AMSTERDAM DNA

Amsterdam Museum

Entrance stairs

Amsterdam DNA is a stimulating introduction to the city of Amsterdam and its history. At the core of the exhibition are the characteristics for which Amsterdam is known: entrepreneurship, freedom of thought, creativity and citizenship. These values have flourished at some moments in time, such as the 17th century and the 1970s, while they were suppressed during the French occupation and World War II. In recent years, the Amsterdam Museum has also critically re-examined the stories it tells: the term “Golden Age” has been abandoned, and the ‘Story of Amsterdam’ has been decolonised, made more inclusive, multivocal and critical.

Location
Amsterdam (NL)
Client
Amsterdam Museum
Year
2011
Amsterdam DNA collection
The exhibition has seven chapters, which match seven periods that make up Amsterdam’s history. In each chapter, one item from the collection forms the starting point for the story about that period.

Discovering history through stories

Details
These stories are being told using exciting animations that are projected onto large glass screens that are suspended in the centre of the space. The voice overs for these animations have been recorded in ten different languages.
Amsterdam red wall with stories
Each visitor will receive a travel guide in one of the languages, with which they can activate the story for each period in the required language.
Red line
Through an interactive game element in this exhibition, you can discover with which of the four strands in Amsterdam’s DNA you identify most.

Read thread

A 75-metre long red wall runs throughout the entire exhibition, which depicts the city’s history in a visual way in facts and figures. Interactive elements, such as touch screens, games, and interactives that allow you to smell, measure and listen, are also incorporated in this wall. Following the construction of a new bridge, the exhibition sneaks around the civic guards’ gallery. The red wall contains peepholes that allow the civic guards’ gallery to be linked to the exhibition in an extraordinary way.

Biking to see stories
Another part of the wall

Do you have a story to tell?

Then let’s get started!

Lieke

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