Make it Work

Each musical clock and every organ is the result of a process of deliberating about materials, costs and effective mechanics. Nowadays, products are increasingly made with an eye to sustainability. The Make it Work exhibition unites the work of contemporary designers and historic instrument builders around three themes. Can looking to the past help us find ways to shape a more sustainable future?

The music machines of Museum Speelklok

Behind every musical clock and every organ in Museum Speelklok there is a process in which material, costs, mechanics and how the instrument lasts as long as possible have been considered. The instruments take you into the past and provide insight into the choices the makers had to make. Due to the discussion about production processes and the way products are made nowadays, a lot of attention is now being paid to sustainability. In collaboration with guest curator Pao Lien Djie, Museum Speelklok brings together the work of three contemporary designers and makers of historical music machines.

Solutions in design

Designers Jelle Mastenbroek, Jesse Howard and Christien Meindertsma enter into a dialogue with the historical museum collection with their work. Jelle Mastenbroek’s Porcelain Piano is on display; an antique-looking cabinet with a piano full of porcelain plates that can make music. He was inspired by instruments that you also see in Museum Speelklok. Jesse Howard designs everyday objects, like a mixer and vacuum cleaner, in a way that the products can easily be repaired and even replicated. Christien Meindertsma studied different uses for wool from a particular flock of sheep in Rotterdam, looking at properties of the material as well as methods available for processing it. And wool have more to do with musical instruments than you might think!

Audio tour

Experience Museum Speelklok from a new perspective! During his studies at Design Academy Eindhoven, Simon Dogger lost his vision. But instead of quitting the programme, his new perspective became both the purpose and the object of his designs. Hear Simon talk about his world through this audio tour. What is his impression of the automatic instruments? What does he hear, and what associations do the instruments evoke?

Movie Neo Muyanga

Make it Work also includes a short film by the versatile South African artist, composer and musician Neo Muyanga. He will be working on MotoMbila, a new mechanical instrument that connects African traditions with the European way of building. In this way, Museum Speelklok wants to add new instruments to the collection. Muyanga made his debut as a composer at National Opera & Ballet in 2021 and was a guest artist at Depot Boijmans van Beuningen.