People & the Sea
Interactions in the Museum
Interaction Offers & Visitor Journey
New concepts for the permanent exhibition
The working title of the future permanent exhibition of the German Maritime Museum makes it clear: the marine habitat is a central basis of life for billions of people. At the same time, this complex and at the same time fragile system is increasingly threatened by human pollution, climate change and overfishing. The livelihoods of many people are at risk, especially in coastal regions. How the history of maritime shipping and its research can provide answers to current questions against this background will be experienced in a moving exhibition tour in the German Maritime Museum Bremerhaven from 2024.
Creating new perspectives
Rethinking the technology exhibition
For a long time, the focus of the exhibition at the German Maritime Museum (DSM) was primarily on the presentation of impressive large exhibits, such as the Gorch Fock and other museum objects. With the reorientation of the museum, people and thus the tense relationship between society, economy and technology with the marine habitat are moving to the foreground. In doing so, it is important to take a historical look at this relationship, as well as to show the findings of research, existing solutions in the maritime sector and the everyday relevance and options for action of the museum visitors themselves, with a view to the future.
In order to promote an active engagement with the themes of the exhibition, the DSM commissioned us in spring 2021 to design digital and analogue interaction offers as well as a visitor journey that do justice to the different types of visitors. In the future, visitors to the Maritime Museum will no longer just face a static museum presentation in silent awe, whispering and tapping their feet, but will engage together and actively with the questions of seafaring and research in the midst of a lively narrative. The development lines of modern shipbuilding and industrial fishing are just as tangible as the physical principles of shipping. The role of humans is addressed both in terms of historical development as a cause and, with a view to the future, as a potential part of the solution.
Active & Dialogue-Oriented
Museum as a space for interaction
As part of an initial rough concept, we outlined over 25 interaction stations and formulated a visitor journey for the central research ship installation. Particular attention was paid to the development of dialogic offers, i.e. stations where visitors have to work together to solve a task. On the tour of the exhibition, visitors actively learn about the various tasks on a research ship and the people behind them.
As part of the conception, we worked out the guidelines for a moving and audience-oriented interaction concept and the use of digital media in the exhibition in several workshops with the scientists and curators of the DSM. In addition to a precise, technical and didactic requirements analysis, detailed concepts including exhibit sketches and storyboards were created for each interaction station.
