Normcritical exhibition lab
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Mälardalens högskola - Akademin för innovation,design och Teknik |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 299 195 |
| Project duration | October 2015 - September 2016 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | 2014-06304-en |
Purpose and goal
The Normcritical Exhibition laboratory has created a platform to systematically analyze and challenge the standards of exhibition production from a norm critical perspective. The laboratory has explored methods for how norm critique can be an agency to create incremental improvements and radical innovations in exhibitions. Contributed to the transformation of normcritial knowledge into action at the museum, development of exhibitions content and form, expanded the collaboration between design students and museum and developed the Information Design program at MDH.
Expected results and effects
The project has effects on multiple levels, and affect the formal and informal organizational practice by the new methods strategically including new groups in the norm-critical work at the museum. The courses and reading lists at the university is changing. The design artifacts (i.e. the exhibitions) are changed toward a higher degree of diversity in terms of norm critical perspectives. Higher education in Information Design has introduced new exercises and new elements. The students´ reasoning about norm critique in relation to their role as designers in the future have deepened.
Planned approach and implementation
Through a conversation series of 5 full day workshops, testing methods, hacking, co-production of two exhibition extensions ´AddIT´ and ´I am the underdog but proud and enclosed´, reading and analysis (how and where is support needed to work with norm critique at VLM) a preliminary platform with methods and processes for NU lab was developed. The prestudy was based at VLM , but the process has contributed to the understanding of the need to open an Nu-Lab for a wider audience and the project has developed innovative methods for deconstructing and reconstructing the museum.