Writing visitor experiences

‘No-one reads exhibition labels’, is something we hear a lot. The statement is usually accompanied by a short laugh, to indicate that this is sort-of-a-joke but sort-of-serious at the same time. This comes even from people who work in museums and galleries, though they tend to say it in a tone verging on despair.

But the truth is, despite plummeting attention spans, people do still read labels ‒ if they’re done right. As a curious human being, you come to an exhibition/installation/show to find out new things. In front of you is an object or an image of an animal, plant, person, building, landscape, art work, festival, dance… You want to know what the thing is, what’s happening, who the person is, the artist, the name, the why…

Kate Sheppard House. Image credit: Chris Hoopman

At the most basic level, writing for an exhibition is telling people what they’re looking at. Sometimes this is all you’re doing; writing an object or specimen label. Other times there’s room to add a sentence or two – e.g. about how a shellfish burrows, or why a particular colour has a special meaning for a group of people. Other times we get to tell a story – short, always (attention spans!), but one we hope will hold a visitor for its duration.

It’s not all text. Video scripts need to tell a story as clearly and concisely as possible. Instructions for interactives need thought about how a person will approach each exhibit and how best to invite them to take part.

Korero screens at He Tohu.

A writer’s job is to do the telling in an interesting, concise, compelling way. In whose voice is the story being told? What tone is right - straightforward, formal, relaxed? Is there room for humour? How much technical or specialist information does a visitor need? How to convey it clearly and simply?

There’s another, even more important part of writing visitor experiences which doesn’t usually end up as words on a label or a multimedia script. That is, writing the story for the whole show. What’s it about? Who will visit? What will interest them? How will they move through the space? The ideas that fly around at the beginning of a project are gathered into an initial written concept. As this concept settles into its final form, we often write it out again in the form of imagined visitor journeys. These back-of-house documents are crucial, often referred to, and sit behind everything that the visitor sees, reads and hears.