Viewing entries by
Alexandra Collinson
Jason, the cowboy full of tales leading us the mountain pass, wasn’t long in from a night carousing with his buddies. Meanwhile Mike, a young Mormon father of three was calmly getting to grips with his first day on the job taking wannabe John Waynes out in the wide blue Utah yonder.
Back at the ranch – we really did end up there – the boss asked Jason about the rookie. “He’s a keeper?”
“Yep, he’s a keeper.”
In a way our guides were a microcosm of the State of Utah where members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons, make up just over half the population.
With the state capital founded by Latter-day Saints in 1847 the Church, its culture, its language has a huge presence. After finding out where I was from a shop assistant told me her dad had served his mission in New Zealand. I guess she just assumed I’d know she meant by mission – luckily by this stage I did.
Our journey to Utah had its roots six months back when Steve, Crystal and I moseyed – OK, OK, stop with the cowboy talk…
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Our journey began when Story Inc was hired to design an exhibition telling the story of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the South Pacific. Step one was a three-day hui in Hamilton to start talking about how we could tell this story that stretches back over 150 years.
As non-Church members there was a lot to learn. The museum committee was really patient with us as we got to grips with terminology, Church structure and language. Thanks Randy, Margaret and the team for bearing with us!
There was a lot of talk, a lot of questions, and a lot of listening. There was also a lot of aroha.
From the get-go we wanted to create an exhibition where visitors could feel inspired by the legacy of those who’ve gone before them and connect to the stories being told. And there had to be an element of surprise – the ‘well, I didn’t know that!’
By day three we were beginning to find a shape to the story. Our next stop was an action-packed fact-finding few days in Salt Lake City. What an exhilarating time. First up we were met by Randy and Margaret – who felt like old friends by this stage – and visited the Church History Library. It’s an incredible place packed with diaries, images, films, run by the very helpful and Chris Cox and her team. We checked out the Discovery Centre where you’re given an iPod and let loose to trace your family history, add to your family’s story, and even play digital dress-up.
On day two we got a sneak-peek at the Church History Museum which was midway through a major refit. Pretty impressive stuff, and gave us lots of ideas for our exhibit back home. We also got to meet the team behind this multi-million dollar project who were incredibly generous in sharing what they’d learnt through the process.
On our last day we headed down to the very pretty town of Provo where the Church’s Publishing Services Department (PSD) is based. Sallie Larsen and her team showed us round their incredible facility where they produce interactives for Church visitor centres, museums, and hundreds of videos and movies shown by the Church around the world.
There’s a permanent set out the front where they can shoot historical stories, a props department that would have Peter Jackson green with envy, and all the state-of-the-art digital facilities a techie person could wish for – eh Steve!
Just as during the Hamilton hui, we learnt a lot on our Salt Lake visit. It was a really interesting time sharing ideas and getting a greater understanding of the Mormon perspective – how our clients see the world and their South Pacific Story.
2015 has been a hot and sticky summer in Europe as a heatwave swept the continent in late June and early July, smashing both monthly and all time temperature records. I was lucky enough to be granted leave from my job at Story Inc (thanks James and Steve!) to travel for 10 weeks around Europe. And so as the mercury climbed so did the appeal of the many museums, galleries and visitor experiences on offer due to their powerful air-conditioning systems. I took refuge from the heat in a diverse range of institutions ranging from traditional large-scale museums and galleries, to more modern technology driven experiences and then more simplistic small-scale yet evocative establishments.
Mention ‘Europe’ and ‘Museum’ in the same sentence and it’s likely that the first that springs to mind is Paris’ iconic Louvre. Despite the futuristic looking pyramid entry point, the entire experience can be considered about as traditional as museums come. Little to no interpretation other than object labels gives visitors the freedom to draw their own conclusions about the treasures on display. However, as many seem to head straight into the crush of bodies around the Mona Lisa and then immediately for the next exit it seems unlikely that visitor engagement goes beyond collecting the “trophy” of a selfie with Da Vinci’s famous muse. Other museums that I visited which also fit this traditional or classical museum mould were the Uffizi in Florence and the British Museum in London. What these power house museums lack in terms of modern interpretation techniques they more than make up for in history rich objects on display, hence the long queues of tourists from opening until close every day in the summer.
