Ratan Batliboi, Principal, Ratan J. Batliboi Consultants, discusses exhibition design as a discipline and an area of creative endeavor – drawing from his exhaustive portfolio, the designs of temporary and permanent exhibitions and insights into the processes that are essential to the front and back end of the experience.
Fundamental Approach:
Client-based exhibitions reflect the personality of both the client and the brand or product they are exhibiting. We used to work on integrating this perception the client or brand had of itself with our agenda of what we wanted to present, as the designers of the space. This process was quite exciting as these relationships and ideas were strongly spatial – the exhibitions were about sculpting a three-dimensional space and not just plastering graphics on the walls. The core ideas would come from the nature of the content and the user of the space. Since my team has always been non-standard, I bring in anybody who I feel would be exciting to work with.
Design Process:
In an exhibition titled ‘Ten Art’ that we designed with curator Veerangana Solanki, she brought in ten artists to interpret Sachin Tendulkar’s life in their own way. The structure was created around the idea of bringing art to the masses through an iconic sportsman. Veerangana had curated the exhibition carefully, so that it was not just about pictorializing Sachin and decorating him in media, but rather it was stories of his life. A historical background and a curatorial inclination are very important in such commissions.
So, where the curator brings in content in a purist understanding, the curator is also critical to establish a flow that is desired: the grouping and zoning. Working with curators can be both painful and exciting, since they have their own way of looking at things. While a curator looks at the heaviness of content, we have to look at the lightness in the entire journey – the experiential quality of the exhibition is important to the designer. We like to get extremely involved in the curatorial conversation, because unless we understand the subject-matter thoroughly, we are not going to be good at what we do. It is critical to understand how detail is communicated – and an exhibition is all about communication.
We like to get extremely involved in the curatorial conversation, because unless we understand the subject-matter thoroughly, we are not going to be good at what we do. It is critical to understand how detail is communicated – and an exhibition is all about communication.
Human Engagement
We have a method of presenting the curator or the client the exhibition from the human perspective, and they see their project in a completely different light. We are conscious of the engagement of walking through the exhibition and its directionality. Sometimes, exhibitions are very directional and sequential, and other times they are experiential and multidirectional. The human is very critical to the exhibition space and you realize that you have a narrow space to engage at that level. Everything else is experienced in scale – from an installation to a large graphic panel. As designers, we have to be continuously conscious about this.
Evolution
We started with simple formats, as I was more interested in sculpting space. Today, we use a lot more technology, animatronics, holographic projections, screens, video mapping and many other things that make the interface. Exhibitions used to be purely about space, but today space has become expansive so there is a premium to the experience in that space. We try to focus more on interaction rather than just the experience of the exhibition.
We do not take too many exhibitions now because it is hugely trying. I have become very selective about what we take on as exhibition design now. It is critical, however, to stay in touch with what us happening on a daily basis. One can get dated very fast in this field of work. The constant process of designing and referencing gives a lot of creative freedom to my team – the team is allowed to fly and there is no restriction. The bottom line is that the design has to be build-able ⊗
RATAN J. BATLIBOI is the principal at Ratan J. Batliboi Consultants Pvt Ltd – a three decade multidisciplinary practice. The firm has a significant and critical portfolio of Architecture, Urban Design and Planning, Interior Design, Retail Design and Exhibition Design. The office produces work of high quality and standard with a belief in an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to design. With over a hundred professionals working out of an 8,000 square-feet office in central Mumbai, the practice works on design projects of great diversity in multiple scales and typologies. Immersed in contemporary ideas on design, Ratan J. Batliboi Architects has stayed away from a signature style responding to each project and its unique framework in its specific context.
