Recollect: Shoes

As Director of Oblong Design, I led the design of several exhibitions in the Powerhouse Museum’s Recollect series, including Recollect: Shoes, Recollect: Health and Medicine and Recollect: Cars. This series was part of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences’ visible collection strategy, which sought to bring rarely seen objects out of storage and into public view in a way that was both engaging and meaningful.

It was a pleasure to work with MAAS to bring out its world renowned shoe collection, which features the priceless ‘Joseph Box Collection’ in a visible collection storage series named ‘Recollect’.
Featuring more than 800 pairs of shoes from the 1500s to the present day, the collection ranges from the first pair of elastic-sided boots in the world, worn by Queen Victoria, to designer names like Louboutin, Yves Saint Laurent and Lacroix. The design involved the design and detailling of a flexible exhibition space as well as designing the first exhibition to be held in the space of shoes.

We worked on site for many days with the curators and conservation staff to layout the shoes in chronological order in some areas and themes in others.
It was a rare opportunity to work with some of the most exquisite shoes in the world.