Last week, the ‘Gamechangers | Maritime innovations’ exhibition in Amsterdam's National Maritime Museum opened its doors to the public. MCW produced all the audiovisual and interactive presentations.


The exhibition includes over 25 of the best, most exciting and strangest innovations in Dutch maritime history. Revolutionary inventions which influenced not just the shipping industry but also the Dutch society and economy, alongside woefully unsuccessful, time-consuming and money-guzzling attempts. The museum highlights the visionary pioneers and dedicated lifesavers, as well as a few dangerous swindlers.

Inspiration theatre

MCW produced various audiovisual and interactive presentations for this exhibition, from an interactive touchscreen presentation about the ‘inventor’ of the so-called 'Flying Mail Ship' in 1743, Daam Schijf, or various film productions about the salvage of the Koersk submarine, to the design of a tilting lock and an innovative construction method which uses dredge spoil from rivers.

The central focus of the exhibition is the wall projection in the inspiration theatre. Here, the people behind the inventions are presented in an appealing, graphic way. Past and current inventors enter into a dialogue with each other to inspire visitors with their own ideas, experiences and motives.

Interview with Filip Jonker

Another highlight was the visit to Filip Jonker from Ortega Submersibles in Enschede. Filip has invented an electrically propelled submarine for 1 or 2 people. This high-speed sub is used for research activities; for example, in the case of shipwrecks and drilling platforms. We interviewed Filip in his hangar at Airbase Twente and were given free rein to capture all the technological developments on film. The interview and an immense wall projection about the submarine can be seen in the exhibition.

The submarine is also used by film makers, so who knows – we might get to use it for one of our future productions!

Collaboration

The exhibition was designed by Opera Amsterdam and realised in close collaboration with an enthusiastic team from the National Maritime Museum, Kloosterboer Decor, Rapenburg Plaza and MCW / creative agency.

It runs from 6 October 2017 to 1 July 2018. For more information, visit hetscheepvaartmuseum.nl 

 

Photography: Sarah Dona, Opera Amsterdam, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, MCW / creative agency