The special 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 met with the diorama artist Oliver Schaffer: In the interview, he talks about the meticulous reconstruction of historical ship types from classic plastic parts and explains why a saw even had to be used on site to create a true-to-original model.
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 sets 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 maritime history 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. Sometimes I also had to be persuaded a little. I'm always a bit trapped in my Playmobil world. Sometimes you might have to treat me with kid gloves and look over my shoulder. 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 so-called gangway 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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David Ingelfinger
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