The Story
When Neath Port Talbot began planning for a permanent museum, there was an opportunity to reconnect local communities with the area's rich history and make its collection accessible to a wider audience.
Flowing Through Time: People, Place & Change was created as a travelling pop up museum, bringing stories, artefacts and archive material to communities across Neath Port Talbot while supporting the future vision for a permanent museum space.
Designed to tour three locations, Neath Civic Centre, Aberdulais Visitor Centre and Gnoll Park Visitor Centre, the exhibition needed to create a consistent experience while adapting to each unique venue.
The Challenge
The exhibition needed to transform a large collection of historic artefacts, archive material and local stories into an engaging visitor experience, despite there being no existing exhibition content to work from.
Every element needed to be researched, developed and created from scratch, while ensuring the final exhibition was bilingual, accessible, safe for valuable objects, and flexible enough to be transported, stored and reused.
The Solution
Working closely with the archive team, historians and project stakeholders, we developed the exhibition narrative and created a complete visitor experience from the ground up.
We designed a modular exhibition system that could be adapted across three different venues, combining physical displays with digital content to improve accessibility and extend the reach of the collection. All interpretation, graphics and digital elements were created bilingually in Welsh and English.
Through careful planning, local sourcing, procurement and logistics management, we delivered a sustainable exhibition solution that could be efficiently installed, safely maintained and reused beyond its initial tour.
The Outcome
The exhibition was delivered on time and within budget, receiving excellent feedback from both the client team and visitors.
The flexible design allows the exhibition to continue touring while providing venue teams with the resources needed for successful installation and ongoing care.
Impact
A travelling museum experience that transformed archive material into an accessible public resource, helping communities reconnect with their heritage while creating a lasting foundation for future museum development.
