Boijmans Megastructures

When you visit an exhibition, you rarely stop to think about all the work that has gone into giving you so much visual enjoyment. The series Boijmans Mega Structures takes a look at all that happens in advance. One Mega Structure shows how a major exhibition is built up - from the first label stuck to the floor to the erection of complete walls - and another follows, together with the men from the Technical Department, the complicated instructions for a sculpture that is largely made up of nylon stockings and sand. Thanks to film director Theijssen and the Rotterdam Municipal Archives, it is even possible to watch the emergence of the ultimate Mega Structure: the building of the museum in the early thirties of last century.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen presents more than twenty-five exhibitions each year. The Technical Department has a core of seven people, and these are sometimes complemented to a team of ten, twenty or even thirty. Boijmans Mega Structures show the work behind the scenes and in addition pays homage to these men and women for all their strength, expertise and inventivity.