Exhibition Rijksmuseum Twenthe: the year of the 18th century.
When designing the interior of a house, it is important that the people are happy and will flourish, and the same is true when designing a museum exhibition. The art must flourish, and this is more important than the design or the designer. So I was not asked to simply come and hang stuff on the wall, but for an idea that is fitting, enhancing and narrative.
The concept for the exhibition was not so very complicated. I wanted people to be able to experience the works in a different way, and that they would feel invited to explore them, not as an image, but as work. All the paintings in the museum are more or less equally distributed over the walls. As a result there is a lack of differentiation and concentration. My first thought was that the paintings should be hung close together in order to create space for the most beautiful works.
One of the paintings depicts an interior in which there are paintings hung all over the walls and in the middle of the room is a painting on an easel, surrounded by a group of people studying it. This painting forms the starting point for the interior design proposal. A good number of paintings, close together, on racks with a few isolated pieces on an easel. This is in keeping with the 18th century, the possibilities and my wish to let the paintings flourish not as images but as works. It was immediately apparent at the opening that my idea had worked. People were really studying the pieces, walking around them and looking at the back and at each other (a bit voyeuristic).
Due to my Amazon trip for the World Wildlife Fund, my contribution to the exhibition was much more limited than usual. At the last minute I was able to see the prototypes for the racks and easels. I also visited the museum with colour swatches and the paintings in order to choose the colours for the rooms. It was a great pleasure to view the exhibition. Not because of my merit but mainly because, with the direction of Marco and Mario, the concept has been realised in collaboration with the museum, in a fantastic way and in a very short space of time. To be honest, I’m really proud of our men.
This post is also available in: NL
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