The shelving system of the Museum of Ethnography with unique installations
In 2020 we worked on the exhibition of ceramics at the Museum of Ethnography. We were involved in design, production and installation of unique elements. The Museum of Ethnography is one of the most important museums in Europe. It has thousands of objects, photographs, videos, and documents in its collection. In addition to the many Hungarian artefacts, it also houses the country's largest international collection.
Design, manufacture and installation of the placement and presentation of objects
We were responsible for the design, production and installation of the placement and presentation system for the Museum's Ceramics Hall. During the project we used various installations, custom furniture elements, printed materials, digital and illuminated panels to display the objects. We were assisted in the implementation by our previous experience with digitally printed interfaces at the Money Museum.
The Ceramics Space is a two-part showroom that presents thousands of ceramic objects in informative and exciting installations.
The space is neither a warehouse nor an exhibition with detailed explanations. The space could be seen as two hemispheres of the human brain. The left brain is responsible for logical organisation, technological knowledge, and abstract concepts, while the right brain is responsible for visuality, artistic creativity and imagination. The Ceramics of the World section, like the left brain, organises objects logically, grouping them by continents, pottery centres and shapes, while the other, like the right brain, places the viewer in the ceramic worlds from a sensory perspective, showing the many ways in which objects can be used.
We had only 5 months to complete the project.
Working closely with Graphasel Design Studio, our main task during the process was to synthesize the curatorial team's ideas, the information related to the thousands of ceramic objects, and the possibilities for their execution and presentation.
The complexity of the space: the variety of materials used and the diversity of the installations meant that we worked with all areas of our company to carry out the tasks.
The space includes solutions such as:
- The unique metal shelving system in the showroom - creating furniture of this kind is always an exciting challenge for us from a design and feasibility point of view, as in addition to the usual expectations, special conditions must be met to achieve a functional and spectacular design.
- The plastic elements supporting/displaying the objects, which - after surveying more than 4000 objects - were broken down into groups and adapted to different object shapes. The stability and accurate execution of these elements was crucial, as most of the objects are extremely fragile and have an invaluable cultural value.
- Digital panels and various lighting installations to transfer information. Based on the ideas of the curatorial team and the designers, we created panels that interactively bring closer the techniques of ceramics making or even the different types of vessels produced in the different pottery centres.
These solutions all required complex preparation and planning by our team. There was hardly anyone who didn’t contribute something to the exhibition.
Our professional knowledge and experience in the design and construction of displays and installations was instrumental in the successful execution of the project. The comfort of having production facilities "at hand" meant that we could test our ideas with our colleagues practically any time.
All the hard work paid off, and the team came together in record time and showed that were up to the task. The work on the Ceramics Space at the Museum of Ethnography was a great challenge for us, we designed and produced many exciting communication elements in the hopes of contributing to a platform that's main purpose is to showcase our rich cultural heritage to the public.