As their long-term communication partner, Chapters developed an exciting exhibition in the empty space of historic depot ‘De Vondst’ in co-collaboration with Thermenmuseum.
Bringing together two leading historical parties in a unique historical location - a spot in which two historical roads crossed and the Roman city ‘Coriovallum’ was founded.
The municipality of Heerlen in known for its Roman history. The city was built on the grounds of the Roman city Coriovallum. De Vondst stores all Roman treasures of the region and Thermenmuseum houses a unique Roman bathhouse and exhibits original Roman excavations. An empty space in De Vondst that is open to the public, needed to be filled on a short timeframe with an exhibition. Chapters dove into the depths of the local Roman history to design the concept and put up an impressive exhibition that marks the history of the space.
BWhere normally a history curator would design and curate an exhibition, we were now challenged to design, curate, and execute the entire exhibition for the space in De Vondst.
The space is a unique space in the center of the building, with a glass dome and glass walls.
Challenged with the timeframe, the interior of the space and the exterior of the building, we designed a temporary exhibition in which we highlighted all the available elements.
The main condition for the exhibition was to bring the local Roman history to the local people.
In our concept, we looked at what mark the location left in the local Roman history - a crossing between two Roman Roads, Via Belgica and Via Traiana. The exhibition is a crossing between two leading parties in Roman history, Thermenmuseum and De Vondst. ‘The crossing’ became our concept. We named the exhibition ‘Het X punt’, which translates to a crossing point both literally and symbolically. In the concept of the exhibition, we worked in layers, addressing Roman culture, Roman customs, and Roman roads - bringing the crucial factors of local Roman history to the locals people.
The crossing echoes the Roman history, the exact spot where Coriovallum arose. Within the glass dome, a symbolic spiral was hung to highlight all important crossroads of the local Roman history.
The identity of the exhibition had to identify with the two parties involved in the co-exhibition, but unique in its own style. Taking elements from both parties, we created a branding for the exhibition that was both familiar and unique. Roman linear drawings and a bright red cross are worked into the branding of the exhibition to emphasise on the concept. We designed 3 cross boards with 8 sides on which Roman culture, customs, and roads were highlighted, displaying the concept of ‘where cultures cross’, ‘where customs cross’, ‘where roads cross’. As the walls could not be used for display, 3 showcases were placed to exhibit the unique Roman finds. The windows are darkened on the outside of the building. To bring attention the exhibition, 4 large banners were placed on the exterior of the building.
From the concept to the design, from the identity to the branding, from the curation to the execution - Chapters put together a unique and exciting exhibition that brought local Roman history to the local people with a renewing vision on history.
