The Incas Exhibit at Pointe-à-Callière Museum celebrates the History and Culture of Peru

CONTEXT

The Incas, Treasures of Peru, was an exhibit about the history and culture of Peru at the Pointe-à-Callière Museum in Montréal. Developed in partnership with the Brussels Art and HistoryMuseum, the bilingual exhibit featured over 300 artifacts, primarily from the Brussels Art and HistoryMuseums, that explore Peru through the lens of textile. The 8,000 square foot exhibit spanned two floors. 

Considered more valuable than gold in Inca society, fabric and feather ornaments were used as offerings to the gods. Textile design had influenced all aspects of Peruvian arts from pre-Inca periods to the height of the Inca Empire and continue to inspire art and design in Peruvian culturetoday. The exhibit, open to the public from November 2019 to September 2020, aimed to communicate these key messages to visitors in engaging and unexpected ways. 

METHODOLOGY 

Our goal was to make visitors feel as though they were immersed in ancient Peru. Key artifacts, together with diorama, reconstruction of architectural ruins, video, sound and interactive media, were set in chronological order to create themed exhibit zones. For instance, the sound of birds could be heard in the area where feather pieces were displayed and draped fabrics hung as canopies above the market area to create the impression of a local market.

Threads were used to visually express the relationship between textiles and Peruvian culture. They were also used as a design motif linking all of the exhibit elements together. The motif was applied to the exhibit design spatially, architecturally, graphically and typographically, creating a sense ofplace.

Upon arrival at the museum, an installation created by a series of physical threads running from thebottom of the stairs to the second floor visually connects the two exhibit galleries, leading visitors through the exhibit until the threads transform into the outline of the Peruvian map. The pattern was also printed on fabric dividers, graphic panels, inforails and labels. As visitors continued on their journey, the pattern gradually transformed from simple lines to funeral masks, trees, landscapes and products in markets to express the topics featured in different zones. At the finale, visitors were invited to join an interactive weaving experience, where they could create their own pattern using motifs found in the exhibit’s artifacts. 

DESIGN DETAILS

One of our favourite design details was the consistent application of the thread pattern throughout the exhibit. If you examined the graphic details up close, you'd find that even the choice oftypography and the texture of the maps are consistent with the design language of threads. The exhibit typeface for headings was Zipline, which shares an amazing similarity to the textile motif we designed. We also created thread-inspired patterns to fill various geographic areas on maps to indicate pre-Inca cultural areas.

Another favourite is the thread installation at the stairs. The installation is two storeys high, which has never been done before at the museum. To get the approval for the design, we created a temporary installation in a meeting room using threads of yarn and magnets to connect various surfaces within the room. When the client team arrived at the meeting, it was instantly approved.

RESULT

The exhibit received over 130,000 visitors. The popularity of the exhibit was incredible, considering the impact of the pandemic. Many visitors expressed their appreciation on social media, often inviting others to visit. The interactive weaving experience received awards from the Society ofExperiential Graphic Design (SEGD) and Art Directors Club of Europe (ADC*E).

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Credits: Entro Communications (Exhibit Design), Expozone (Fabrication), Light Factor (Lighting Design), Gagarín (Interactive Media)

Photography: Edmund Li RGD, Andrea Herrera Betancourt, Laura Sellors

Pointe-à-Callière, cité d’archéologie et d’histoire de Montréal

Take a virtual tour of the exhibit below: