Site of Passage Exhibition
Spatial and brand design to facilitate thought and reflection
City of Sydney
‘Site of Passage’ was an exhibition at Customs House, Sydney, that explored the journeys and experiences that make us who we are. It featured the work of nine artists who have taken a personal voyage, ritual, or action to assert themselves and their place within Australian culture. It encourages visitors to have conversations about our own experiences and to learn from each other. ‘Site of Passage’ featured work from artists Atong Atem, Cigdem Aydemir, Anindita Banerjee, Liam Benson, Vonda Keji, Nikki Lam, Nicole Monks, Raquel Ormella and Christian Thompson, and was curated by Claire Field and Tian Zhang.
For this exhibition Trigger created branding, exhibition design and applications to print and marketing collateral. The design includes the creation of an illuminated, amorphous colour field to reference multiple and shifting perspectives as an appropriate backdrop to the artists’ works. This beautiful, alluring, mysterious field sets up a space full of possibilities for the visitor, providing them with the space to facilitate their own interpretations. This background, seemingly in ‘flux’, is set against the simple, dark blue type of the logo and exhibition text and the solid red elements in Custom House’ architecture.
The design incorporated a relocated entry experience to separate it from the busy Customs House foyer space.
The main exhibition wall ties into existing colours in the buildings interior design so that the new intervention sits comfortably within its environment.
The suite of exhibition design applications was striking to link many separated exhibition spaces within the Customs House building.
There was a high level of visitor engagement with artworks on the ground floor, which were mostly digital.