Before you begin writing your commentary, make sure that you have seen the exemplar exhibitions, that are found on ‘MyIB’ – your teacher will give you access to these. This is a fantastic way of seeing exactly what you are trying to do with you exhibition.

You’re trying to do several things simultaneously when you write the commentary. First, you’re answering the IA prompt that you’ve chosen from the list of 35 options. These all ask a question about the nature of knowledge, and how we use it: make sure your exhibition commentary addresses this question.

Second, you are outlining the real-world context of your objects, and justifying why you have chosen them for your exhibition. How do your objects link to the prompt? How do they relate to your experiences? What makes them special, original, and particularly resonant?

Third, you are showing your knowledge of the core theme, or one of theoptional themes, by referring to ideas relevant to this aspect of TOK, key thinkers that you’ve come across during the course, and real-life situations that have engaged you.

Overall, you are trying to demonstrate how TOK manifests itself in the real world. This means showing how the ideas and concepts that we encounter during the course are relevant to the way in which we lead our lives, and the society in which we exist.

Keep in mind the four different strands of the assessment rubric: you should be prepared to discuss with your teacher how you are hitting these targets. Also consider the three characteristics of a top level exhibition: precise, lucid, and convincing. How is your exhibition all of these three things?

Make sure you have access to all the documents and online material supporting the exhibition. These include the TOK subject guide, where you’ll find the IA prompts, and the exhibition rubric, and the exemplar TOK exhibitions (found in ‘MyIB’, which is accessible to teachers).

Follow the links above to take you to the three different elements of the TOK exhibition; we’ve also created a page giving some tips on how to put on your exhibition if your school is running a public ‘exhibition day’ which you can visit here. It suggests ways of presenting ideas to an audience.

If your school is a member of theoryofknowledge.net, we have designed a series of lessons on the exhibition, with a three practice exhibition tasks. These will familiarize you with the IA prompts, how to select effective objects, and the assessment rubric. If you are signed into the site, you can access these lessons here.

You can also find out our thoughts on the TOK exhibition (and the TOK essay) in several webinars that we have delivered. You can see these webinars on this page of the site.