The Exhibition "Maritime History in Seven Worlds - From Ancient Egypt to Modern Times" can be seen at the International Maritime Museum in Hamburg until 1 November. We spoke to diorama artist Oliver Schaffer on site about the challenges of faithfully recreating historical ships from Playmobil.
Tell me something, Mr Schaffer... How do you actually become a Playmobil artist?
I was a big circus fan as a child and built circus rings at home with Playmobil. Eventually I set up my own circus, Oliver, using only Playmobil figures. Ten years later, in 2003, when Playmobil turned 30, I was asked if I would like to exhibit my circus for the anniversary. So that's what I did. It was basically my first experience of this kind. Now we are in my 85th exhibition.
The museum takes the history of shipping very seriously. How difficult was it to display the historic boats correctly?
In many cases, this was actually not that easy. We had to adapt some models. The cooperation with the curators of the Maritime Museum was really very good. That's what makes this work so interesting for me. I also had to be persuaded a bit a few times. I'm always a bit trapped in my Playmobil world. That's why I perhaps had to be handled with kid gloves and looked over my shoulder a little. I am simply an artist. But the curators did a very good job.
What did the curators have to say?
Well, I can't just build any ships into my worlds for an exhibition in the Maritime Museum. The aim was to get as close as possible to the historical original. One example is the barges - unpowered coal barges for canal transport - I didn't have anything like that in my exhibition programme before. I adapted them for this exhibition, just like the original pirate ships, which I had to give extra lateen sails for the Egyptians.
What prevails when building a new exhibition: meticulous planning or spontaneity on site?
My dioramas - that's the name given to the show landscapes on display - are always created on site. A fortnight ago, I wouldn't have been able to say exactly what would be in them. It all happens in the moment. It took us a total of twelve days to set up.
What was the biggest challenge?
That's hard to say. Perhaps the Hanseatic cog from Bremerhaven. Here, the archaeological findings from the wreck have been incorporated into the reconstruction of the ship model. That's not something you get from Playmobil. I have combined two pirate ships into one. A Hanseatic cog only has one mast, in the centre. I had to cut out a base plate of the ship where you can now see the hatch so that the mast is in the centre. And, very importantly, there is no steering wheel but a capstan. This is specially adapted for this piece so that the experts can't say afterwards: "Hey, there's a steering wheel, that's completely wrong!"
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