Starvation Plates: A Fine Art Example of Educational Interpretation Design

For this article, an exhibit of a work of art by Canadian Cree artist Kent Monkman serves as a visual art exemplar of educational interpretation design. Museum designers use this strategy within an exhibition to encourage museum visitors to purposefully consider and actively interpret museum objects. Use of this and similar design strategies is increasing as museum design practice is moving away from an emphasis on product design in favour of a growing concern for the use of design to benefit the visitor. Not surprisingly, in these cases, interpretation design often takes on an exceptional educational character. For these reasons, I argue that good interpretation design is indeed educational in that it contributes to the quality of visitors’ museum experiences and facilitates meaningful interpretations of works of art. These activities are certainly at the core of the learning experience intended when planning exhibition

Keywords: art display ; art interpretation ; educational design ; educational exhibits ; exhibition planning ; Kent Monkman ; meaning making ; museum design ; museum experience ; museum learning ; museum visitors ; visitor experience ; visual art