As part of our roles in exhibition design at MOD., Claudia von der Borch and Natalie Carfora engaged in separate, but complimentary, George Alexander Foundation Fellowships. We travelled to sites in Singapore, the UK, Europe, and Dubai, visiting exhibitions, conferences, workshops and talking with sector professionals. Claudia investigated practice around immersive design techniques and approaches. Natalie was interested in understanding the way that exhibition experiences were designed, and the components that were considered – including accessibility. We have distilled learnings from our visitation and engagements which will impact our practice in our current roles, and which we would like to share with the sector more broadly. 

About the speakers:

Natalie Carfora (she/her) is Exhibitions Lead at MOD., where she works across the concept and design of exhibitions. Passionate about audience engagement, she creates engaging and accessible exhibitions and experiences. Prior to MOD., Natalie has worked in museums and arts organizations across Australia in roles spanning collections, education, front-of-house, and digital. She holds a Master of Cultural Heritage in Museum Studies, alongside qualifications in history, anthropology, and languages. Natalie is a recent George Alexander Foundation Fellow, where she researched exhibition design in the UK, Europe, and the Middle East. She is currently the President of the Australian Museums and Galleries Association Emerging Professionals National Network. 

Twitter: @natalie_carfora
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-carfora-34493bbb/ 

Claudia von der Borch is an Exhibitions Coordinator at MOD., a future-focused museum inspiring 15-25 year olds by showcasing immersive and participatory experiences of research. In this role, she is involved in the development and delivery of exhibitions, marketing and programming. Claudia advocates for audience experience in design, and values creating impactful and engaging exhibits. 

In addition, Claudia is currently Vice-President of the AMaGA SA branch and is completing her fellowship as a George Alexander Fellow with the International Specialised Skills Institute in the topic of immersive exhibition design. Claudia holds a Masters in Cultural Heritage specialising in Museum Studies.

Prior to her work at MOD., Claudia has worked and volunteered across museums, with roles including digitisation, social media, programming, curatorial and collection management. She has consulted on heritage and online engagement projects in the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) sector. 

Twitter: @ClaudiavondB
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudia-von-der-borch-185811118/