ABSTRACT
Visitor-object engagement at the atomic level was defined by three key elements: visitor, object and setting. This chapter focusses on the displays of Egyptian collections where the dissonance between the two groups is evident and where exhibitory practices have largely defined both the public perception and the scholarly understanding of ancient Egypt. In two of the galleries the authors assessed, the Tomb-chapel of Nebamun and the Music room in the Horniman Museum, they found that visitors engaged with inconspicuous objects on a par with striking and conspicuous ones. The notion of the usability was borrowed from the practice of design. The role of visual qualities in the selection and preference of objects was further supported by the research at the British Museum Egyptian death and afterlife: mummies. In display design, it is believed that the meticulously planned massing of ordinary objects confers a special attraction.
