Year 2 Creative Business students visit Fenix Museum in Rotterdam

Nikova agrees: 'I learnt a lot by just being here—also observing the staff and the video installations, thinking: "I can do that."'

This block, all second-year Creative Business (CB) students visited the Fenix Museum in Rotterdam, a new art museum dedicated to migration. The visit aligned perfectly with the Lasting Impact course, which focuses on creating meaningful impact campaigns.

'Very insightful to see how they made the museum so immersive,' says Nadezhda Nikova, a second-year CB student from Bulgaria. 'For example, how they installed speakers above your head with isolated sound just for you.'

With a tailored learning assignment in mind, students navigated through installations like the 'Suitcase Labyrinth', a collection of thousands of suitcases accompanied by an audio tour sharing the stories of their former owners.

'The Suitcase Labyrinth was very interesting,' explains Federico Binaghi, a 21-year-old CB student. 'You can scan a suitcase and hear a personal story as if you're on the phone with them. One story was about a lady who fled the war in Ukraine with her cat. I really connected with that because I also have a cat.'

The brand-new museum, which opened in May, has received positive reviews and media attention worldwide. Through various art installations and photo exhibitions, it powerfully illustrates the impact of migration. 'The Family of Migrants' brings together 200 photographs from around the world, each depicting a unique migration story.

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/arts/design/fenix-museum-migration-rotterdam.html

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/may/15/migration-is-not-always-a-story-of-suffering-the-dutch-museum-telling-the-full-story-of-global-diaspora