Another exhibition project carried out for the World War II Museum in Gdansk is the arrangement of the temporary exhibition “Operation Diadem”, prepared in connection with the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino. The intention of the curators was to present the subject from the perspective of the history of the man-soldier and the realities of a battle full of horror. The main axis of the exhibition is marked by the works of Zygmunt Turkiewicz, an artist who belonged to the Anders Army. They are supplemented by recollections of participants in the events, a brief historical commentary, animation of archival photographs and presentation of exhibits from the collections of the World War II Museum in Gdansk and the University Museum in Torun.

The key to success in designing museum exhibitions is properly conducted communication between the design team and the curators representing the institution. At the beginning of the process, we reviewed a preliminary scenario including the main objectives, a list of objects and textual material. It was also necessary to visit the museum to familiarize ourselves with the space, exhibition conditions and take measurements. Only by collecting all the data was it possible to create a proposal for the visual identity of the exhibition and suggest directions for the development of the space. The final design is always the result of close cooperation, sometimes many hours of discussions, between us and the exhibition curators.

One of the most challenging stages of the entire process became the development of the graphic concept for the exhibition. Based on the biographies of the heroes of organic labor, we distinguished several areas of organic laborers' activities, for which we designed graphic elements and color palettes. We created creations for finance and economy, feminism, philosophy, education, agriculture, industry, art, military, medicine and religion. Each area was enhanced with an individually designed collage also incorporating historical iconographic material. The result was an identification full of color, eye-catching and bringing to life the typical colors associated with historical themes.

Fot. Agnieszka Stawrosiejko

In the design process, we assumed that all the elements of the exhibition were to be only a discreet addition to the graphics presented on it. Therefore, the most important task was to choose the right color scheme for the walls and the appropriate composition of the text. We decided to present the rather extensive set of quotations selected by the curators in the form of elegantly bound booklets. They were made available to visitors for browsing on seven shelves corresponding to the particular thematic blocks into which the graphics were divided. We attached great importance to the development of clearly legible captions for the graphics and exhibits.

Fot. Agnieszka Stawrosiejko

The tour of the exhibition closes with an animation created on the basis of archival photographs with the sound motif of the Marian bugle, which was played by the Poles after the occupation of the abbey. The nature of this material, in which we see the real heroes of the exhibition as they perform various activities during the war effort, imposed minimalist animation procedures. In this case, we used a simple setting that did not disrupt this dramatic and powerful photographic narrative.