Inzovu Curve

Some difficult history exhibitions overwhelm visitors. Others are so restrained that visitors feel almost nothing.

How do we navigate these two extremes?

Here’s one way: the Inzovu Curve.

Developed during genocide memorial work in Rwanda, this model proposes a deliberate story arc for emotional pacing in difficult histories.

It’s a simple diagram: first falling, then rising.

An Inzovu Curve experience first descends into difficult material like grief, injustice, violence, and loss. Then it gradually rises emotionally toward reflection, hope, and action.

It’s practical. Visitors can emotionally shut down if an exhibition maintains maximum intensity for too long. People stop paying attention. They exhaust their emotional bandwidth.

The Inzovu Curve mixes in moments of tension, reflection, and recovery.

Note: for some, setting up a preset emotional arc can seem like “Disneyfication.” So exhibition makers should be careful. Difficult history should never feel emotionally scripted like a movie ride. And hope shouldn’t be tacked on, or fake.

Here’s the thing:

There are ways to strike a balance in difficult histories. The Inzovu Curve is one model.

But good exhibitions do not manipulate visitors into predetermined emotions. They create thoughtful conditions for engagement, reflection, and humanity.

Warmly,
Jonathan

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MtM Word of the Day:
Inzovu Curve. A storytelling framework, developed through genocide memorial work in Rwanda, to guide visitors through a deliberate emotional arc. First, the curve descends into painful material, such as difficult or contested histories. Then it rises through reflection, hope, and action.

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