Crossing Cultures, Crossing Time

Client: The Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, UK

Project: Museum redevelopment, Heritage Lottery funded

Collaborators: Rick Mather Architects, Metaphor (Design), Newangle (AV) Richard Glassborow Associates (Interactives)

Our team guided and supported curatorial staff in developing all aspects of audience engagement, scripted communication, wayfinding, design and media under single theme: Crossing Cultures, Crossing Time.

The Ashmolean, Britain’s oldest museum, wanted to undertake a complete renovation and adaptation of the museum spaces and redisplay of its collections, spanning more than thirty galleries of art and archaeology. This involved a major task of briefing, direction and collaboration with multiple specialist teams.

We developed the AV and interactive strategy, created briefs and protocols and advised on the object selection process.

We then worked alongside the developers and curators on all textual, graphic, audio-visual, multimedia and interactive elements.

The Ashmolean redisplay has won a range of international awards and the museum’s visitor numbers increased fourfold. It remains in the top 20 free visitor attractions in England.

Tim Gardom Associates subsequently consulted on the combined New Galleries of Ancient Egypt and Nubia and Unwrapped: The Story of a Child Mummy at the Ashmolean. Director, Alison, was seconded as Acting Head of Interpretation at the museum in 2013.

This £5million project journeys chronologically through 5,000 years of human occupation of the Nile Valley.