ABSTRACT
The Holocaust Exhibition first opened at the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in June 2000. While many Holocaust survivors visited the museum in this period, the majority of visitors today do not have direct, lived memory of the Holocaust. The IWM decided to change the curation of the exhibition in light of new research on Holocaust histories and global developments in their curation. After several years of preparation, the new Holocaust Galleries opened in November 2021 under the curation of James Bulgin. In this interview, Bulgin discusses the dynamic between the Holocaust and Second World War Galleries in the museum, the renewed focus on landscape and ecology, the approach to experiential design and ‘contemporaneity’ as an interpretive strategy, and concerns over theatricality and immersion that shape his approach to curation.
