Last Thursday we have been to V&A and science museum and seen several exhibitions.
First one was V&A’s new exhibition: Maharaja: The Splendour of India's Royal Courts which I have heard before and was very curious about it. When I entered the exhibition hall, from first miniatures to the final part which was about the changing scene in India after English occupation, I was very pleased with both content and also the organisation of display.
The items shown were very divers and rich, and they were not just shown behind protected glasses but display was based on creating the scenery and atmosphere of the time they were used. I was mostly impressed with textiles and miniatures. Both showed the advanced craftsman skills and richness of colour, texture, drawing was very refreshing for me. Indian culture at the time was in favour of glamour but it was not displayed just with gold or jewellery, but also with textiles, carpets, and artwork.
One display, particularly very impressive, items of emperor was displayed as if he was on his elephant and moving along the celebration area within the people he was ruling. On V&A’s website there is a video of creation progress of that particular display. I remember now standing there for around five minutes, looking at that display and trying to visualise the view of a regular person. Today our perception of big, glorious or impressive is very limited, we do not get impressed very often or easily. When you try to look those things with the perception of a villager of that time, someone who lives in a single level house, having a simple life, the moment he/she saw the empire on the giant elephant with all those colourful, rich textiles and jewellery, the effect this scenery create would be enormous.
First one was V&A’s new exhibition: Maharaja: The Splendour of India's Royal Courts which I have heard before and was very curious about it. When I entered the exhibition hall, from first miniatures to the final part which was about the changing scene in India after English occupation, I was very pleased with both content and also the organisation of display.
The items shown were very divers and rich, and they were not just shown behind protected glasses but display was based on creating the scenery and atmosphere of the time they were used. I was mostly impressed with textiles and miniatures. Both showed the advanced craftsman skills and richness of colour, texture, drawing was very refreshing for me. Indian culture at the time was in favour of glamour but it was not displayed just with gold or jewellery, but also with textiles, carpets, and artwork.
One display, particularly very impressive, items of emperor was displayed as if he was on his elephant and moving along the celebration area within the people he was ruling. On V&A’s website there is a video of creation progress of that particular display. I remember now standing there for around five minutes, looking at that display and trying to visualise the view of a regular person. Today our perception of big, glorious or impressive is very limited, we do not get impressed very often or easily. When you try to look those things with the perception of a villager of that time, someone who lives in a single level house, having a simple life, the moment he/she saw the empire on the giant elephant with all those colourful, rich textiles and jewellery, the effect this scenery create would be enormous.
After V&A, next destination was the Science Museum, which was a very beneficial experience especially for me and Bruno. Since we are focusing on possible interactive and tangible technologies which can be used in our project, seeing and understanding how the museum successfully combined these technologies with huge and diverse information, both impressed and inspired me a lot. Even for people who are not very interested in science can learn a lot while using the interactive games, screens, instillations. It is a perfect learning environment not just for grown up but also and may be even more, for children of any age. I adored the experiments section which is full of tools and gadgets for kids to use, make small experiments and see the results of scientific facts.
Our last stop was Natural History Museum’s Darwin Centre which has a very impressive architecture and display system. Interactivity and new technology again were used very wisely with screens, instillations and display systems and makes the whole experience more detailed and rich. The collection is itself amazing but because very diverse and complicated information is given by these displays, interactive tools help a lot to the viewers to make sense about what they have just seen. This centre is also a research centre and it is possible to watch scientists of research centre while they are working scientists through very big glass.
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