Younger museums with large and fascinating, but not as valuable or historically important collections, seemed in some ways to be attempting to emulating the classical museums but still incorporating modern interpretation techniques. The most effective museums that I visited that I would class in this category were the Wellcome Collection in London and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Despite their differences in terms of subject matter these two institutions have both adopted a progressive approach to technology with handheld devices (adapted smartphones) which allow visitors to learn more about selected collection items with audio, video and even interactive quizzes or challenges connected via a simple numbering system. There were several advantage to this system that I observed. The first was that graphic panels are limited, allowing visitors to learn in a variety of ways rather than purely by reading information. Also, unlike many standard audio guides which run through one continuous audio reel exploring many objects or art works, visitors retain the freedom to pick and choose which objects to learn more about and can linger at works or move at pace. Searching through the gallery for the next numbered item which can be explored further through your device has a treasure-hunt type feeling to it which adds to the fun!
The final tier of museum that I frequented on my travels is what I have named the simple but intimate experience. Lacking the palatial splendour and “big ticket” items of the classical museums these experiences do not attempt to make up for it with flashy modern interpretation techniques or technology. Instead they form an emotional connection with the visitor, usually as a result of their evocative setting. Examples of this type of experience are: Cézanne’s Atelier in Aix-en-Provence – his studio complete with all of his belongs in situ giving the impression that he has just stepped out momentarily; Anne Frank House in Amsterdam – the house that Anne and her family and some of their friends hid from the Nazis within; Monet’s Garden in Giverny – complete with the famous lily ponds with their arched Japanese style bridges; and the small museum in Saint Cyril and Methodius Church in Prague – the hiding place for seven Czech parachutists following their assassination of the Reich governor of Bohemia and Moravia and architect of ‘the final solution’ Reinhard Heydrich during WWII. With the exception of Anne Frank House, these experiences are further off the beaten track and usually not as well publicised as the larger museums and galleries. However, they offer powerful experiences in their own right and offer lessons for institutions on connecting with visitors on a deeper, emotional level.
“War is hell” said US Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman – who knew what he was talking about.
In April 1915 New Zealand entered hell as our soldiers waded ashore at Gallipoli. A hundred years on we commemorated that terrible day.
A few months later, in July of this year, it was time for a completely different anniversary: 150 years since the city became New Zealand’s capital (see Happy Birthday Dear Wellington). For the team* involved in the project this was a chance to do more than just celebrate the city. We wanted Wellington to be saying “thank you” to New Zealand – that it is an honour to be the place where our democracy has its headquarters.
Right at the start of the process of creating the show, our main sponsors the Wellington City Council asked for iconic imagery which could be released to the media to build interest in the event. The examples they gave were visualisations created for the other anniversary – the successful opening of Wellington’s Pukeahu War Memorial Park in April: crosses projected onto the cenotaph, masses of poppies on the facade of the old Dominion Museum.
That got us thinking: What are the equivalent icons for the more positive sides of our national story? And realizing with a bit of a shock that there weren’t any.
Neil Price, Wellington City Council
Neil Price, Wellington City Council
There’s a theory called “Loss Aversion” which basically says that people hate losing more than they love winning. Losses are twice as powerful psychologically than gains. Maybe that’s why poppies and crosses are instantly evocative and moving.
But as a country we can’t just define ourselves by terrible events on distant battlefields. We need to celebrate our achievements (without ignoring our shortcomings) as a free country uniquely founded on bicultural principles. If we don’t love what we’ve won, one day we will surely lose it.
We worried a bit about our missing icons, and then got on with making the show. In the end, the message got through. Even without the democratic equivalent of crosses and poppies, parliament grounds were packed for the big Capital 150 birthday party, and thousands more watched the projections over the next two cold rainy nights. We do want to celebrate.
“Latch on to the affirmative”, as the famous song goes on to say. Out of curiousity I looked it up on Google. It was written in 1944, while World War II was raging.
James McLean – August 2015
*The Wellington Capital 150 Big Birthday Party was conceived of by Grant Stevenson of The Whiteboard. Story Inc acted as creative directors, working with Jon Baxter from Perceptual Engineering and Massey University’s Open Lab to create the projection for the event.