The Strongest Exhibition Objects Reveal the Relationship Between the Knower and Knowledge
- The exhibition is actually the hardest part of TOK assessment because it requires you to make abstract concepts visible through concrete objects.
- You have to demonstrate your understanding of how knowledge works, not just talk about it.
- Most students choose objects that represent knowledge rather than objects that reveal the relationship between knowers and knowledge.
- This fundamental misunderstanding leads to weak exhibitions that miss the entire point.
The Counter-Intuitive Truth About Strong Objects
- Strong exhibition objects aren't impressive or exotic, but ordinary objects that reveal extraordinary insights about how knowledge works.
- The best objects often look boring to other people. But they're rich with meaning about your relationship to knowledge.
- Weak choice: Ancient artifact (impressive but generic relationship to knowledge)
- Strong choice: Your deleted photos folder (reveals how digital memory and personal curation shape what knowledge gets preserved vs. forgotten)
- The deleted photos folder reveals something specific about how you as a knower decide what evidence is worth keeping,
- How digital communities shape memory storage, and how personal vs. shared standards determine what gets documented.
Why Personal Connection Isn't Enough
- Many students think the core theme means "make it personal."
- This leads to overly autobiographical exhibitions that focus on feelings rather than knowledge.
- The core theme isn't about you.
- It's about how knowledge works through you.
- Personal but weak: "This photo of my grandmother is important to me because I love her"
- Personal and strong: "This faded photo of my grandmother reveals how personal memory fills in gaps that photographic evidence can't capture - I remember her voice and laugh, but the photo only shows a static moment, raising questions about which form of evidence is more reliable"
The strong example uses personal connection as a lens to examine how different types of knowledge (visual evidence vs. memory) work differently and sometimes conflict.
HintNotice how this is what the "personal engagement" criteria in some of your IAs is trying to get you to do.
