Difficult exhibitions in difficult sites: An investigation of exhibition design practice for the rescuers in Bosnia and Herzegovina

This study looks at the design practice behind the exhibition, Picturing Moral Courage: The Rescuers. This ‘difficult’ exhibition,which has been displayed within the public spaces of 13 cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) since 2011, centres on the stories of ordinary people who saved the lives of ‘others’ from enemy groups during genocide. We examine some of the practice-led questions that were raised during the design of the exhibit, and outline a propositional conceptual theoretical model of analysis that combines critical hermeneutics with social semiotic, multimodal analysis, in order to support design practice.