I am currently researching, writing and editing a new book with Tricia Austin from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London which will be published for the Routledge series Museum Making. We hosted eight discussion forums to seed the book that featured industry expertise from across the world to demonstrate the important impact of exhibition and experience design on society. It is intended that the publication will raise the profile of the discipline, acknowledging and elevating its value. The book will take a critical look at how the field acts as an agent of change in response to the challenges of a rapidly changing and ever more complex and connected world.
Four topics emerged from these conversations as pressing global issues: Climate Emergency – Addressing the Climate Crisis/Emergency; Social Polarization and Community Engagement; Racial Injustice – Decolonization and the Undoing of Historical and Racial Hierarchies; and Techno Ethics – Ethical Considerations and Technology.
The online forums asked each participant to demonstrate how any one of the challenges affects their practice and how they respond to it as designers. Each forum was limited to six participants and lasted one hour 15 minutes. The forums offered an opportunity for practitioners to discuss case studies, their experiences, and share their visions beyond the constraints of the commercial context. The forums were inspiring. They highlighted the lack of opportunity for designers to discuss important issues in the commercial context, that we have a lot to learn from each other, and that there is a need to recognize the skill and impact of the exhibition and experience design field.
The book will include 25 chapters written by an international group of thought-leaders and designers many of whom participated in the online forums.
Call for book chapter proposals_ The transformative power of exhibition and experience design
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