Portfolio: Nation to Nation

In 2013, the National Museum of the American Indian, part of the Smithsonian Institution, was interested in putting on an exhibit showcasing the history of the interactions of the government of the United States with the tribes of Native Americans, both as documented in the treaties between the two nations and, later, how the United States refused to abide by the terms it itself dictated.

Interface Media Group is well-known in DC for its expertise on storytelling, both in the political arena and in the realm of museums. Having offered several multimedia exhibits for NMAI previously, including a long-lived video wall in the museum's entrance when it opened a decade previous, NMAI counted on Interface Media to deliver an immersive, high-quality experience. IMG was to produce four interactive kiosks as well as three videos.

Based on my prior work in WPF and Silverlight, IMG brought me on as a contractor to complete two of the kiosks, using assets from their in-house design group. Later, I would assume responsibility for the other two kiosks, as well as create a web version of one of them. The videos were completed by another team at IMG.

The kiosks are called Protocol Matters, Many Languages, What Would You Do, and What's the Story. What Would You Do also received a port to the web. While the web interactive never went live, the other kiosks were installed in the museum in 2014 and remain accessible on the fourth floor today.