Melbourne Holocaust Museum

The Village

An immersive project using projection mapping to educate children about The Holocaust through the stories of seven Jewish children.

A man looking at an animation playing through the window.

Inviting visitors to observe seven Jewish children navigating life before, during, and after World War II, and eventual journey to Australia.

I worked with Art Processors to bring The Village to life as part of the wider Hidden: Seven Children Saved exhibition as part of the redevelopment of the Melbourne Holocaust Museum.

Hidden: Seven Children Saved was created to educate children in an age-appropriate manner about the Holocaust and tell the stories of seven survivors who emigrated to Australia after the war: Joe de Haan, John Lamovie, Halina Zylberman, Paul Grinwald, Henri Korn, Sonia Kempler and Floris Kalman.

A man looking at projection mapping animations on top of a miniature village.

Exploring life before the war

The Village was designed to grab the attention of visitors and act as a centrepiece for the exhibit and is the largest of the four sections.

Visitors congregate to learn about what life was like for the afflicted children before the war. They hear anecdotes like how Joe's father sold the finest pickles in Amsterdam, and John went to the theatre with his parents.

These heartwarming stories begin to sour as the children explain how they began to be subjected to cruelness at school, witnessing yelling in the street and Jewish synagogues being set on fire as war becomes more likely and Jewish residents begin to have their rights taken from them.

A woman looking at an animation playing through the window.

A screen behind a window cut out. The dad is working, and a mother and daughter talking.

Encouraging observation

Once visitors have been given an introduction they are invited to look through the windows and learn more about each child's real journey before and during the war through animation and voiceover.

I felt very privileged to bring these stories to life as the animator for The Village interiors.

Video provided by Melbourne Holocaust Museum

I wanted to thank you for your amazing work. It’s a level of technical wizardry I can never hope to fully understand but I very much appreciate the excellent outcome. If I were to write a testimonial for you I’d gush about the quality of your work, your clear communication, your problem-solving and your grace under tight deadlines.

Kate Chmiel
Senior Content Developer, Art Processors

I wanted to thank you for your amazing work. It’s a level of technical wizardry I can never hope to fully understand but I very much appreciate the excellent outcome. If I were to write a testimonial for you I’d gush about the quality of your work, your clear communication, your problem-solving and your grace under tight deadlines.

Kate Chmiel
Senior Content Developer, Art Processors

Image showing projection mapping alignment process progress

My involvement

For this project I was responsible for:

Animating the interior stories
Assisting with projection mapping alignment

A miniature village with the synagogue on fire. Animated smoke pouring from the windows. People running.