BARCELONA ASTRAL PROJECTION CLINIC

When a blockbuster show travels, how does the exhibition design communicate uniformity across the institutions it travels to? 

Traveling exhibitions are special because they allow viewers from across the globe to experience carefully chosen stories that appeal to a mass audience. Visitors can physically immerse themselves in exhibitions through the displays to experience and absorb different cultures and history. Benefits like the dissemination of cultures notwithstanding, it is important to understand how traveling exhibitions are conveyed to the local population and tourists alike. In the case of Project A Black Planet: The Art And Culture Of Panafrica, debuting at the Art Institute of Chicago and now showing at MACBA in Barcelona, the exhibition design played a key role in the reception and understanding of the show. 

In order to taxonomize the operation of exhibition design elements in both shows, a partial abecedarium will be used to highlight all the components that make up the show, along with comparing and contrasting the way in which each of these design elements assist the show.

A: Accessibility

Both institutions have their faults in accommodating visitors with disabilities. The exhibition at MACBA is dimly lit all around, making it difficult for patrons with visual impairments to experience the exhibition in all its glory. In the Art Institute, with the exception of the introductory room, the lightning is strong and neutral, making it accessible to those with visual impairments. As for wheelchair accessibility, both exhibitions are navigable by wheelchair, a big bonus in visitor experience. Braille is not provided in either of these exhibitions.

B: Benches

One of the most striking features of Project A Black Planet: The Art And Culture Of Panafrica, debuting at the Art Institute that was not transferred over to MACBA were the custom wooden benches that were scattered throughout the exhibition. Designed by Chicago-based designer and furniture maker Norman Teague, they functioned as additional works of art throughout the show, with each being a one-of-one creation. While entering the exhibition itself, one came face to face with Teague’s creations, featuring divots for the catalogues. This vital element that set the Art Institute show apart was not incorporated into the MACBA edition, detracting from the overall experience.

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D: Didactics

When dealing with a survey show containing dense historical information, the didactics should play a key role in its experience and interpretation. The didactics at MACBA leave much to be desired. The didactics concerning subjects such as Quilombismo, Négritude, and Garveyanism are contained within one to two simple paragraphs, giving a short yet incomplete description of the significance of these events to the show and history as a whole. The majority of visitors do not hold an understanding of Panafricanism or its subsections. By containing the didactics within short paragraphs, they become more accessible, but lose out on their essence of educating the viewer. The Art Institute opts for longer, denser didactics that educate the viewer on the very subjects that they interact with.

E: Entrance and Exit

When one enters the exhibition at MACBA, they are greeted with a bleak white wall, where the title of the show is inscribed in bold, dark grey lettering. There is no introduction to the show through the art itself, nor a differentiation between the museum and the show itself, resulting in a preface that is anything but spectacular. The antithesis of this experience is reflected in the enterance of the Art Institute, where the viewer is immediately greeted with the murals of Hale Woodruff’s “Art of the Negro”. The works themselves become a part of the wall as custom arches were built, obscuring part of them. Woodruff’s works at MACBA are tucked away in a corner, with only three of them presented across three walls of an open square. As for the exit at MACBA, the final work presented is Olu Oguibe’s “Keep it Real (Memorial to a Youth)” from 1997. One of the most painful works exhibited throughout the show, it reflects today’s black America through the use of shoe throwing traditionally associated with honoring the passing of a gang or non gang member. Coupled with the flowers on the ground, the work functions as a grave to those lost by violence, a strong yet fitting end to the bloodshed this survey lies upon. The exhibition at the Art Institute loops around, circling back to the very entrance that the viewer was greeted with, a perhaps symbolic end to the fact that this may never end, and it shouldn’t.

F: Floor Plan

At MACBA the exhibition is arranged within separate rooms where one enters, walks through the exhibition, departs and walks over to the next room. Every room contains works that fit into its own didactic themes, creating uniformity in each individual room but segregating the exhibition as a whole. The floor plan at the Art Institute follows a circular flow, where one is invited to enter from the right side and comes out from the left. While walking through this “circle”, one can sense the uniformity of the exhibition. The thematics of the show are still separated, but a linear overview unfolds like a story as opposed to multiple different ones that the MACBA floor plan facilitates.

G: Graphics

The elements of graphic design seen across both exhibitions differ vastly from one another, as MACBA opts for simple lettering with an even simpler color scheme of white and black. The Art Institute on the other hand plays around with font and color alike. As for the exhibition itself, the use of color at MACBA -with the exception of the works themselves- is absent, leaving the exhibition bleak and rather uninviting. At the Art Institute, the use of color is anything but stingy. From the sage green trimming to the masterful use of pink in combination with black, one’s eye is immediately caught. Another facet to the success of the graphical elements is seen through the font choice. As opposed to opting for a simple font, a serif font is used instead, further contributing to the eye-catching design elements of the exhibition.

