russian ark

"2,000 Actors. 300 Years of Russian History. 33 Rooms at the Hermitage Museum. 3 Live Orchestras. 1 Single Continuous Shot."

A very ambitious film to tell the history of Russia through the 33 rooms of the Hermitage Museum in St.Petersburg (by whom the project was commissioned). It was the first feature film ever to be shot in a single take, filmed using a single 90-minute steadicam tracking shot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Ark

...Sokurov is an unapologetic defender of the idea of the museum in its most, superficially, conservative sense. "Museums make culture stable. Museums make the chaos of art into a stable structure. Museums also remind modern artists that there was art before them so they should be modest."

Exhibit Siam

Illustration of King Rama IV receiving a visit of French Delegates at Anantasamakom Throne Hall in 1863. This claimed to be the first exhibition hall in Siam as this Throne Hall, together with another Hall "Prapas Pipittapan" (literally 'Museum Visit') were supposed to be places for displaying the royal collections and 'boast' the country's wealth and high developed craftmanship.
During H.M. 's reign Thailand also partecipated in the International Exhibitions held in many European countries (as well as in America) as mentioned in the King Rama IV's Chronicles;

...เพราะเหตุที่เราพระเจ้ากรุงสยาม มีราชไมตรีกับพระเจ้ากรุงบริตาเนียและทราบว่าจะมีการประชุมสิ่งของต่าง ซึ่งเป็นของประหลาดมีในนานาประเทศ... จึงได้พิจารณาเห็นการควรเพื่อจะออกสลักสำคัญในการแต่งบุคคลนายหนึ่ง เพื่อที่จะให้เป็นตัวแทนพนักงานฝ่ายสยามรับธุระสำหรับสำแดงของต่างๆ ซึ่งเป็นของประหลาดควรเพลิดเพลิน... คือเป็นของประหลาดเกิดเองโดยธรรมดา หรือการงานของช่างที่ทำด้วยความฉลาดหรือความพยายามมาก...

from Muang Boran Journal v.25 n.4 Oct-Dec 1999

see it first here

exhibition is also a place to launch innovations to public.

Here is the first Ferris wheel from the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Not only this sort of inventions are to introduced in an exhibition, achievements in science such as current electric, turbine engines, or permanent buildings like the Tour Eiffel in Paris were firstly shown in the occasion of the great exhibitions. These first things exhibited were not all be immediately acclaimed or proved to last but they were launched in exhibition so as to 'test' something. Tour Eiffel was much hated then but when many years past now it becomes the pride of Paris.

early exhibits

one of my favourite images from the lecture i gave to SOA+D Exhibit Design Class. Interior of exhibition building, Exposition Universal, 1900 Paris, France. here we can see how exhibition evolved to its peak in history, being used as a tool to boast the economical and technological power of the country.