Collections Emerge from the Shadows: Exhibition Design, or a Multi-sensory Approach to Reinvesting in Collections

Abstract The event-driven imperative for art museums has led some to fear the decline of permanent collections in favour of temporary exhibitions. However, recent studies have highlighted new museum practices that aim to promote permanent exhibitions through various strategies, such as carte blanche artist projects, artist residencies and performances. Art collections therefore seem to be emerging from the shadows. In that context, this article studies another phenomenon concerning the enhancement of art collections through various exhibition design practices. What are the intentions behind, reasons for and impacts of these strategies on the display of permanent exhibitions? To explore this question, the author examines the renovations of three museums: the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, the Islamic Gallery at the British Museum in London, and the twin ‘Leonardo’ and ‘Raphael and Michelangelo’ rooms at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The results support the idea that volume, colour, lighting and décor constitute a multi-sensory language of exhibition design that creates an aesthetic and emotional experience for visitors. These strategies are inherited from experience with temporary exhibitions but also from past practices in the display of collections. In this sense, these emerging trends suggest that museums are reinvesting in their art collections through an exhibition design approach oriented towards the public experience.