First fish.
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‘First fish’.


In aquaria it is a truism that the visitor will not stop to read a text – however large the type – until she has seen her ‘first fish’. In other words, if a visitor chooses to go to an aquarium, she will not consider she has arrived until she sees something that corresponds to her motivation for visiting. In the case of museums, the same principle applies, and suggests that introductory texts always be placed after the first ‘real’ experience of the exhibition. The organisation of an exhibition should be declared to the visitor from the outset, not assumed or left for the visitor to discover as they move through the exhibition. Even once it is declared, sections should be indicated in terms visitors understand, not in ‘codes’ understood only by curators or specialists (i.e 2.1.2, accession numbers etc.)