Teo: Following a successful presentation at the museum of the Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels earlier this year, where over 350,000 visitors enjoyed the show, your exhibition GIANTS has just opened at the Natural History Museum of Toulouse in France. With spectacular displays, the exhibition tells the story of giant creatures that evolved following the extinction of the dinosaurs. This is an era that many visitors may not be familiar with, yet it is incredibly captivating. Could you tell us more about these fascinating creatures and the choice of this exhibition?
For years, both visitors and staff had expressed interest in a Giants exhibition, and an Ice Age exhibition was also on the museum’s wish list. Following a thorough selection process, Extinct Giants was chosen. It allowed RBINS to highlight its renowned areas of scientific research and expertise, as well as an opportunity to show specimens which have not been displayed in a very long time.
When discussing Giants, many people in our focus groups initially thought of dinosaurs. However, we really wanted to spotlight these lesser-known giant mammals that roamed the Earth after the extinction of the dinosaurs. This theme would allow visitors to learn about a period of history that is incredible but not common knowledge, and we discovered that no other touring exhibition in Europe had been dedicated to it. This motivated us to produce an exhibition on this subject and to design it so it could tour to other venues.
Why are these creatures so fascinating, and why is size such an important aspect?
Who has ever heard of the Paraceratherium (Prehistorical Rhinoceros), the Titanoboa (Giant Snake) or Megatherium (Giant Ground Sloth)? These animals were the largest of their kind—no other relative has ever been bigger.
Their massive size provided many advantages: it helped them escape predators, reach food more easily, tolerate environmental conditions, and, in some cases, become more efficient predators themselves. However, their size also made them more vulnerable to sudden changes in their environment, which ultimately led to their extinction.
The contrast between their colossal size and their vulnerability is striking, and the best way to illustrate this is by reconstructing them at life-size, allowing visitors to come face-to-face with these giants of the past. With these large models, combined with videos, texts, images, and interactive displays, the exhibition explains why these creatures grew so large and how, despite their grandeur, they didn’t have a happy ending. It explores the various hypotheses surrounding their extinction and draws parallels with the last remaining giants of today.
A major challenge was creating large-scale giant models that were not only lightweight and fireproof but also ecological and made from recycled materials.
For this exhibition, you have worked together to develop the project with sustainable design principles. What were the core principles you started from to create the project?
For GIANTS, we placed sustainability at the heart of the project, drawing on the leading experience of Nomad Exhibitions with sustainable touring exhibition design. From the outset, we aimed to use as many recycled materials as possible, with a focus on ensuring they could be recycled or reused again at the end of their lifecycle. Designing the exhibition to tour also meant that much of what we produce would be reused by different venues, reducing the overall environmental footprint.
A major challenge was creating large-scale giant models that were not only lightweight and fireproof but also ecological and made from recycled materials. Finding solutions required extensive testing and research.
One key material we used is PETfelt, which is made from 90% recycled PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) plastic bottles and is 100% Recyclable. These panels, which cover the giants’ structures, can be re-recycled to create new PETfelt panels in the future. Also, any used PETfelt text panels that need reprinting to include new languages can be shredded and repurposed as floor and plinth coverings, as seen at the Natural History Museum in Toulouse.
We avoided heavy podiums and plinths by integrating display windows into the bodies of the giants themselves. The giant’s metal frames were selected with longevity in mind—they’re durable and can be recycled at the end of their life. This ethos extended to every element of the exhibition, from lightweight, robust structures for the models to the drape system that can be adapted to venues, eliminating the need to build walls.
The giant structures also serve multiple functions. Not only are they models of the animals, but they also act as exhibition setworks where graphics, projections, collections and interactive elements are seamlessly incorporated, reducing the need for additional structures or materials.
Finally, we kept technology to a minimum. This low-tech approach made the exhibition easier to tour and host, and more sustainable and maintenance friendly, while still ensuring strong visitor engagement through hands-on, interactive elements. This comprehensive approach ensures the exhibition remains as eco-friendly as possible without sacrificing its impact, quality or the visitor experience.
The exhibition also focuses on sustainability in the content itself. How does it address the fragility of species today and the threat of extinction?
This exhibition not only celebrates the stunning diversity of these giants but also underscores their vulnerability and how many of today’s animals are also faced with extinction due to climate change, habitat loss and hunting.
It acts as a poignant reminder that nature is delicate and can no longer be taken for granted. While extinctions are a natural phenomenon, the current rate at which they are occurring far exceeds historical norms. GIANTS inspires visitors to take action now to ensure today’s giants are protected for future generations.
When several museums expressed interest in hosting it, and with our focus on sustainability and reuse, the decision was made early on to adapt it for travel.
