Coming on to this trip, I knew practically nothing about communications. I could spew World War Two facts in my sleep, but ask me about propaganda and I would just stare at you blankly. As someone who works behind the scenes on various productions, I’ve never really had to worry about what I was communicating because people hardly ever see me. When I walk around the various museums, my mind tends to think about who designed the museum this way and why? That’s how my mind works, I think of all the work that goes into creating something rather than the final product.
This frustrated me a large amount when we went to the Warsaw Uprising museum. Because this place was so incredibly confusing. I kept trying to find the path that was intended for people to take, but there were so many twists and turns and I just got frustrated. It was difficult for me to fully understand what was being communicated to me when I couldn’t understand how the information was being communicating to me.
The Schindler museum in Kraków, on the other hand, was incredible. In here I was able to follow the horrors that happened to the Jewish people. I could try to feel what they were feeling, the fear. I’ve never had such a powerful reaction to a museum than I had when leaving this one. Maybe that was the subject matter, maybe that way it was designed. I think it’s both.
I never realized that how much communications impacted my life. As a technical theatre major I am not great at using communication to my advantage, because I am so used to non verbal communication made backstage during a performance. I think this is why I was so intrigued by the structure of the museums we visited. How they were set up, how they told the story, and if they were successful or not.
-Emily
Kat & Em Take on Gutenberg 