Project Title: Preventing Genocide
Museum/ Institution: The Holocaust Museum, Washington DC
Program Created: June, 2009
Program URL (if available):
http://www.ushmm.org/genocide/take_action/installation
Project Image(s) and/or Video
Media Source(s)/Credit(s): Images c/o Google images.
Program Description: (150-250 words)
This installation utilizes multiple technologies to highlight genocide in an effort to make people aware of its presence and its devastating effect on people’s lives. On entering the room one can immediately see 25 overhead screens suspended from the ceiling, facing different areas of the room, with looping recorded videos of commentary from individuals affected by genocide. These include victims, perpetrators, eye witness accounts and journalists. Beneath the screens is a large interactive touch screen table approximately 15 x 15 feet that enables 12 people at a time to simultaneously touch the surface and avail themselves of further details relating to the overhead videos. Documents, photographs and personal accounts can be viewed and read by touching the table to enlarge the selection. One wall of the room is called the “Pledge Wall.” Here the viewer is invited to fill out a postcard stating what they will do to help prevent genocide and the postcard can then be uploaded to the internet and shown on a large screen in the exhibition. Social networking is encouraged through both the touch screen table and the pledge wall. Viewers can post and share their experience live via Facebook and Twitter at both stations.
Firsthand or secondary review/critique: (150-250 words)
There is much to take in here. Three modern cases of genocide are particularly highlighted - Rwanda, Darfur and Bosnia Hertzegovina. The sometimes shocking video and images could be disturbing to younger viewers, but are used very effecively to illustrate the horrors of genocide. The museum has been very deliberate in the design of this exhibition by drawing in the visitor with interactive elements that make them feel involved and consequently, part of the solution. By introducing social media aspects, the conversation can continue within and without the museum. The "Pledge Wall" continually streams handwritten pledges by visitors which is an ingeneous way of validating them and possibly making the writer feel more obliged to honour them. The interactive table is easy to use and each viewer is free to read the display of their neighbour, making it a social experience that joins people as opposed to isolating them. A point that cannot be missed in the exhibition. The overall effect of the room can be rather jarring, particularly when it is busy. All walls and even the ceiling contain elements relating to human atrocities.This may be a deliberate ploy as it makes the experience rather uncomfortable and disturbing - almost a personal glimpse into the reality. The message is clear, concise and unapologetic. I think it is a highly effective exhibition.
Technologies incorporated: HD quality TV screens, touch screen technology, audio, video, social networking tools,
Internally or externally produced: Externally produced by Small Design Firm, Inc., Boston and Potion, New York
Entry Contributor and Date: Kirsty Gharavi, April 22, 2011
Related projects: Link to the personal stories presented in the gallery;
http://www.ushmm.org/genocide/take_action/gallery/portrait/haviv
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