Politics made visible and within reach The PARLAMENTARIUM opened in the heart of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Designed by ATELIER BRÜCKNER, the interactively informative exhibition is an invitation to get closer to European politics, aiming to excite young people for the idea of a common Europe.
The exhibition is set out as a series of experiences and consists of four main areas directly adjacent to the plenary assembly room. In the centre, there is a freely accessible and openly designed area. Numerous high-quality media stations invite people to make direct contact with parliamentarians, find out more about the composition and role of the European Parliament and acquire fundamental knowledge of how the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union interact with each other.
The media desk "United in Diversity", with each of its 90 success stories presented in the form of a narrative, is dedicated to the shared principles of European politics, institutions and programmes. They are assigned to individual places on a projected map of Europe, which the visitor can explore interactively – a map of Europe without borders.
To the left of the main exhibition, there is a 360° cinema, where visitors can take a seat right in the middle of the plenum. While thus being given a close view of what politics is all about in the EU, they learn how the European Parliament works and what role it plays in the international arena. The legislation process is demonstrated vividly and concisely, the result being that visitors gain immersive access to the political activities of the European Parliament. (Media production: Markenfilm Crossing).
Anyone who has a little extra time can also book the Role Play Game (the concept for the contents come from Mediafarm). Step by step and interactively, players discover how legislation is drafted. Over a period of just more than two hours, up to 32 people live the life of EU Parliament members by playing specific roles, joining together to form parties, obtaining information, debating issues and finally having to defend their decisions.
The individual steps within this process are expressed in the visualised narrative space. Colourful party cells (yellow, grey, magenta and green) are surrounded by small screens on which the opinions of individual citizens or lobbyists are presented. Rooms for parliamentary groups and an assembly hall are available. And there is also a room for press conferences, of course. These spaces for the Role Play Game are to the right of the main exhibition.
The exhibition is supplemented with a photo booth where visitors can individually choose from several background motifs that show them in front of or inside the European Parliament. The photo can then be sent home as a digital souvenir.
The contents of the PARLAMENTARIUM in Strasbourg are based on the Brussels PARLAMENTARIUM, which opened in 2011 and has had 1.7 million visitors to date. Another predecessor is the exhibition entitled "Erlebnis Europa – Europa Experience", which was opened in Berlin in May 2016. There, the aim was to prepare the important contents in such a way that they were suitable for a smaller exhibition area. Here in Strasbourg, they are now directly related to the seat of lived European democracy. Visitors find themselves directly in the middle of the main exhibit. Here, seemingly remote political events are suddenly brought very close.