With size at the heart of the narrative and such big structures on display, it must have been challenging to develop a design that is fit for touring. How did your team conceive the exhibition scenography?
Initially, the exhibition proposal was not conceived with touring in mind. However, when several museums expressed interest in hosting it, and with our focus on sustainability and reuse, the decision was made early on to adapt it for travel. This shift in direction presented key challenges in design and logistics which we had to prioritise during the design phase.
We worked closely with Nomad Exhibitions to tackle these challenges. We focused on creating a practical, modular design that could be easily dismantled, packed, and transported. The choice of lightweight, durable materials and the creation of standardised barriers was crucial for simplifying the installation and dismantling processes while ensuring that the exhibition maintained its strong visual impact.
The way you have chosen to present the giants is unique: mixing skeletal fossil remains with custom made life-sized 3D giant models. Why did you choose to present some of the giants with this very unusual format?
When you only have a small fragment fossil, such as a 15cm vertebra, it’s hard to grasp the sheer size of the creature it came from. But by surrounding that small piece with a life-sized reconstruction of the animal, that single vertebra becomes part of something truly gigantic and extraordinary. For those giants where we only had part of the skeleton, we “fleshed out” the rest to give a full sense of their actual size.
These creatures no longer exist, and no one has ever seen them. All we have are fossils, and while we don’t know exactly what they looked like, we worked with our scientists to reconstruct their dimensions and proportions based on the latest scientific knowledge. Because details like skin colour and texture are unknown, we opted for a polygonal design for the models. Some visitors even see an origami-like quality, which adds a sense of fragility to their immense size.
This creative approach, where the structures are fully integrated into the narrative, allows us to present related specimens in context — for instance, collections and specimens related to the head are displayed in the head, and so on. This design helps tell the story of each giant in a highly original way, offering visitors both an educational and imaginative experience.
We allow [visitors] to be close to the science behind the exhibition, highlighting uncertainties and discoveries that come with paleontological research.
The exhibition is designed to connect the visitor with the scientific research process. Could you tell us about how you have built that into the visitor experience?
Yes, it was important to us that visitors connect with the scientific research undertaken by the museum’s palaeontologists, and that they understand how we gathered the knowledge to reconstruct these extinct giants. We allow them to be close to the science behind the exhibition, highlighting uncertainties and discoveries that come with paleontological research.
Each giant includes a mechanical hands-on feature that focuses on a specific aspect of a palaeontologist’s work, such as digging for fossilised footprints or comparing ancient bones with more recent ones, helping visitors “meet the palaeontologist.”
Additionally, question-and-answer “flaps” guide visitors through how scientists determine the size and characteristics of the giants and explain the mechanisms behind their size changes. These tools give visitors a deeper understanding of the methods used to uncover the past, offering a more engaging picture of the field.
The exhibition is now presented in Toulouse. What are the next steps for the tour?
We’re delighted to be working closely with Nomad Exhibitions, who we have appointed as our touring partner. Their expert support in touring and sustainable exhibition design, and extensive network, have been invaluable, as we wouldn’t be able to manage the tour on our own.
After the display in Toulouse, the exhibition will travel north to a major museum, with further details to be revealed soon! From late 2026 onward, it will be available to hire, and we’re looking forward to touring GIANTS around Europe and, hopefully, beyond in the coming years.
Exhibition mentioned
GIANTS, by Nomad Exhibitions
About the authors & contributors
Teo is the global resource for the international touring exhibitions community. Created for hosts, producers and suppliers of international touring exhibitions, Teo is a global living resource for sharing best practices and fostering new international collaborations in the world of travelling exhibits.
Alanna Davidson
Alanna Davidson is Partnerships Director at Nomad Exhibitions, with 18 years of prior experience in UK national museums. Notably, she established National Museums Scotland’s touring exhibitions program and managed major exhibitions at the V&A London. She serves as Co-chair of The Exhibitions Group (TEG) and as a Board Member for ICOM Exhibitions (ICEE), bringing expertise in exhibition management, international partnerships, and collections care.
Katelijn De Kesel
Graduated as a product designer, Katelijn has over 20 years of experience in exhibition design. Each project is a new challenge to create an engaging exhibition where atmosphere, materials, content, and design come together, resulting in immersive and meaningful experiences. Her work includes temporary, permanent and traveling exhibitions, such as Senses, paleoLAB, Gallery of Humankind, and Giants.
Sophie Boitsios
Sophie started as exhibition developer at the Institute of Natural sciences in 2009. As biologist and with earlier experience in science communication, she managed to elaborate each theme into a scenario and eventually into an exhibition. Together with the scientists and creatives, she opened in 2015, the new permanent exhibition The Gallery of Humankind and in 2020, Living Planet. But also temporary exhibition such as Antarctica (2019) and GIANTS (2023) were on her list.
