Femke Bijlsma - Speaker

Stimulation or Manipulation?

Partner & Content Director, Kossmanndejong

Abstract:

How far can immersive design go — and when does it cross a line?

In this case study, Femke Bijlsma and Wolfgang Schreiner present their recent collaboration on the Emily Hobhouse War Rooms at the EHH Museum in Cornwall, UK. Designed as a “documentary in space,” the installation immerses visitors in the Second Anglo-Boer War (South Africa, 1899–1902), aligning spatial design with audio storytelling to create a deeply emotional, almost cinematic experience.

Visitors report feeling as if they’ve witnessed history firsthand — many leaving visibly moved. This talk goes behind the scenes of the project to explore how immersive experiences can inform, provoke, and even manipulate. What are the benefits and the risks of this powerful form of storytelling?

About Femke:

Femke Bijlsma (she/her) is Partner and Content Director at Kossmanndejong, an exhibition design studio based in Amsterdam. Known for her strategic and narrative vision, she specialises in crafting transformative, people-centred exhibitions that translate complex themes into powerful, emotional experiences.

Her background spans architecture, journalism, social design, and education — having worked in Japan, written about art in Italy, launched a refugee platform for the creative industries, and co-founded a climate change class at the Rietveld Academy. This multidisciplinary approach shapes her work, placing real people and urgent questions at the heart of every story.

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