Storytelling as a tool to design museum experiences: the case of the Secret Marquise.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterScientificpeer-review

Abstract

This article describes how the 4 period rooms of the city museum in the Dutch town of Bergen op Zoom were redesigned using storytelling and how this design has been received by visitors. For this redesign, rooms were reframed as sets of the story of Marie Anne van Arenberg, Marquise of Bergen op Zoom, and the objects as props to stage her story, which was full of secrets and of unexpected turning points. The visitor is enticed to discover cues to unlock these secrets in order to get a grip on her story while exploring the museum space. This is however not a treasure hunt, nor simply a game, but an exploration in which visitors are invited to discover and to create meaning and a journey into what matters to them. To this end, they have indeed to resort to their own frame of reference and to their personal life story in order to come to a narrative closure at the end of their visit. We used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to understand the visitors’ lived experience, both emotionally and sensorially at different moments and situations during the story-driven experience and to understand how the chosen design helps tell the story and how visitors use their personal context and frame of reference to make sense of it.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMultidisciplinary aspects of design
Subtitle of host publicationObjects, processes, experiences and narratives.
EditorsF Zanella [et.al]
Place of PublicationCham
PublisherSpringer
Pages423-433
Number of pages11
ISBN (Electronic)9783031498114
ISBN (Print)9783031498107
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Publication series

NameSpringer Series in Design and Innovation
Volume37
ISSN (Print)2661-8184
ISSN (Electronic)2661-8192

Keywords

  • Meaning Making
  • Museum Experience Design
  • Narrative Analysis
  • Storytelling

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