What makes a great exhibit a great exhibit?

What makes a great exhibit a great exhibit?
23-10-2011

On this forum most people tend to rate an exhibit on multiple factors. My question is; What would the ideal exhibit look like? What makes an exhibit a great exhibit? In my honest opinion there are a lot of aspects who together make or break an exhibit. On what scale should exhibits contain informative and educational elements, resemble natural habitats in which the displayed species would be in the wild and what should be the optimal balance between practicality (in terms of features added to ad enrichment and gain accessibility for keepers) and the resemblance with nature?

What do you guys think? Does practicality comes first? Is it more important to create a great vista then it is important for exhibits to be accessible? How is the size of the enclosure important in relation to functionality and how important is immersion design for you?

Summarized, what aspects and factors should an exhibit contain for it to be a great exhibit?

23-10-2011

For me important aspects of great exhibit are full immersion design and displaying different classes within region-based exhibit. I always think it's nice not only to display big mammals but also the little invertebrates from the same region. This adds to the overall idea visitors will obtain from different areas of the world. And being very specific about the location on which exhibits are based, is very important for the idea people have on the zoogeographical difference between parts of the world and with will foremost diminish the idea that Africa is one big space of land with the same animals every square kilometer...

23-10-2011

for me I like it to look as natural as possible - so any photographs of the exhibit look like they could have been taken in the wild.

23-10-2011

I share your vision. Being as natural as possible will benefit the level of education for visitors on how the wild counterparts look like.

24-10-2011

I love seeing exhibits that are really innovative. I actually have lists going of my favourite exhibits for different categories (Pachyderms, Ungulates, Great Apes, Other Primates, Large Carnivores, Small Mammals, Aquatic Birds, Other Bird Exhibits, Reptiles, Aquatic Mammals, Fish and Other Aquatic Species, and finally Exhibit Buildings). It was hard to find the right number of categories so that every species is accommodated but I think I've done it. Anyway the point of me saying all of this is that there are a lot of meerkat exhibits that are really good (probably due to their being in every zoo) but I haven't put any except the very best ones in my list because they all follow similar designs. The exhibits that I really love are ones that do something different and experiment a little. Sometimes it works but other times it doesn't.

24-10-2011

I say a great exhibit have to have a natural design and enrichment that fits with the exhibit design. Hope that make sense.

24-10-2011

@Pat,

have you started a thread about your list? I'd love to hear more about what you find innovative and what you felt worked...what didn't

25-10-2011

I am amazed that no-one has mentioned the point that is the absolute key as far as I am concerned. There must be a good view of a suitable group of obviously healthy animals showing as full a range of natural behaviour as possible.
Some sort of educational material is indispensable, to explain a little about the animals and their behaviour (perhaps including those behaviours which zoos cannot show, such as capture of prey and avoidance of predators). Other factors, such as the appearance of the exhibit and that elusive concept of 'immersion' (which I am very sceptical about), are window dressing - nice but not essential.
I may irritate some people by saying that I feel that the four main Howletts gorilla exhibits (not the original block) are great exhibits, because each one lets visitors see a group of gorillas moving, foraging and interacting in as natural a way as is possible in zoo. They are not beautiful or immersive in any way, but I reckon that the average time that visitors spend watching the animals is higher than almost any other exhibit in a UK zoo (if anyone has any statistics on this I would be very interested to learn about them).

Alan

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25-10-2011

I haven't made a thread about them...yet. They're top 15 lists and I was thinking I'd post them once I've actually seen at least 15 exhibits from each category (aquatic birds are still eluding me). I will let you in on some of the top exhibits in the said lists and why they are there.
Melbourne Museum's Forest Gallery is one of the top aviaries because instead of just being a display for birds from an area (continent, country etc). They actually showcase a specific ecosystem, Victoria's alpine regions. It is home to satin bowerbirds, tawny frogmouths, snake necked turtles and a few other birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles and insects. There are also displays about aboriginal life, such as their seasons and their relationship with the land. Werribee Open Range Zoo's Volcanic Plains is also high on it's list for showcasing a whole ecosystem (the grasslands that would exist where Melbourne is sited now if it weren't for European settlement).
Other great exhibits that I've seen that are innovative and it has worked out for the best are Melbourne Zoo's orang-utan sanctuary, WORZ's Hippo Exhibit and their main Savannah.

25-10-2011

I would be thrilled if I could see your list PAT, it really sounds like a thoroughly sorted list!