Display case for the canoe from Moossee
Groenlandbasel
Concept and preliminary design: Maya Weber
In 2011, during excavations in Moos- seedorf, a canton of Bern, archeologists discovered the bow of the oldest watercraft in Switzerland. It is a 6500- year-old dugout canoe made from a linden tree trunk. In a unique outdoor display case placed near the lake each visitor will have the opportunity to explore the canoe and its history. Its abstract shape is reminiscent of a boat. The visitor moves head and shoulders into the viewing display case from below. From the outside it looks as if the canoe is being carried back to the water on the shoulders of the visitors.
The visitor hears individual audio tracks from different narrators at different points in the display case. A restorer explains the process of resin hardening, the boat builder talks about how he carved it, a Mossee village resident reports about the excitement around the find ...
Each story influences the visitors’ experi- ence whether the focus is surface texture, exploring traces of resin or admiring how much of the boat is preserved.
A visualization of the Moossee settlement as it was over 6000 years ago can be found on the interior of the display case as the dug-out canoe is drawn into the water to create both a spatial and temporal location.
OUR NEW PLACE
