Foundling museums: exhibition design and the intersection of the vital materiality of foundling tokens and affective visitor experience

Exhibition design matters. It determines the way objects are presented, the stories they tell and the way visitors experience them. Using theories of vital materiality and affect as entry points into understanding visitor experience better, this paper explores and compares our affective responses as visitor-researchers to the exhibition designs of foundling tokens at the Foundling Museum in London and the Museum of the Ospedale degli Innocenti in Florence. The paper asks how sensitive and thoughtful exhibition design impacts our experience. The paper concludes that different design choices create subtly different affective flows and with them, uniquely personalised opportunities for engagement.