Valletta 1566 Melita Renascence

The Valletta 1566 Melita Renascence exhibition takes us through the history of Valletta, showcasing various important artifacts throughout Maltese history. As soon one enters the main room, you're greeted by an antique architectural model of Valletta, which establishes the tone of the exhibition.  A few feet away is a short documentary which explains the history of Valletta. The documentary itself was informative and interesting, it was also split onto two different screens both showing different imagery.

While this might have been an innovative idea, it may also cause the viewer to be confused by what is happening as there is more than one screen to focus on.  The area the documentary was shown in was an interesting cinema theatre-esque seating set up, with a number of benches available. During the documentaries a little circular timer could be seen on the side of the screens, this was an indicator to show interested visitors how long they'd have to wait to watch the documentary from the beginning.

The exhibit also featured an interactive element which is not often utilised, using the sense of smell. It displayed a number of tubes which featured a number of different herbs and spices such as nutmeg, sesame seeds and rosemary, which would be available at various establishments in Valletta.

The exhibition space contained a number of informational signs, all of which featured 50 words or less in order not to exhaust the reader and keep them interested. This was a great idea, as many times a visitor would see a block of text and get disheartened from reading the entirety of the text and simply move on; an interesting interactive feature they could have introduced was using either NFC tags or QR codes that visitors could scan to get more information or a video related to the piece. Throughout the exhibition the lighting was dim and rather dark, in order not to damage the pieces on show. Despite it being dim and dark I think it did not hinder the exhibition and in someway complimented the vibe.

The the accessibility of the exhibition was well thought out, with a number of ramps being introduced for wheelchairs access and also limiting the number of stairs. Making it virtually accessible for everyone. The exhibit did not include any specific direction signage, leaving the visitors to roam as they wish. As for safety, the exhibition included a number of fire extinguishers in both main rooms to extinguish any potential fires that might break out. If that were to happen the location could be easily vacated as both main rooms are close to the main exit.