Contagious!

Contagious! in Rijksmuseum Boerhaave shows an intriguing balance between health and real risk and between social exclusion and empathy. How did we deal with epidemics such as plague and smallpox in the past? What insights do historical epidemics offer for the present and the future?

This exhibit was designed before the Corona outbreak. In the original design, the common thread was the outbreak of an as yet unknown disease X and you were guided through the exhibition on the basis of this disease. Unfortunately, this was overtaken by reality and a lot had to be adjusted to content and design last minute. Visual language that we deliberately used before the pandemic has been given a completely different context during the duration of the exhibition.