project
After completing an exhaustive restoration project of its studio, Utrechts Museum Speelklok which is devoted to musical instruments that play automatically mounted a unique exhibition of the key pieces from the eighteenth-century clock collection of the Chinese Emperor Qianlong, sourced from secret depositories in the Forbidden City.
The museum commissioned MMEK to develop an exhibition concept worthy of this unique occasion. While the collection of golden clocks can be considered remarkable by any standard, the story behind these clocks is even more intriguing. The plan was to let museum visitors view a different side of the collection.
As part of the Singsong: Treasures from the Forbidden City exhibition, visitors were told the story of Emperor Qianlong inside a dark room. When the clocks were finally revealed to them in all their splendour at the end of the story, everyone already knew to what they owe their extraordinary appearance.
MMEK worked with a Chinese designer on this project to add to the authentically Chinese flavour of the exhibition. All text on display was printed in Chinese characters and read out loud in Chinese, after which it was translated into Dutch.
With a total of 220,000 tickets sold more than 50% more than is usual for an exhibition of that duration the exhibition became the museums most successful ever over the course of its 5-month run. Visitors of Museum Speelklok afterwards scored SingSong with an exceptionally high score of 8.5, while Museumvisie, a Dutch trade journal for museum professionals, devoted a full article to the MMEK concept.
With a total of 220,000 tickets sold more than 50% more than is usual for an exhibition of that duration the exhibition became the museums most successful ever over the course of its 5-month run. Visitors of Museum Speelklok afterwards scored SingSong with an exceptionally high score of 8.5, while Museumvisie, a Dutch trade journal for museum professionals, devoted a full article to the MMEK concept.
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