From the late 1960s, museums moved from the twilight to the spotlight of public esteem, through a fusion of sound curatorship and innovative exhibition design. Robin Wade, who has died aged 86, was one of the key figures in effecting this transformation.
By the mid-1960s most museums had discovered the benefits of professional presentation, and the larger ones set up big in-house design studios. These have now largely disappeared, not only as victims of high fixed costs and intermittent workload but because a new, more flexible and creative option was on offer. It came from independent designers in small practices. They developed specialist museum display skills, were adaptable, responsive, affordable, and good. The best are now world leaders in museum design.
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