The jury of the Children’s Museum Award 2013 has awarded the project Operation Sigismund of the Drents Archive with a special recommendation. The jury recommended the project as an experimental learning environment that clearly expresses the importance of an archive to young people.
Other Dutch candidates for the awards were Archeon in Alphen aan den Rijn, Beeld en Geluid in Hilversum, Maritiem Museum Rotterdam and the Dick Bruna House of the Centraal Museum in Utrecht. The prestigious award is an initiative of the Museum Academy and Hands On! International. The winners were announced on 27 March 2013 in Bologna.
Operatie Sigismund
The diary of an 18th century Dutch aristocrat, by the name of Sigismund van Heiden Reinestein, is the starting point for the educational adventure in the basement of the monumental building of the Archive of the province of Drenthe (in Dutch: Drents Archief). The narrative structure gives information on the archive, its role and its collection a logical and appealing context, thus creating stimulating ground for learning. Waag created the concept of this game, did the interior design of the spaces (with partners) and developed the technology behind the whole project.
Operation Sigismund is a cooperation between the Drents Archief in Assen and Waag in Amsterdam. The project is suported financially by Mondriaan Stichting, Provincie Drenthe, VSB fonds, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds and NOT Fonds.
In 2007, the project was awarded the Erasmus EuroMedia Medal by the European Society for Education and Communication (ESEC).
