Mission Masterpiece

Rijksmuseum – Amsterdam – The Netherlands

Be a real-life scientist

Mission Masterpiece is the Rijksmuseum’s first family exhibition, where young visitors and their families can become science investigators and have the unique opportunity to investigate real works of art. Together with the Rijksmuseum team, NorthernLight developed the concept for the exhibition. The final design was done by NorthernLight in close cooperation with Irma Boom office. During the summer, the entire Philips Wing of the Rijksmuseum was transformed into a huge research lab, inspired by the museum’s renowned Atelier. The exhibition features six research labs, each devoted to a specific object for children to explore. They discover information about the diamonds on the crown worn by King William I of the Netherlands, check whether the porcelain statue of a macaw is still intact, and learn how to identify a Vermeer.

What makes a masterpiece?

Mission Masterpiece invites young participants to step into the roles of Rijksmuseum restorers and scientists. Visitors enter the six research labs and apply the same methods and techniques used by the museum for its own research. Equipped with a lab coat and a research card, they can utilize UV and X-ray machines, microscopes, fiber analysis, and tree-ring data at the interactive stations to identify textile fibers, pigments, watermarks, and dates. They are challenged to question assumptions about the age and authenticity of the objects. Are they as old as believed? Are they genuine or clever forgeries? In the overall design, the color scheme of each lab is carefully tailored to match the object being studied, complemented by unique lighting that creates a captivating atmosphere. Enlarged images of the objects are displayed throughout the exhibition, enhancing the overall experience.

As well as inviting visitors to do their own investigations into materials, dates and production methods, Mission Masterpiece gets them to consider some of the questions Rijksmuseum researchers face every day. Questions like: What is it that makes an object a masterpiece? Was this art work really made by the artist who we think made it? If an object is forgery or broken, does it still deserve a place in the museum?

Inspiring young minds

Thanks to this innovative approach, Mission Masterpiece welcomed 40,000 children and their families during the summer, who collectively awarded it an outstanding rating of 9.1. Never before has an exhibition from the Rijksmuseum received such a high rating. The KMSKA (Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp) will reuse the concept, research tables, sets, and other materials from the Rijksmuseum. With the interest of other museums, more young researchers can discover what happens behind the scenes of a museum and contemplate the question of what truly makes an object a masterpiece.

Client

Rijksmuseum

Location

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

NorthernLight role

Concept, content strategy, spatial design, experience design, creative quality control

NorthernLight team

Peter Slavenburg, Josephine de Vries (lead), Maximilian Pecher, Donna Dieperink, Andrea Veldkamp

Exhibition co-design

Irma Boom Office

Production

Brandwacht and Meijer