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Live specimens in science exhibitions

Find this session's presentations here.

In this workshop, you will go on a speeddate with life and select the perfect match for our science zoo.

Life is a complex ‘thing’: it can grow, fight, dance around. It’s majestic, complex, and all around. But can we include living things in science exhibitions?

In this, science centres face a challenge. They often treat life as a topic, but living things are mostly absent from science centers, despite the powerful impact living organisms can have on visitors.

Their focus is often on more hands-on-interactivities and visitor-“action” – which seems difficult to achieve with living things. Which role can living things play in a hands-on environment?

In this session, three speakers will break the ice by sharing their experiences with science exhibitions on the topic of life. We will then go on a speed date with different organisms, each contending to be part of an exhibition. Each organism will be tested on its suitability for display and we will generate ideas on how to show its best and most lively side. We will finally fit the organisms starring in the exhibition on a floor plan - those lively enough to get the ‘swipe right’.

Facilitator

Director
Amsterdam
Netherlands

Session speakers

Director Exhibition Development
Heilbronn
Germany
Dr. Christian Sichau will share experiences as director of exhibition development of Experimenta, one of the largest science centers in Germany. He will give a first glimpse of exhibitions in the grand renewal of the science center, and share his experiences in developing an exhibition that shows the complexity of life matter.
AMNH_JenniferChow
Director of Global Business Development
Jennifer Chow from the American Museum for Natural History will talk about her approach to show life in natural history exhibitions. The focus of her talk will be on living things in traveling exhibitions.
Deputy director
Strasbourg
France
Christel Le Delliou will talk about the lively garden kept in Le Vaisseau, Strasbourg. Here, children can discover biodiversity and interact with all kinds of species - bees, ants, vegetables. Christel will share approaches and best practices in her experiences of incorporating life in a science center.