Storytelling Exhibitions

Philip Hughes is an exhibition designer. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in London, he has designed exhibitions for museums around the world, most recently for Ralph Appelbaum Associates. He has also taught design at a number of universities in the UK, where he lives and works.

1 - Story
Dynamic area of practice
Breaking with convention
Why story?
Developing the story
Expressing the ‘Big Idea’
Who is it for?
Can tech provide ‘super powers’ for the future exhibition?
A fundamental part of exhibitions

2 – Authorship
Who can make an exhibition?
Is the world of exhibitions changing?
Empowering ‘activist’ exhibitions
Curation and co-curation
Museums working with their communities
Contested histories

3 – Exhibits
The ‘ingredients’ of exhibitions
Contemporary collecting and the ‘activist’ exhibition
Using exhibition assets
The 'stuff' of future exhibitions

4 – Identity
Museums of identity
A new narrative
An opportunity
The complex legacies of world museums
Repatriation
A new chapter for the storytelling exhibition

5 – Wonder
The feeling of ‘awe’
Fun

6 – Truth
A raging dispute
Reconstructing events
Superpowers
Using new techniques to represent people, the possibilities of new technologies
Exploring fake news
The future of the real

7 – Virtual
Going online
Making a virtual exhibition from scratch
How artists reach their audiences
Translating the viral success of a video into tangible benefits
The impact of Covid-19
An online exhibition
Virtual tours
A ‘live’ platform
How museums can use new platforms
Standout online exhibitions
An 'elastic' approach

8 - Future
A future story
The increased use of digital collections in museums
Communication of wonder
Museums and truth
Balancing physical and online experience
Sustainability
Exhibition makers of tomorrow

Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Credits
Index