Exhibition as Interior, Interior as Exhibition: Spaces of Display within and beyond the Museum and Gallery

Exhibition as Interior, Interior as Exhibition: Spaces of Display within and beyond the Museum and Gallery

Exhibition design has long been studied in the fields of art, design and architecture, but the focus has been on the design of the exhibition narrative, rather than the design as interior space. This book breaks new ground, exploring the complex relationships which exist between exhibitions, museums and galleries and interior design. Taking a case-study-driven approach, chapters explore a wealth of spaces; looking at contemporary art galleries and globally-renowned museums, and also subverted spaces like squatted homes, high-rises, distilleries and laboratories. Their geographic coverage ranges from socialist Eastern Europe to the US, stopping via many other countries such as Germany, Croatia, Australia and the UK. These case studies rethink how exhibitions interact with their spatial surroundings, with key themes including the role of labour in creating these spaces, the dualism of public and private space, the impact of exhibition audiences and reception, the political implications of exhibitions and the influence of institutions. With an interdisciplinary range of contributors, and combining a historical and contemporary outlook, this is a must-read for anyone designing or curating design-driven museum spaces. Penny Sparke is a Pro-Vice Chancellor at Kingston University, UK. She is also a Professor of Design History and the Director of the Modern Interiors New Book Proposal Research Centre. Her publications include An Introduction to Design and Culture, 1900 to the Present (1986 and 2004); Design in Context (1987); As Long as it's Pink: The Sexual Politics of Taste (1995) and The Modern Interior (2008). Jana Scholze is Associate Professor and Course Director of the MA Curating Contemporary Design at Kingston University, UK. Pat Kirkham is Professor of Design History at Kingston University, UK, Professor Emerita at the Bard Graduate Centre, USA, and Associate Research Fellow at the Cinema and Television Research History Centre, De Montfort University, UK. Ersi Ioannidou is Senior Lecturer in Interior Design at Kingston University, UK. Fiona Fisher is a researcher in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture at Kingston University, UK, where she is a member of the Modern Interiors Research Centre.