RijksCreative

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Make the skills of the old masters relevant again

How do you convey the expertise of a museum to the rest of the world if you don’t have the means of bringing everyone in the world to your museum? Well, with the help of one of the biggest online platforms of this moment: YouTube.

Rijksmuseum has asked Maak to develop a strategy that conveys their expertise and knowledge to a broader audience than just their physical visitors. But, how do you achieve this? Because the goal of Rijksmuseum is to connect people with art and history not just inside the museum, we looked at the possibilities the internet had to offer, and specifically at YouTube. This was the start of the YouTube strategy for Rijksmuseum.

The YouTube channel RijksCreative

One part of the YouTube strategy is the channel RijksCreative. Up to now, there are three series you can watch on this channel: ‘The Rembrandt Course’, ‘Art Through Centuries’ and ‘Watercolor, Ink & Blueprint'. With the help of these series we want to give the viewer the tools and knowledge of the painting techniques of these old masters and create their own masterpiece. In the series The Rembrandt Course, the focus lies on the painting techniques of Rembrandt. In seven episodes subjects like: ‘How do I paint a self-portrait?’ and ‘How do I paint light?’ will be discussed. In the series Art Through Centuries the viewer can learn from a wide range of artist and techniques, from Van Gogh to Karel Appel and from classic to modern art. The series Watercolor, Ink & Blueprint, as the name already suggests, looks deeper into these techniques.

Project manager Samantha: "This has been a very pleasant project to work on with a lot of freedom and kind people to work with. We are in close contact with the teachers of Rijksmuseum, and together we shape each episode. These teachers are the face of the tutorial series. Each teacher has their own unique skillset and based on that we pair them with famous paintings and artists. Personally, I have never thought about the fact that such an iconic painting is so time-intensive to create. Imagine that a painting that used to take weeks to make, is finished within half a day during production shoots".

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