Ensuring a Meaningful Experience

Redeveloping a Holocaust museum is a project that conjures many tangible challenges –challenges of space, conservation, and the painstaking task of condensing nearly 40 years of history – of survivors’ memories –into one building.

by Jennifer Levitt-Maxwell

But much more goes into a museum than what is visible to the naked eye. Extensive work must also be completed on the intangible elements that fuse with the physical components to affect a deeply meaningful experience at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum – one that will be a catalyst for greater understanding and acceptance of difference.

To understand our audiences and provide an opportunity for genuine connection with Holocaust history, we embarked on a 12-month process to develop an end-to-end strategy to ensure our visitors are afforded all opportunities to immerse themselves in a truly transformative experience within our building.

Spearheading this momentous project was Chief Experience Officer Jennifer Levitt-Maxwell, alongside Chief Executive Officer Jayne Josem, who partnered with expert Experience Strategists Tim Dow and Leigh Whittaker to bring the MHM experience to life. Board Member Simon Szwarc also played a vital role in working with the team and setting them up for success.

As a starting point for the project, the team had to clearly define the vision for our visitor experience based on the mission and purpose of the MHM:

We are a beacon and expression of our responsibility and connection to our survivors, their experiences, the lessons of the Holocaust, and our shared future. The experience will be challenging and caring, inspirational and informative, inclusive and intentional.

Understanding the diversity of our audience base, Jennifer and the team understood the strategy must encompass multiple ways to connect and transform within the building space:

We acknowledge that every visitor is a unique individual, but that a visit to MHM is a shared experience. It is the coming together of a multitude of touchpoints before, during and after a visit to MHM delivered through our digital platforms, on-site spaces and a variety of individuals from staff to volunteers. It is in this coming together, in the same way musicians come together in an orchestra to play a symphony, that we deliver a transformative learning experience that will inspire personal reflection and spark change within.

Jennifer Levitt-Maxwell, Chief Experience Officer

Moments that Matter

An important element in the formation of the experience strategy was exploring “moments that matter”: the small moments with significant impact that allow visitors to reflect, gain composure or strengthen understanding while on their journey through the building.

Insights from internal stakeholders such as the board, staff, volunteers and survivors were vital to researching and understanding these moments and ensuring no opportunity for connection was lost.

Some moments outlined in the plan include:

Moments of reflection

An essential part of the museum experience will be reflection moments developed intentionally to help visitors process the museum’s content and make meaning of it. When exhibiting such complex themes, simple moments of contemplation will allow visitors to stand back, absorb the overarching themes of a display, and move on with a more comprehensive appreciation.

Most of us know what the Holocaust was, but to come to grips with the magnitude of the events that unfolded is difficult – we acknowledge this and allow our audience the time to reflect deeply.

Become a witness

In line with the strategic vision and our broader mission, every visitor needed to have a sense of meeting our survivors, hearing their words, and understanding their perspective. Survivors’ key messages underpin every touchpoint of experience at MHM, and every ‘moment’ is designed to emphasise this.

All moments outlined in the strategy, from the first warm welcome, the exhibition experience, and the post-visit communications adhere to the core principle “safely in, safely out” (originally established by Yad Vashem), and reflect elements within our education programs that have inspired participants for decades. Everything the visitor will encounter was created with intention and will provide the space for them to step back, breathe, and interact with each experience in a safe way.

The new Melbourne Holocaust Museum will be a place where visitors will feel welcomed, empowered, and inspired to become custodians of Holocaust memory and help amplify the voices of Holocaust survivors for generations to come.