AI for Exhibition Design

Workshop / On-Site / 10 participants / 2x 5 hours

Key Takeaways

Small groups, maximum impact
Two 5-hour workshops for up to 10 participants, delivered on-site at your museum. Small groups mean plenty of room for questions, discussion and a tailored course.

Learn by doing
Forget long lectures. Through practical exercises and real exhibition challenges, you’ll learn by experimenting, collaborating and sharing experiences. It’s serious fun!

Designed for exhibition makers
Created by an exhibition designer and an AI specialist, focusing on storytelling, concept development, visualisation and responsible AI in museum practice.

Learn to use AI as your creative design partner

Artificial intelligence is changing the way exhibitions are researched, developed and designed. Yet many museum professionals still feel they are only scratching the surface. They know AI could help, but don’t know where to begin—or they feel uncomfortable asking colleagues who already seem far ahead.

This workshop was developed specifically for exhibition makers.

Rather than teaching AI in general, we show how it can strengthen the daily practice of creating exhibitions. From developing stronger narratives and visitor journeys to visualising ideas, challenging assumptions and communicating concepts more convincingly.

No technical background is required. Just curiosity.

Built for museum professionals

Designed for:

Museum Exhibition Developers
Curators
Museum Content Developers
Programme managers
Museum Education departments
Project managers

Whether you’ve never touched AI before or already work with AI from time to time, you’ll leave with practical skills you can apply the very next day.

Why this workshop is different

Most AI workshops teach technology.

This workshop teaches exhibition design.

Every example, exercise and discussion comes directly from museum practice. Rather than learning dozens of AI tools, you’ll learn when AI genuinely helps your creative process, and how you can create better results by bringing your own expertise. Because your own expertise matters most.

The workshops are highly practical. There are no long lectures while everyone quietly watches. Participants spend most of the day experimenting, designing, discussing and learning together.

We deliberately create an open atmosphere where questions are encouraged, ideas are shared freely and everyone learns from each other’s experiments. We learn from our mistakes and our successes.

Learn to challenge your own thinking with AI

One of the greatest strengths of AI is not that it gives you ideas.

It is that it challenges your own.

As exhibition developers we naturally become attached to our concepts, storylines and visual direction. We all have favourite ideas that become difficult to question once we’ve invested time in them. One of the most human things to do.

Here AI can really become your creative sparring partner. Adding value to your expertise.

Throughout the workshops you’ll learn how to use AI to:

challenge your own storyline
explore alternative narratives
test concepts from different synthetic visitor perspectives
try to identify blind spots and missing voices
compare multiple exhibition structures
generate different visual directions before committing to one

The result is not exhibitions designed by AI.

The result is better exhibitions designed by people who have challenged their own thinking.

Workshop 1

AI for Narrative & Concept Design

5-hour hands-on workshop

The first workshop focuses on using AI during the earliest stages of exhibition development.

You’ll discover how AI can support concept development without taking over the creative process.

Together we’ll explore

What is AI and how does it actually work?
How is AI already changing museums?
Which AI tools are useful for exhibition development?
How do you write prompts that produce genuinely useful results?
How can AI help develop stronger narratives and storylines?
How can AI become a creative sparring partner rather than a text generator?

Working in pairs, participants develop a concept for a new exhibition using AI throughout the design process.

Together we compare different approaches, discuss successes and failures, and reflect on what worked. And what didn’t.

Workshop 2

AI for Visualisation & the Future of Exhibition Design

5-hour hands-on workshop

The second workshop explores how AI is changing visual communication and the role of exhibition makers.

Participants learn practical techniques for creating convincing concept visuals, moodboards and presentations while discussing how AI is changing our profession.

Together we’ll explore

AI trends and new creative tools
Generating concept visuals
Creating presentations with AI
Improving existing images
Combining AI with Photoshop and existing workflows
Choosing the right AI tool for each design task

We’ll also discuss the bigger questions: How will exhibition design change over the next five years? What work disappears? What becomes more valuable?

Our conclusion is optimistic.

Computers become increasingly good at repetitive production work. Helping us to connect more deeply with our audience through our exhibitions.

Responsible AI

AI opens exciting possibilities, but it also raises important questions.

Throughout both workshops we discuss the ethical, social and environmental implications of working with AI, not as an abstract lecture, but while using the tools themselves.

Topics include:

Bias and representation
Copyright and ownership
Accessibility and inclusivity
Transparency towards visitors
Uniformity and originality
Sustainability and environmental impact

Participants also learn practical ways to reduce the environmental footprint of their AI use. Small changes, such as choosing the right model for the task, prompting more effectively and avoiding unnecessary generations, can dramatically reduce energy consumption while often producing better results.

Responsible AI is not about using AI less.

It’s about using it more consciously.

Meet your instructors: Dirk Bertels

Experience Designer

Dirk has spent more than 20 years designing exhibitions and immersive experiences for museums, science centres and cultural institutions. He uses storytelling, behavioural design and technology to help visitors understand complex subjects, and has integrated AI into nearly every stage of his exhibition design process.

Meet your instructors: Arthur van Schravendijk

AI Specialist / Creative technologist

Arthur teaches in the Master’s Applied Artificial Intelligence programme at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. He combines deep technical expertise with years of experience applying AI in creative and cultural projects, making complex technology understandable and immediately useful for museum professionals.

Practical information

Format
Two workshops of five hours

Location
On-site at your museum or organisation

Group size
Maximum 10 participants

Working in small groups creates plenty of room for individual questions, discussion and personal guidance.

Investment

AI for Exhibition Design

Two 5-hour workshops

Maximum 10 participants

€2,950 excl. VAT

Including preparation, workshop materials and follow-up resources.

Interested?

Whether your team is completely new to AI or already experimenting with it, these workshops provide the confidence, practical skills and critical perspective needed to use AI responsibly in exhibition design.