Nederlands Openlucht Museum

Experience the impressive history of the Netherlands

Challenge

Tell the story of the Netherlands through 50 windows: that was the request the Dutch Open Air Museum, together with the Rijksmuseum, received from the Dutch government in 2015. IJsfontein was given the honourable task of designing and producing this exhibition. How do we ensure that we can tell Dutch history from the perspective of ordinary people?

Solution

Together with exhibition designer Kossman.dejong, filmmaker Redrum and directed by XPEX, we worked for over two years on the exhibition Canon van Nederland. The Canon is divided into 50 windows. These are the 50 things you need to know about Dutch history.

In the exhibition, these windows are divided over De Rooij's 10 time periods, which are also used in education. Through interactive installations, the exhibition tells the story of the Dutch rise to power, but also of slavery and oppression.

Impact

Canon van Nederland lets visitors fully immerse themselves in Dutch history. Visitors leave the exhibition as experts on Dutch history. Canon van Nederland won the 2018 Museum + Heritage Award, silver in the 'Exhibition Design' of the European Design Awards and was nominated for the Heritage in Motion Award.

In my opinion, you cannot make history any more fun this is

Visitor to Canon van Nederland