Shifting Image – In Search of Johan Maurits
Winner Brons – European Design Awards 2020
Category Exhibition Design
For Mauritshuis in The Hague, Studio Louter and Opera Amsterdam created the concept and design of the exhibition ‘Shifting Images – In Search of Johan Maurits’.
The exhibition examined the perceptions of Johan Maurits’ role in the Dutch colony in Brazil, through the famous Mauritshuis collection. Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen (1604-1679) is the name-giver of the museum. But he is also notorious as governor of Dutch Brazil.
The objective was not to curate one single story, but to show multiple perspectives and contexts, emphasizing the complexity of the Dutch Golden Age. To actively cause a ‘shifting image’, we decided to provide visitors with historically correct information on the life of Johan Maurits on the one hand and on the other hand present various perspectives on the artworks, history, and the man Johan Maurits himself.