Digital Media Exhibition 2022

The 2022 Digital Media Exhibition transformed the Main Hall of the Theo Thijssenhuis into an immersive showcase of student innovation. As a professor who has witnessed many such exhibitions, I can confidently say this one pushed boundaries in ways we hadn't seen before.

What made this exhibition special was how students incorporated the building itself into their projects. Several installations responded directly to the architecture and history of the space. One project projected the building's past as a tax archive onto its present walls, creating a palimpsest of visual history that changed as visitors moved through the space.

Another standout project used sensors embedded in the floor to track visitor movements, generating a real-time data visualization that grew more complex throughout the exhibition. By the closing day, this visualization had become a beautiful representation of how people interact with the space—revealing common pathways, gathering points, and areas that remained relatively unexplored.

The sound installations were particularly effective, taking advantage of the hall's unique acoustics. Students created audio pieces that could only be fully experienced in specific locations within the space, encouraging visitors to explore every corner of the hall.

What I found most meaningful was how many projects engaged with the building's transition from administrative to educational use. Several works explored themes of transformation, institutional memory, and the repurposing of space.

This exhibition demonstrated that our students don't just work within the building—they engage with it, respond to it, and contribute to its evolving identity. Their projects have become part of the building's story, layering new meanings onto its existing history.