History of Chinatown Integrated Souvenirs – Faith Zeng

Souvenirs are an essential part of the museum experience, but currently, souvenir shopping is the final step of the museum visit. There is a disconnect between exploring the exhibitions and buying the souvenirs that turns the souvenir into a commodity that lacks context. This paper explores how integrated souvenirs, souvenirs that are received in the middle of the museum exhibition experience, creates more meaningful souvenirs and increases information accessibility.

Although there are art exhibits and established museums, such as the Color Factory and Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, that have integrated souvenirs, they are not always used to give context or access to exhibition information. This project fills the gap of current research by creating integrated souvenirs with the purpose of teaching and increasing accessibility. Through user testing an exhibition on the History of Manhattan’s Chinatown with integrated souvenirs, the results demonstrate that integrated souvenirs are more meaningful than regular souvenirs and are helpful in accessing the exhibition’s content again. These findings are the beginnings of future research on souvenir and exhibition design.