Drents Museum in the Netherlands has launched a radically different presentation of its permanent collection.

The 170-year-old museum teamed up with exhibition design agency Northern Light to create Labyrinthia, a new way of experiencing the highlights of its collection, which include the Yde Girl (an iron age bog body), paintings by Van Gogh and the world's oldest boat.

Labyrinthia invites visitors to go on a journey through 15 rooms, each focused on just one artefact, with a range of activities aimed at bringing the stories to life.

"In Labyrinthia you can look with your hands, smell the paint of the Northern Figuratives and touch shards from the time of the dolmen builders," according to Drents Museum's website.

"Learn the techniques of the mammoth hunters, pose with the jewellery of the Princess of Zweeloo and dance at a farmer's wedding."

Each room has been designed to highlight the artefacts - dark, oppressive colours create an eerie atmosphere in the room dedicated to the Yde girl, while a bright blue space adds a modern twist to the gallery dedicated to the realist art of Matthijs Röling.

“We wanted to help visitors really understand these masterpieces through stories,” said Northern Light director Peter Slavenburg.

“Labyrinthia is kind of like a book of fairytales, except that all of the fairytales are true.”