Mather & Co, a leading visitor attraction and exhibition design consultancy, has redeveloped a popular gallery at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum in the lead-up to this summer’s tournament. Now open to the public at the award-winning venue, The Open Era celebrates five different themes of the championships, with the goal of placing the visitor into the players’ sporting shoes.
The new-look gallery, designed by Mather & Co, is the result of a long-standing partnership with The All England Lawn Tennis Club. The company worked on the current museum design which was completed in 2006 and inaugurated by The Duke of Kent.
Mather & Co project director Kim Kherlopian comments: “As a huge tennis fan, it has been amazing to be involved in this project – it’s been very interesting exploring some of the most iconic tennis players. Working alongside The All England Lawn Tennis Club has been a pleasure as always and we hope visitors enjoy ‘The Open Era’.”
Multi-dimensional tour
The Broadcasting Wimbledon section of the gallery features an interactive AV graphic wall, detailing how Wimbledon has been communicated to fans around the world, from the oldest information sources to the coverage possibilities presented by modern-day technologies.
With Wimbledon’s Dressing Rooms being off-limit to the public and not part of the official Tour, museum visitors can indulge in a ‘behind the scenes’ experience with an interactive bench and lockers in the gallery. The rooms are normally reserved for players and have never been filmed or publicised on social media. Visitors can use a push-button menu to choose from stories about the Dressing Rooms, told by the players.
Gallery visitors are also invited to take a trip down memory lane, learning about the backgrounds of top professionals from the last six decades. One interactive experience compares Arthur Ashe‘s winning Wimbledon year of 1975, to Emma Raducanu’s widely documented performances last year.
The Rivalries section comprises six sculptured mannequins of legendary tennis players such as Roger Federer and Martina Navratilova, showcased in iconic poses. A video presentation is played behind the figures, giving a taste of the excitement generated from watching rivals paired up on Centre Court. Reduced into a few minutes, numerous matches are integrated together under the guise of one continuous game.
Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum curator Emma Traherne says: “We aim to give everyone who visits us an unforgettable Wimbledon experience. The new interactives and display techniques used in this redevelopment really help to show what it is like to be a top tennis player and it has been exciting to work with Mather & Co to realise our vision.”
‘The Open Era’ is now open to the public, with tickets available from the Wimbledon website.
Mather & Co has also worked recently on a sporting exhibition on the east side of London, celebrating a decade since the London 2012 Olympic Games.
