By Brianna Heredia and Fiona Lee

_{Lubna Sebastian, Gina Kotos and Daniel Chein take in the Global Lives at CITRIS exhibit.}

The Global Lives Project is currently working on creating an exhibit kit to enable a person or institution to create a Global Lives exhibit. Our exhibit kit will allow individuals and institutions worldwide to create their own immersive multi-screen Global Lives exhibit in their own communities. Our research shows that a Global Lives exhibit can contribute to a more empathetic society.

In creating this kit we interviewed four people involved in past GLP Exhibits, to learn from the experience of those who have set up Global Lives Project (GLP) exhibits in the past.

_{Student Lindsey Chung takes in the Global Lives exhibit at the Hearst Museum}

The exhibit team selected these quotes from the past exhibit hosts for ways to create the most immersive experience.  

“In your opinion, what are some ways to create an immersive exhibit environment?”

David Evan Harris, the founder and executive director of Global Lives Project, has been involved in dozens of Global Lives exhibits: “Always ask yourself – Does the exhibit inspire the audience? Does it make the audience rethink their relationship with the world?”

Glenn Fisher, President of the Board of Global Lives Project, has eight years of involvement in exhibits. He has set up four Global Lives exhibits – at the living room in a board member’s house, a San Francisco performance/exhibit space (Gray Area), Google, and San Francisco State University: “Think about how to get people engaged, and organize exhibits so it makes sense for people that are watching. Placement is key – side-by-side screens made me realize people are all the same at the fundamental level. If you have limited resources, think about what will be most effective in terms of catching attention.”

Paige Laduzinsky, the Senior Exhibit Content Developer at the California Academy of Sciences, is a past host of the Global Lives Project Exhibit at Global Museum. “A good exhibit should speak to the institution’s mission and touch on a variety of audiences to support life-long learners. Always keep in mind ‘The Big Idea’ – what is that one thing you want your audience to walk away with?”

Christine Fogarty, the Associate Director of Global Museum, San Francisco State University. The Global Museum partnered with the Global Lives Project as a venue, hosting the video exhibit from October 2019 to March 2020: “The most effective way of receiving feedback is through conversations with the visitors, which help not just with exhibit feedback but also building content knowledge for our staff. Sometimes, visitors will relay personal anecdotes based on what they saw. ”

_{Global Lives exhibition at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 2010. Design by Sand Studios.}

We curated the Global Lives Project Open Source Exhibit Kit in response to the interviews, and the positive feedback we received from Paige – “Preparation and installation for exhibits are challenging, which is when an Exhibit Kit could help. Proposing options for different sizes of spaces and teams as well as troubleshooting could be very helpful.” We believe that one of the key values of Global Lives is to share and make accessible all the resources and knowledge we have. Therefore, our exhibit kit will be designed to do just that, providing individuals and institutions with the resources and tools they need to spread global empathy.

Be sure to look out for the Global Lives Project Open Source Exhibit Kit soon. In the meantime, explore our video collection on our website and follow Global Lives Project on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @globallives.