The Begin Museum of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem was inspired by the life and leadership of Menachem Begin, a former Israeli Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner. The architecture is modest with an air of dignity and was intentionally designed this way as a representation of Begin’s own character.
The museum uses an experiential process in its exhibits, telling the story of the engaging life of one of the most important leaders in the history of the state of Israel in a unique fashion. The Museum integrates pictures, reconstructions, original artifacts, documentary films and dramatizations, interactive contact screens, dramatic lighting and an enveloping sound track in ten exhibit areas. Visitors are immersed in the key phases of Begin’s life – his childhood in Poland, his years as the commander of Etzel and as leader of the opposition, and the period when he served as prime minister of Israel. The museum receives 350 to 400 international visitors per day conducting tours in groups of 25 people.
Barkai Benny Brookstein, Ltd, Israel’s leading professional audio-visual company worked closely with the project consultant and the museum to design, supply, install and program the AV and Control System needs for the exhibit.
Audio is a critical element of the exhibit, each of the ten exhibit areas has a unique message. The museum wanted to ensure that the audio portion of the exhibit could be heard clearly by all guests.
Additionally, due to the international diversity of their guests, they needed to provide their message in multiple languages. The base broadcast is in Hebrew, but the audio is also available in English, Russian, French, Spanish and Arabic. The result is a requirement for 40 individual transmissions in 10 locations.
Barkai Benny Brookstein, Ltd knew that in order to deliver on the museum’s requirements they would need to provide a reliable system whose quality could be trusted. They turned to Listen Technologies for the solution. Listen Technologies GmbH worked closely with Barkai to create a custom Stationary IR system to meet the auditory needs of the museum.
Listen’s Stationary IR system is ideal for the museums need to transmit 40 transmissions in multiple locations with no interference between channels. Placement of the IR radiators was key to avoiding interference, especially with the close proximity of the exhibit areas and the open atmosphere. Listen and Barkai worked closely together to determine the appropriate number of radiators and placement for clear signal coverage. The Listen system also offers higher modulation frequencies which decreases the risk of light interference from fluorescent lights and other sources.
Listen’s compatibility with other manufacturers allowed for the implementation of a seamless audio system for the exhibit. An Alcorn McBride Audio Binloop Playback System was used for the multilingual recording for the exhibit. A Crestron control system is used to select the needed language as well as other museum AV and lighting system needs.
At the end of the exhibition visitors are left with the full scope and depth of the heritage of Menachem Begin – and with Listen’s Stationary IR System they won’t miss a single sound.
