Details

To mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, Merlicht dreamed up a powerful scenography in which the visitor spends the last 100 days of the conflict with Canadian soldiers. Extending over 800 m² (8 600 sq. ft.), the temporary exhibition details key battles, which are each introduced by short and impactful content placed in small immersive anterooms. The chilling presentations are driven by an emotional and suspenseful crescendo that creates a close proximity with the soldiers. As visitors walk through the halls, they enter a riveting and even cinematographic world in which the 3D soundscape and lighting play important roles. The space is devoted to poignant accounts by soldiers, evocative elements, interaction and participation and many artifacts and works, as well as audiovisual content produced by the National Film Board of Canada and colourized period photos (thanks to the support of the Vimy Foundation) that breathe new life into the archives. The visual content fosters the immersive aspect of the tour to create a truly moving experience.

• Scenographic design
• Co-scripting
• 3D and graphic design
• Lighting design and installation and technical design and implementation.

Details

The Great War in Colour

To commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the First World War, the Vimy Foundation mandated Merlicht to develop a travelling exhibition. The Great War in Colour – A New Look at Canada’s First World War Effort, 1914–1918 was created based on the Vimy Foundation’s new collection of colour photos and an understated and powerful graphic approach to ensure the works resound. Mechanical interactive stations, educational programs and promotional materials support the content. Presented at a dozen sites across Canada, the exhibition’s triptych modules, which are each driven by specific themes, may be adapted to different spaces. The furniture is robust, light, cost-efficient and easy to transport (in road cases) and assemble.

Turnkey project:

• Research
• Scenario
• Texts and translation
• 3D and graphic design
• Educational and promotional programs
• Printing and assembly
• Transport equipment.

Details

From Vimy to Juno: Remembering Canadians in France

To mark the 100^th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, the Juno Beach Centre chose Merlicht to develop a turnkey exhibition on Canada’s presence in France since the First World War and the ways we commemorate Canada’s contributions to the global conflicts.

At the outcome of a lengthy selection process, Merlicht orchestrated every project step by creating the wealth of content featured in this moving and captivating exhibition. The challenge was tremendous not only in terms of the complexity of the themes to be addressed in a very tight timeframe but also because expectations were very high, since the previous exhibition at the Juno Beach Centre (Grandma, What was it Like During the War?) designed and produced by Merlicht a few years earlier broke the centre’s attendance records.

From Vimy to Juno focuses on a central volume that evokes commemorative monuments and specifically the Vimy monument building site on which the names of the soldiers killed in the world wars and laid to rest in France are inscribed. At the heart of the piece is a fragment from the Vimy monument that is enhanced by the carefully selected lighting system. From there, a stream of 52 022 poppies—one for every Canadian who perished in the conflicts—severs the black and white exhibition hall like a bleeding scar.

Encircling the hall is a long mural chronicling the key events from the First World War to today to emphasize how we celebrate our heroes. Images, artifacts from private collections and works of art support the content.

Triptychs, whose design recalls the antitank defences used on the landing beaches, are placed throughout the hall to recount the story of the French and Canadian soldiers who, exceptionally, fought in both world wars and the ways in which their descendants honour them today. Like the mural elements, the triptychs support the educational program, which is shared through means including a digital app and participative puzzles. The soundscape follows the exhibition’s narrative line, and historical videos punctuate the visit.

The exhibition was entirely pre-assembled in our Montréal workshops and shipped by sea container to France, where it was set up by a French and Canadian team coordinated by Merlicht in only four days, including the installation of artifacts and lighting adjustments.

Turnkey project:

• Documentary, iconographic, artifact, sound and video research
• Release of copyright
• Script
• Texts and translation
• Educational programming
• Scenography, 3D and graphic design
• Video editing and subtitling
• Artifact handling and installation
• Specifications, transport and export logistics
• Printing, manufacturing and installation.

Details

GRANDMA, WHAT WAS IT LIKE DURING THE WAR?, AN EXHIBITION PRESENTED AT THE JUNO BEACH CENTRE IN NORMANDY, FRANCE, ABOUT THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF NORMAN AND CANADIAN CIVILIANS DURING THE WAR, FROM THE GERMAN OCCUPATION IN NORMANDY UNTIL THE LIBERATION.

Merlicht met the challenge of interpreting for youngsters a tragic historical period without making it a traumatic experience, but also without diluting the facts. The exhibition is a great success: following its inauguration, school groups bookings increased by 90% and organized groups bookings, by 50%.

Five architectural volumes illustrating different places–classroom, kitchen, storage room under stairs, ruins and military cemetery–form the exhibition’s chronological layout. Each volume includes the voices of children and soldiers speaking through cartoon bubbles and audio narrations, various simple interactive units and artifacts showcases incorporated into the set elements.

The exhibition was entirely assembled in a workshop in Quebec, and then shipped by sea container to France, where Merlicht’s team mounted it in a week.

Turnkey Project :

• Project management and coordination
• Artistic direction
• Documentary, iconography and film research
• Licensing of copyrights
• artifacts selection
• Concept
• Script
• 2D and 3D design
• Exhibition texts
• Children narrators coaching, soundtrack production
• Export management
• Installation supervision.

Details

CAPS OF COURAGE – NURSING’S JOURNEY, A TEMPORARY EXHIBITION PRESENTED AT THE GALLERY, IN THE VICTORIA HALL OF WESTMOUNT.

The contemporary graphic design proposed by Merlicht acts as a counterpoint to the historical content of the exhibition, creating a bridge between yesterday and today. The range of punchy colors and icons allow visitors to better recognize the thematic groupings. Merlicht was able to meet the requirements of the Art and Heritage Center of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) by designing graphic surfaces suitable for the traveling of the exhibition and by providing a cost-effective printing solution that met a moderate budget. Complicity and constructive collaboration—as well as a good dose of humor!—between Merlicht and the Heritage Centre at the MUHC allowed for this project to be completed in an extremely short time.

• Staging of exhibition contents
• Graphic design and image processing
• Proofreading
• Printing.

Details

FESTIVAL JUST FOR LAUGHS

Exhibition celebrating the Festival’s 30th anniversary presented in the Grand Foyer culturel of Montreal’s Place des Arts. It features a selection of artifacts accumulated over the years by Just For Laugh’s team.

Turnkey project:

• Script
• Artifact selection
• Bilingual texts
• Photography
• Design
• Realisation, etc.

Details

MOBILE EXHIBITION MODULE UNITED AGAINST GENOCIDE: UNDERSTAND, QUESTION, PREVENT, PRESENTED AT THE MONTRÉAL HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTRE.

Two L-shaped walls create a private space within a very busy public place. Isolated, visitors study the exhibition’s content presented on a touch screen and on wall murals. An ingenious system of wheels hidden in the walls allows staff to move the unit easily.

Turnkey Project:

• Project management and coordination
• Concept
• Design
• Writing, editing and translation of texts, programming
• Production and installation.

Details

TRAVELLING EXHIBITION BOOTHS

Design of two “TechnoZones” travelling exhibitions booths that interpret and highlight two Canadian technological innovations: the underwater laser scanner 2G Robotics and the natural lighting system SunCentral.

Turnkey project :

• Concept
• 2D and 3D design
• Interactive
• Multimedia
• Production, printing, delivery and installation.