CHERISH Climate Change Exhibition Design

The brief

CHERISH (Climate, Heritage and Environments of Reefs, Islands and Headlands) is a European-funded project. The project is led by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, in partnership with The Discovery Programme, Centre for Archaeology & Innovation Ireland, Aberystwyth University and Geological Survey, Ireland. CHERISH is funded through EU funds and will run through to 2022.

CHERISH required designs for a touring exhibition, explaining the objectives of the project to the public. A system of interchangeable panels (depending on the size of the exhibition space) would communicate climate change impacts on fragile coastal heritage sites in Wales and Ireland, as well as the field study work of The Discovery Programme.

The design

For this exhibition project, I worked alongside illustrator Carys Tait at Carys-Ink, who had already been commissioned to illustrate a range of maps, showing the study areas in question, as well as the techniques used by the geological survey teams to study them. Carys’ illustrations were used on panels in both the Welsh and Irish exhibitions.

Key design templates for the panels had to cover a main title panel, illustrated map panels with key, panels about the geological surveying techniques used by the team and case study panels on the different coastal study locations. Small spot illustrations at the base of the case study panels linked back to the main map.

A lot of information to convey, with the added complexity of dual language – either Welsh/English or Irish/English (visuals here just show the Welsh/English designs, with the Irish exhibition following the same panel layout styles using different images and text content).

Lots of stunning photographic images were provided by the CHERISH team from their outdoor field work – including some aerial drone shots.

Above: Range of panel designs for the Welsh touring exhibition. Click any of the thumbnails to view a larger panel graphic.

The result

The final touring exhibitions have sadly been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with public events being postponed. However, the CHERISH team are hoping that the exhibition can tour in 2021 and tell a joint-nation story of coastal heritage and the impact of climate change on coastal communities. The exhibition panels have all been printed and are ready to roll!