Museum Canvas | How to Create a Perfect Exhibition? A French Designer’s Insights

How can a perfect exhibition be created?
Why is the best scenography "invisible"?
At the 4th Dialogue of the C.E.A. Museums Cooperation Initiative, French exhibition designer Cécile Degos cleverly likened scenography to a game, shedding light on the challenges and surprises within this profession behind the spotlight.
At the start of the game, establishing the rules of scenography is particularly important:
- Passionate women and men are the driving force.
- Works of art and scientific discourse can guide the creative direction.
- Strict adherence to safety standards and technical constraints linked to the building and the works of art.
- A space with its own identity that must be respected and transformed at the same time.
- A reasonable budget is the cornerstone of the project.
With these elements in place, the scenography game officially begins. The role of the designer is to steer this game. First, the designer needs to absorb both the curator's scientific vision, and artistic atmosphere of the pieces. You then need to find the aesthetic and technical solutions to integrate them both into the space. During this process, the designer must juggle with the sensibilities and wishes of everyone involved, turning the exhibition from a concept into reality.
This is not a short-term game but a long-term battle that may require the completion of dozens of projects simultaneously over several months. During the stressful installation phase, facing various unexpected challenges, the designer requires a keen spatial awareness, the ability to communicate clearly with a wide range of professionals to solve technical problems, and a great deal of selflessness and proactivity.
Through close communication with a major collector, a director or curator, and workers, when the exhibition happens, the moment of testing this collaborative achievement arrives. Cécile believes that a successful scenography is "invisible", highlighting the masterpieces and the scientific content without being ostentatious, and above all that it does not overpower the pieces. The visitor has to think that it has always been there and see little or nothing of it. This means that the proportions, the details, the colors, the way it blends into the surroundings... it all has to be harmonious.
Cécile enjoys confronting with different places, art styles, and people, and she also likes to incorporate her personal aesthetic preferences into scenography: she loves curves, as well as the harmonious dialogue between fullness and emptiness, opacity and transparency. For her, each design is a new exploration, bringing endless joy and a sense of accomplishment to the work.
How can a perfect exhibition be achieved? As Cécile Degos puts it, "Details make perfection. Perfection is not a detail!"
Cécile Degos
Exhibition/Museum Designer
Cécile Degos has built her reputation in France and abroad through her monographic designs of exhibitions, showcasing the work of artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sol LeWitt, Keith Haring, Pablo Picasso, Hans Hartung, and Lucio Fontana. Additionally, since the opening of the Bourse de Commerce of Paris - Pinault Collection, Cécile has been in charge of designing all exhibitions. Known for her sophisticated style characterized by elegance, Cécile Degos has been bringing her scenographies to life for more than two decades. Her work is recognizable for its airy architectures and clean lines, offering perspectives that allow for multiple levels of interpretation. Beyond exhibitions, she brings her expertise to the design of theater and opera sets.