Touring exhibitions report: The rise of Insta-gratification
It’s been an interesting 12 months in the world of touring exhibitions. While blockbuster productions still dominate and the sector as a whole continues to grow, albeit slowly, there are those who caution against complacency and overconfidence, keen to avoid some of the missteps that have befallen other parts of the industry.
Such issues were to the fore at the recent Touring Exhibitions Meeting (TEM) in Berlin, the biennial gathering of promoters, producers, museum curators and creative professionals. Alongside upcoming projects, the next evolution of such touring exhibitions, and trends in the context of the so-called “experience economy” – the latter proving somewhat controversial – there were two particularly hot topics, according to Christoph Scholz of SC Exhibitions, a division of Semmel Concerts, one of the leading German live entertainment promoters and the company behind TEM.
“Firstly, where do we go?” he asks. “This was a very pertinent question this year because there is only so much talent, and content, available. And secondly: What’s the next thing? We discussed new forms of exhibitions, or what you might call ‘experiences.’”
For Scholz, huge European successes such as Harry Potter: The Exhibition (“Adolfo Galli promoted it in Milan and got over 400,000 visitors,” he says), Titanic: The Exhibition and Star Wars Identities are all well and good, but keeping one eye on the future is just as important for those with a vested interest in continued growth and building sustainable businesses.
“Overall, I have a very positive outlook,” says Scholz of the sector’s health. It’s a sentiment echoed by almost everyone IQ quizzed for this annual appraisal; far from being fearful of stagnation or saturation, many promoters and producers are excited about new markets and technologies, and presenting beloved brands in innovative ways.
“Customers are becoming much more savvy when it comes to experiences”
As ever, though, quality is key, as is being attuned to precisely what consumers demand from such exhibitions in the ever more crowded entertainment sphere.
Visiting rights
While the last year has seen a continued focus on major licensed IP such as Hunger Games, Downton Abbey: The Exhibition and Hamilton: The Musical, producers are also now acutely aware of the visitor experience and how important a factor that is to commercial success.
“Customers are becoming much more savvy when it comes to experiences,” says Abigail Bysshe, vice-president of experiences and business development at the Franklin Institute, one of America’s most celebrated museums. “They expect to be immersed in a story and entertained, so the content has to really engage the visitor and make them feel part of the experience.”
Tom Zaller, president and CEO of US-based Imagine Exhibitions, agrees; for him, it’s clear that the general public are looking for immersive, story-driven narratives. “Exhibitions are another form of entertainment,” he says, “so whether you have objects or projections, something scenic or static, I always find that the one constant is a well-told story to drive the whole experience.”
Such a belief lies at the heart of his company’s 35 unique exhibitions currently on tour, with the worldwide success of the likes of Angry Birds Universe, the Discovery of King Tut and Real Bodies testament to the effectiveness of designing such events from the visitor viewpoint up.
So what is being done to improve this? In short: technology. “Virtual and augmented reality will become more and more a part of events in general,” according to Corrado Canonici of World Touring Exhibitions, the company behind Travelling Bricks and Interactive Science.
“More than 50% of venues who book such exhibits are seeking tactile, hands-on ‘interactives’ as part of the experience”
Rafael Giménez of Sold Out, one of Spain’s biggest producers and promoters, notes that more and more AV equipment is now required for shows, and that such developments “will bring new ways of seeing things.”
For Zaller, though, technology goes beyond what he calls “creative execution”. Imagine Exhibitions are already looking at the power of data-driven decision-making and audience insight in order to help venues “deliver content that is timely and relevant – both scientifically and socially – to their audience.”
And, he adds, the new technology behind interactive elements is important not just to make things enjoyable – it is essential for learning. “More than 50% of venues who book such exhibits are seeking tactile, hands-on ‘interactives’ as part of the experience. They are the perfect vehicles for us to achieve our goal to educate, entertain, and enlighten.”
Insta-gratification
But one aspect of technology, and the modern world, is proving controversial. As Scholz noted in IQ 78, more and more exhibitions – such as San Francisco’s Museum of Ice Cream – are serving as ‘Instagram environments’, and are being specifically designed to provide shareable and social media-friendly backdrops and moments. Does this ‘Instagramisation’ detract from the actual content?
“It does, and it is a problem,” says Scholz, a thought echoed by Bysshe.
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