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I: Ideas reflected

As a joint project developed by the Art Institute of Chicago, MACBA, the Barbican, and KANAL-Centre Pompidou, the main idea of this survey show remains unified across institutions. The main idea shown is that of Pan-Africanism, which was first defined and theorized about 1900, is often considered as an umbrella word encompassing political movements that advocate for both individual self-determination and global solidarity among peoples of African descent. It has yet to be extensively investigated as a worldview derived from art and culture.The exhibition explores the art of the African diaspora as an aesthetic of reciprocity, between the artistic production of the African continent and the proposals of Black communities around the world. Over the past century, artists, authors, and other cultural workers have responded to worldwide histories of supremacy, conflict, and rupture, such as slavery, colonialism, and racial discrimination. While Pan-Africanism aims for transnational and global cooperation, the exhibition also brings together experiences and expressions shaped by contextualized visions that are not always in sync. The exhibition will be organized around a broad set of philosophical principles, with specific works, papers, and installations providing biographical information and a historical perspective.

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L: Libraries

An element not found in the Art Institute but present at MACBA is the creation of not one, but two structures used as libraries. In the Art Institute, books, newspaper and magazine clippings, letters, and posters that highlight Pan-Africanism that were produced between 1900 and the present are among the archive artifacts on display behind glass. These archives' existence demonstrates how broad the movement was. This facilitates a lack of interaction with these materials, that assist the visitor in their overall experience. At MACBA, two “rooms” have been created in order for visitors to sit down and interact with these educational materials. The use of wooden walls as enclosures along with seating create an educational space where one can wind down and learn about the historical context of the exhibition, excusing the poor didactics.

M: Missing Nefertiti - Miles Davis (Gold)

One of the most significant works that viewers of the show at MACBA got to miss out on is Nefertiti - Miles Davis (Gold), 2022 by Ethiopian artist Awol Erizku. A blockbuster piece featured in the entrance of the Art Institute outing, the piece intends to encourage Black audiences to pursue self-determination via self-love by reinterpreting the ancient bust of Nefertiti: Miles Davis (Gold). The sculpture's title, which alludes to the legendary jazz artist Miles Davis's 1968 Nefertiti record, and its coating of disco tiles both allude to the brilliance of Black music. The work at the Art Institute is hung from the ceiling, spinning like a disco ball, reflecting gloriously onto the wall.

N: Navigation

MACBA presents one of the most straightforward journeys one can take to locate an exhibition, they must walk up the set of white ramps up to the first floor, facing the outside world through colossal windows. In order to access the exhibition at the Art Institute, located on the first floor at the Regenstein Hall on the southwest end of the museum, one needs to enter the museum through Michigan Avenue, and bang a left while being faced with the Grand Staircase. As they pass the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries and the Arts of China, Japan, and Korea, they eventually make it to Regenstein Hall after climbing up the staircase at 135. This is the fastest way to get to Regenstein Hall if one follows the floor plan. Most navigational experiences go through the Alsdorf Galleries instead, where one is greeted by the vast Arts of Asia collection. When reaching the end of the corridor, one briefly faces the Arts of the Roman, Greek, and Byzantine works before turning right to locate the colossal banner of the show. While climbing numerous sets of stairs and skating by the Arts of the Americas, one finally locates the Regenstein Hall.

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S: Size and Scale

The differences in navigation and experience are a direct result of a massive size difference between the two institutions, as MACBA is approximately 21,500 square feet while the Art Institute is roughly 1,000,000 square feet. Along with that, MACBA is strictly a contemporary art museum while the Art Institute exhibits a vast collection of works from all periods, with its modern and contemporary wing accounting for ⅓ of its size. The galleries themselves also differ immensely in scale, as the full first floor of MACBA where the exhibition was housed in, felt far smaller when compared to the Regenstein Hall.

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V: Video Screenings

It seems as if the exhibition at MACBA relied heavily on video work as opposed to the Art Institute. While both contained screenings, the Art Institute disguised these rooms in a clever manner and presented them as secondary to the physical work itself. At MACBA the screenings work unanimously with the exhibition, as they are presented as vital to the exhibition itself, appearing in almost every room. This can be registered as a gimmick, but in reality it functions as additional didactic information to the show itself.

W: Works exhibited

At the Art Institute, around 350 pieces created by artists on four continents: Africa, North and South America, and Europe from the 1920s to the present are exhibited. This near inconceivable amount of works to digest, containing heavy hitters such as Kerry James Marshall’s Africa Restored (Cheryl as Cleopatra), Simone Leigh’s Dunham, and Alma Thomas’ Starry Night and the Astronauts, immediately lure in the spectator in experiencing the show itself. Even with 350 works on display, they do not overshadow one another. Attributed to the masterful curation of the exhibition, the works exist in harmony with each other, without the need of obscuring one work for the sake of highlighting another. On the other hand, the works at MACBA -albeit many- seem to obscure each other. This obstruction of focus on individual works is a direct result of the lack of space at the museum.

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