International Foundation for Cultural Property Protection

by Lin Nelson-Mayson

Barriers in museums are used for two different reasons - to provide a distance between visitors and objects and as traffic control. Exhibit furniture, such as bases and platforms, position objects or groupings of objects at a more viewable height. Platforms can also serve to provide a space between the visitor and the object. The exhibit designer uses the platform as a form of security for objects too large to fit under a vitrine and tempting for visitors to touch.

A ground-breaking example of the use of stacked platforms in exhibit design was the Denver Art Museum's Native Arts galleries which presented materials from over 100 tribes in groups set apart from the viewer by the creative use of platforms and a minimal use of vitrines. The innovative exhibition sought to create a sense of intimacy for the viewer by only using vitrines for the most sensitive objects. The design was both praised for its access and criticized for the expanse of platform surface necessary between the viewer and the objects to ensure that the objects were not touched.

Very large objects can be set off through a system of ropes or wires stretched between poles. This is a useful technique to keep visitors away from vehicles, large mounts, fragile artworks and other objects of significant size or in areas too limited in space for a platform barrier. A variety of these barrier systems can be widely purchased or unique systems can be built to harmonize with the museum's exhibition design and overall aesthetic.

A fixed barrier system can also be designed to incorporate a slanted label rail for mounting text panels or annotated labels explaining the materials beyond the rail. Label rails can include simple interactives or hands-on examples of the materials in the larger exhibit. They are also good sites for prototyping text and position for the objects on exhibit.

Visitor traffic control is designed to keep people away from off limits spaces (galleries under installation, for example) and guide them through lines at gallery or cafe entrances using pole/rope systems, similar to those used to direct lines at movies or amusement parks. An effective alternative to poles and ropes is painted lines on the floor or changes in flooring. Interestingly, a study on visitor behavior at a mid-sized Midwest art museum found that a different colored strip of carpet 2 feet from the wall had the visual effect of keeping most visitors away from the paintings. Of course, this primarily worked for the adult visitors, but it was quite a dramatic demonstration of the impact of very passive barriers. This same impact could be achieved through a painted line or tape applied to indicate the "respectful distance" requested of the viewer.