www.californiamuseum.org/unity-center 

Directors/Producers: Kevin White & David Donnenfield

Co-Producers: Alex Safron & Chelis Lopez

Client:

The California Museum

Goal:

To create a video exhibit for the Unity Center, a permanent exhibit celebrating California’s diverse people, customs and cultures through an interactive multimedia exhibit. The goal of the Facing Assumptions exhibit was to engage viewers to think about their own assumptions about different groups.

Strategy:

Create a series of videos where museum visitors are immersed in candid and vulnerable conversations, which encourage them to confront their own assumptions.

Audience:

High school and middle school students (core audience); college students, educators, and families (secondary audience).

Approach:

The videos feature members of marginalized groups who share deeply personal experiences about facing common stereotypes and misconceptions. The five groups shown include: Black/African-American Women, Transgender/Gender Non-Conforming Youth, Muslim Youth, Latin American Immigrants, and Parents with Disabilities. Through the candid conversation about assumptions that these individuals face because of their identities, we sought to give visitors the feeling of dropping in on an intimate conversation that they may not experience in their everyday lives. The frank discussion encourages the viewer to acknowledge their own assumptions and consider how these assumptions may be inaccurate, limiting, and damaging.

The videos are displayed across four screens, which enhances the feeling of a round table conversation and immerses viewers in the dialogue. The exhibit space’s console allows viewers to select which clip they would like to play. Each clip is less than 90 seconds, which gives visitors the opportunity to engage with these topics in an efficient way that suits the museum setting.

Impact:

These videos encourage visitors to face their assumptions and take an active stance against hate, intolerance, and bullying. This viewing experience contributes to the Unity Center’s mission of celebrating diversity and getting people to talk about inclusion in an interactive way. Facing Assumptions continues to be on view as part of the Unity Center’s permanent exhibit and is expected to attract 175,000 visitors each year.