wrote my leadership values statement. My idea was to formulate as clearly as possible how I aim at influencing – thus I understand leadership – the museum world. However, what was meant as a reflection about my beliefs and principles turned out to be a formula, my formula for exhibition stories. I should not have been so surprised. Storytelling is the core of my motivation for my work – it is the heart. So the formula which I will present here bit by bit over the next days, is a lot about stories, a lot more about exhibitions and a good deal about me.

Exhibition stories = Structure + Emotion + Attitude + Magic

This formula explains my understanding of exhibitions and therefore my self-understanding as exhibition dramaturge. Like stories, exhibitions should not only consists of information but also emotions, otherwise they resemble prosaic reports. The concept of an exhibition can, like the concept of a story, be planned up to a certain point (important!) but cannot be controlled from this point on (magic!). The audience is no factor of its own in my formula because as addressees of the stories they are contained in every aspect, they are the most important entity. The most significant challenge of my work and my central responsibility is to make the stories so comprehensible and attractive that the audience can easily and willingly grasp them.

Next time: Structure!