CANON OF DUTCH HISTORY
Holland Open Air Museum
Years ago, the planned National Historical Museum was commissioned to present The Canon of Dutch History, the history of the Netherlands, in fifty windows. The museum was never built, and the assignment went to the Open Air Museum and the Rijksmuseum. We won the design competition for the permanent exhibition in a new pavilion in the Open Air Museum which we created together with Redrum and IJsfontein, led by Pieter van der Heijden of XPEX.
- Location
- Arnhem (NL)
- Client
- Holland Open Air Museum
- Year
- 2017
- Service
- Concept, spatial design, graphic design, creative direction
A multimedia film set
We wanted to create a stimulating and fascinating visual narrative. We came up with a multimedia film set where you can experience history. In the high dome hall you walk through ten enormous chronological romantic-realistic set pieces, brought to life by film projections. You walk through a spatial collage of historic moments. The stories are told by ordinary people like you and me.
A spatial time machine
The time travel stretches over four consecutive halls. First you are taken step by step back in time in the tunnel-shaped introduction room, starting from the end of the 20th century until well before the year zero. How did we use to make light? What did children play with? What did we use to eat? Through film projections, characters give a glimpse into their daily lives, now and in the past. You get an idea of how living conditions are constantly changing.
As a history teacher, I really liked the Canon Experience. You truly walk through time. History can be experienced here!
The story of the Netherlands in ten parts
Explore the ten parts of Dutch history up close their own film sets. Interactive games challenge you to actively engage and search for information. In Windows to the Past, the last room, visitors get to see The Canon of Dutch History as a whole. An 18-meter-wide interactive wall shows a chronological overview of all fifty windows. There is a digital treasure hunt along various Canon windows, and both young and old can compete together at the family game on one of the interactive tables. Here it becomes clear that history is more than a collection of Canon windows: it is an infinitely rich story with endless connections.
Three-part collage
Awards
Museums+Heritage Awards 2018
- International - Winner
Silver European Design Award 2018
- Exhibition - Winner
