Queen Maud’s Album - 2017

The Art Stable at the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway

Queen Maud’s Album is a two-year long exhibit that opened in July 2017 as part of the new Queen Sonja “Art Stable” at the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway. King Harald V and Queen Sonja transformed the Royal Stables into an art gallery that will have new exhibits on display each year. 

Tellart, in partnership with the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo and the Royal Collections Team created the Queen Maud’s Album exhibit as a gift from the Norwegian Government to the King and Queen, on the occasion of their 80th birthdays. The exhibit is in honor of Queen Maud who along with Queen Sonja, are the only two queens to rule Norway since the country’s independence in 1905. Queen Maud’s Album explores her majesty’s visual universe during her reign from over 44 albums of photographic archives she left. 

The exhibit is installed in the Royal Stables’ Hay Tower and features photographs with Queen Maud both in front of and behind the camera. Queen Maud was a passionate equestrian who expanded and remodeled the Royal Stables from 1908-1911, which remains the current design today. The exhibit showcases six themes highlighting Queen Maud’s life and work: The Coronation, The Joys of Winter, The Gala, Riding, In Merry Company, and Summer Life.

Each theme is introduced by a 3D scanned rendering of one of Queen Maud’s fashion ensembles, accompanied by numerous photographs exploring the corresponding theme. The costumes were scanned using a technique called Photogrammetry, which allowed the digitizations to showcase the intricate and beautiful details of the historic wardrobe.

In collaboration with Tellart and composer Henrik Skram who composed the original music score for the exhibit we created the sound design for the installation. Over the course of the 26 minute experience visitors are guided through the sonic environments of the photographs, from gardens to snowcapped mountains, from cycling trips to military marches. Soundscapes and music are woven together and immerse the audience within a Auro 9.1 speaker setup. Besides the sound design we also contributed custom-made software allowing adjustment of the exhibit's volume based on the amount of people inside the installation area.

More on our work with 3D-Audio here

Credits

Client: Tellart
Lead Design, Concept & Realistation: Tellart
Music composition: Henrik Skram
Photos: Tellart