Event, the experience design agency, worked with the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen to create a new exhibition in just 12 months. The star of The Raid is Roskilde 6, a huge Viking warship that measures 37.4 metres long, making it the largest of its kind in the world. The ship was found in the 1990s alongside ten other warships on the banks of the Roskilde fjord, and only around 20% of the original ship is intact.
The Raid has opened to critical acclaim and forms part of the museum’s long-term plan to introduce more of a storytelling approach within its galleries. This new exhibition displays treasures from this period and explores how archaeologists can use these found objects to build an idea of how the Vikings lived. It also takes visitors on an immersive journey into history – taking them on a Viking raid
For the Event team, this monumental artefact provided both inspiration and a challenge.
Rising to the challenge
One initial challenge was the problem of how to fit such a large object into the exhibition space. However, Event was able to turn this problem into an advantage, positioning the ship diagonally across the space to create two dynamic new spaces. This enabled the team to design two different experiences and tell two different stories.
The exhibition begins as a more traditional exhibition space, displaying artefacts related to the Viking raids. Then the experience culminates in a cinematic journey into the past, showing what it would have been like on board the warship during a Viking raid.
A second challenge that the team faced was how to effectively bring the ship back to life, making it an active object that engages audiences rather than a static artefact. To achieve this goal, Event used media and wave-like set works, introducing large wave structures and animating them.
These waves, which are abstracted forms that represent the sea and the ship’s sail, provide a canvas for the media. This creates the feeling that the ship is in motion, as light moves past on the backdrop of sails and waves. They also allowed for immersive spaces to form, giving ever-changing views of the ship as visitors make their way through the gallery.
Digital labels and smart graphic design
The Event team also chose to use only digital object labels. This allowed them to create an exhibition with minimal clutter, where guests have the option to delve deeper into each object if they wish. As a result, the exhibition caters to both casual visitors and Viking enthusiasts.
The exhibition’s graphic design celebrates the exhibition’s centrepiece – the Roskilde 6 ship. With only 20% of the ship remaining, the graphics take inspiration from the wooden skeleton. Meanwhile, the typeface takes inspiration from Viking patterns and forms, while still maintaining a contemporary touch.
Last year, Event was invited back to Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Ayrshire, Scotland, where it has suggested a new master plan for National Trust for Scotland property, with the goal of reimagining the site for the next decade. The company originally worked with National Trust for Scotland on the design of the museum, which opened in 2009.
