Hooks, lines, nets & chefs
Client
Lough Neagh Fishermen’s Cooperative
& Lough Neagh Partnership
Category
Exhibition design
Lough Neagh has been an important source of food for people living along its shore since the Neolithic period 4000 years ago. Today, the Fishermen’s Cooperative are responsible for the stewardship of the fish stocks on this, the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles and largest European commercial eel fishery in Europe.
The Cooperative’s visitor centre exhibition examines the history, culture, ecology and cuisine of the lough. The LAB educational area includes microscopes, fluid-preserved specimens and a small aquarium. It looks at the life cycle of salmon, bream, perch, pollan, brown trout, dollaghan, roach and pike.
Confronted with a large space and with limited budget we focused on sourcing arresting illustrations, maps and archive images from which to create dynamic exhibition super-graphics.
The interpretive panels were mounted on raw, mill-finished steel 'I' beams that echoed the structure of the adjacent eel traps on the River Bann. Traditional trays and boxes, used to export live eels to Billingsgate Market were recycled as visitor benches and exhibition plinths.
With the help of the National Trust, traditional skeaghs (used to divert eels towards the traps) were constructed from Clandeboye Estate hazel rods. These were used as screens throughout the exhibition.
Finally, the exhibition is crowned by a large kinetic sculpture of silver eels that slowly twist in the air currents coming up through the entrance stairway.
“The well-planned use of images, props and bespoke artwork has created this charming visitor experience, which tells the captivating story of fishing on Lough Neagh in a unique manner that will appeal to all visitors. We are truly delighted with the finished product and greatly appreciate the advice, help and dedication offered by Image Zoo/Totalis Solutions throughout the project.”
Cathy Chauhan
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING MANAGER
Agency services
- Project management
- 3D Design
- Concept development
- Historical research
- Picture research
- Graphic design
- Cartography
