The cultural center Knokke-Heist in Belgium  - ever since the concert of the Beach Boys in  1987  the "Surfers Paradise" of the North Sea coast -  presented  the exhibition „Surfing – The Cult of Cool“  . On  700 qm it showed the fascination and richness the of surfing culture that has so many actives and passive followers at the Belgian coast.

In 5 thematical scenarios the visitors were brought to the  surfing heritage and future, fashion and boards, heroes and legends as well as present professionals and music, films and photography.
The exhibition presents surfing's iconic "way of life" while focussing on the essential Hawaian "Aloha Spirit" that binds surfers up to our present time.

Totems was commissioned by the cultural center Scharpoord in Knokke-Heist for the concept, design and production including all content and image research. Texts were written by Simone Knaapen. An essential input in stories and spirit came from  „Surfers Paradise“ by Frank van Leenhove.

A surfsimulator and a virtual reality-experience with original photos from Hawaii barrelsurfing alongside a range of events  completed the exhibition.

The traditional surfboard shaper Tom „Pohaku“ Stone from Hawaii came all along and and did some live shaping and told the visitors about surfing heritage, the essence of their living with nature and the soul of surfing. The surfboard constructor „Flow and Soul“ from Zeebrugge presented custom-boards made in Belgium.

Trust your Senses – Awareness Experience is an interactive happening exhibition, designed for the employees of BOSCH Automotive as a worldwide container tour.
Please click the following link for the tour: https://www.bosch-awarenessroom.com/en/home/

The purpose is raising awareness of the staff to improve the quality of production by the 3 senses: feeling, watching and listening.
So defective products and faulty processes ought to be recognised and avoided.
Attention and concentration will be trained actively and passively by games and tasks at the particular exhibits.

Totems created the concept, the design, the architecture inside and was also responsible for the implementation.
It was a really exciting work which requires a lot of time, good intuition and creativity together with a lot of fun, as we tried all games ourselves.
We did it!

The fischer Truck on Tour. Totems created the interior of the multi functional mobile training, exhibition and experience center of the fischer company.
Carftsmen can now expand their knowledge in small groups in theorie and practise.  On board they will meet the fischer-experts of fastening and fixing with  Know-how and practical tipps.

It was an exciting and sometimes difficult work, which Totems lead with fun and enthusiasm to an interesting solution.

Der fischer Truck on Tour. Totems gestaltete den Innenraum des multifunktionalen mobilen Schulungs-, Ausstellungs- und Erlebniscenters der Firma fischer.
Handwerker können nun vor Ort in kleinen Gruppen ihr Fachwissen in Theorie und Praxis erweitern.  Immer mit an Bord sind die  erfahrenen fischer Befestigungsexperten mit Know-how und praktischen Tipps.

Es war eine spannende und zeitweise diffizile Arbeit, die aber in letzter Konsequenz viel Spass machte und zu einem tollen Ergebnis führte.

The central Dutch pavilion in Hall 3 was quite unique in many ways. As for sheer size - its total 3.000 sq.m. surface housed a colourful community of 30 innovative Dutch companies and organisations that presented themselves in an energetic, totally open and entrepreneurial atmosphere. Two large stages housed an extensive program of lectures and (TED-)talks. 

The architectural concept was based on kite surfing. It represents the Dutch spirit in a nutshell, with its dynamic forward movement. The huge shapes served as eye-catchers and proved to be magnets for visitors at the fair. The setup enabled maximum exchange and openness; the pavilion presented thus a mentality, a culture of innovation and cross-thinking. The reception was phenomenal.

Check out the official press release of the Hannover Messe.

The renderings for this project were particularly breathtaking. In order to visualize the envisioned world of lighting, colours, reflections and fine detail, we asked help from our creative partner PixelPool - specialists in visualization of retail spaces and exhibits.