Notes on Art Criticism
ISSN 2226-2180
Article Volume 26, No. 1, 2026

Visual narratives in museum exhibitions: Principles of formation

Dorina Xheraj-Subashi
Received 18.03.2026 Revised 01.06.2026 Accepted 22.06.2026 Published 29.06.2026 Pages 38–54 5 Views

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the principles that govern the formation of visual narratives in museum exhibitions. This was achieved through a qualitative comparative and interpretative analysis of open-access scholarly, professional, and museum materials. Empirical material was gathered from four museums in Albania: the National Historical Museum of Albania, Bunk’Art, the House of Leaves/Museum of Secret Surveillance and the Marubi National Museum of Photography. The study found that visual narratives are formed not by the individual expressiveness of exhibits, but by the coordinated interaction of object-based material, space, route, light, colour, graphics, explanatory text, attribution, archival materials, and modes of visitor perception. The main components of visual narratives in exhibitions were identified: exhibits, routes, spatial composition, lighting and colour design, graphic design, explanatory texts, navigation, photographs, archival materials, multimedia, architectural environments and interpretative contexts. Four models of visual storytelling were identified using Albanian museums as examples: national-historical, spatial-memorial, documentary-testimonial and photographic. The first model was based on chronology and historical artefacts, as well as the concept of cultural continuity. The second model was based on the architectural environment, the route, and the emotional impact of enclosed spaces. The third model was based on documents, technical surveillance objects, archival materials, and explanatory context. The fourth model was based on visual series, image attribution, and the representation of social memory. The principles of visual narrative formation were therefore established: thematic integrity, spatial sequence, visual hierarchy, cultural contextualisation, correspondence between form and content, emotional engagement, documentary reliability and interaction between the object-based, textual and visual-spatial levels of the exhibition. The practical significance of these findings lies in the potential application of the proposed models and principles in the analysis, design, and evaluation of museum exhibitions

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Keywords

cultural memory; exhibition route; visual hierarchy; museum storytelling; interpretative context; architectural environment; documentary reliability

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Xheraj-Subashi, D. (2026). Visual narratives in museum exhibitions: Principles of formation. Notes on Art Criticism, 26(1), 38-54. https://doi.org/10.63009/noac/1.2026.04

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