Stories of the past, told by today’s kids

Museum Rotterdam ’40-’45 NOW, Rotterdam (NL), 2014

Rotterdam’s war and resistance museum has become Museum Rotterdam ’40–’45 NOW, which focuses exclusively on education. From now on, kids tell the stories.

Objects and stories

On school visits, pupils discover the incredible stories behind objects in the museum’s rich collection. They read about cookies carbonised in wartime bombing, a box used to catch cats during the famine of 1944–45, a dollhouse built by someone in hiding, and much more.

Interactive table

The museum’s new heart is an eight-metre-long interactive table. Here, working in pairs, pupils create presentations about the stories they’ve read, retelling them in their own ways. The table provides source material and tools. The finished presentations become part of the museum’s display. Visitors can discover the stories using an app, which shows the museum’s written information along with the pupils’ presentations. In this way, old objects become relevant for young visitors, and the stories of the past are transmitted to a new generation.

“The new Museum Rotterdam ’40–’45 NOW is a breathtaking and educational experience.”

Marcel Potters, Algemeen Dagblad — 14 February 2015

Credits

Client
Museum Rotterdam ’40-’45 NOW

Content Design
Studio Louter

Spatial & Graphic Design
OPERA Amsterdam

Interactive Media Production
Studio Louter

Film Production
Tinker Imagineers

Construction
Fiction Factory

Hardware
VHS

Awards 

The Children in Museums Award 2015
Nomination

Comenius EduMedia Award 2015
Comenius EduMedia Siegel | Didaktische Multimediaprodukte