"The Blue Continent, the new Oceania exhibition at the Bremen Overseas Museum, brings together European and Pacific perspectives. This is its great strength. Added to this is its extraordinary visual appeal.

What is an island landscape? A lounge with informational elements? A political statement? "The Blue Continent – ​​Islands in the Pacific," the new permanent Oceania exhibition at the Bremen Overseas Museum, is all of this and more. The spectacularly staged show opens with an "Island Party" on Saturday, March 29, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Two major features characterise the €5.8 million exhibition: its conception and its visual appearance. The show was designed by the London design agency Casson Mann. 350 exhibits stand, lie, and hang across a good 2,000 square meters, yet the presentation is a far cry from the museum display cabinets of wonder of earlier times. Instead, thematic islands make connections visible. Films, graphics, and audio files are omnipresent, and the traditional text panels are almost reduced to a mere cue-provider.

On a blue background, visitors walk—or rather, dive—among fish hanging from the ceiling of the atrium. The central element is an island modeled after the Rock Islands of Palau. Eight meters high, with plants about ten meters high, it's an eye-catcher when you step inside. Inside: lounge-like seating elements, the same ones found throughout the exhibition outside this museum island. Beanbags, chairs, tables: "Here you can chill out and even unwrap a sandwich, in the middle of Oceania," says Prof. Dr. Wiebke Ahrndt, the director of the Übersee-Museum."

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