Museums and cultural spaces tend to look to renovations as a way to modernize galleries, lighten the ambiance and optimize visitor flow. These new modifications do not erase history but only make spaces interesting. Yet, flowers bring a special dimension of life - bringing static exhibits to life. When used thoughtfully they are more than decoration they are part of the storytelling itself.
Take an example of an upgraded museum hall exhibiting ancient Artifacts. Next to the exhibits, a well-placed arrangement of flowers is part of the exhibition: lotus blossoms in an Egyptian gallery, cherry blossoms in an Asian exhibition or wildflowers in a natural history wing. Involving a sense of touch, they provide a sensory link with visitors not only to the objects but also to the cultures and environment in which they originated.
In the case of cultural centres flowers can serve as rotating exhibits themselves. Temporary exhibitions in the lobbies or courtyards are reminding guests of the fact that culture does not exist in stagnation but changes with the shifted seasons of nature. Flowers offer possibilities to interact, take photographs and reflect, which can make museums less rigid and more inviting.
Conclusion / Area of Thought: It is the walls of cultural spaces that renovations preserve, flowers keep them alive. They demonstrate that history and art are not far from life, but related to beauty in daily life. With the redefined spaces in museums and cultural centers, the museums can ask themselves, can an exhibit breathe? Flowers seem to suggest that the answer is yes.
