The brief – design an exhibition that sensitively presents the confronting stories and imagery from the police investigation in the aftermath of the Mount Erebus disaster.  

We provided – spatial design | graphic design | production & installation | delivery management

This sectional exhibition within the Police Museum’s permanent exhibition focusses on Operation Overdue – the mission to first recover, and later identify, as many victims as possible from the 1979 Mount Erebus disaster. Focus is drawn to the silent voices of key participants – ice recovery and mortuary workers, the families of the victims, and Justice Mahon who led the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the disaster.

We created a multi-layered exhibition design that maintains the starkness and aura of Antarctica and Mount Erebus, while also allowing visitors and Police staff to explore different tiers of detail surrounding the investigation into this national disaster.

Imagery illustrates the reality of the disaster and the scale and details of the police investigation. Large-scale photographs of the crash site contrast with a mass display of Polaroids of victims’ jewellery collected by the ice recovery team and used in the identification process. The central table displays objects and evidence from the site, and holds three ring-bound books that give visitors the opportunity to delve deeper.