ABSTRACT
Our earliest versions of exhibition standards focused on presentation issues such as design, content, and accessibility, but they did not seem to substantially improve on the existing AAM Standards for Museum Exhibitions. After struggling with different versions of AAM criteria that were primarily related to what the museum had presented in the exhibition, we took a different tack. By the end of September 2000, we had narrowed our focus to criteria that related only to the visitor’s experience. We began arguing about how to use the criteria rather than what the criteria should be. By eliminating judgments about the quality of the design and the accuracy or importance of the content, and by not attempting to judge intent, we made our task manageable and leveled the playing field: We were all visitors. We would judge exhibitions by how it felt to be in them, not what they said about themselves in a review or in a binder of PR materials, or showed in colorful slides.
I ended up just going back and rereading the AAM Standards, and I must say that I have greatly increased respect for them after struggling with the issues myself and hearing and reading everyone’s comments.
Hannah Jennings