A record number of visitors was set at the Montréal Science Center during the holiday season, welcoming approximately 40,000 people in 12 days. We bet it will be very busy during the school holidays too. Curious about how the exhibitions presented there come about? Five point overview.
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Thinking about the trends of today… and tomorrow
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Little Marcel is exploring one of the water table activities.
From seven to ten years. Here is the lifetime of the permanent exhibitions presented at the Montreal Science Center. When the museum team gathers information about current major trends in science and technology to develop a new exhibition, they also need to ensure that the subject under study remains relevant for years to come. Although artificial intelligence is a very interesting topic, it would be a bad idea to only talk about its current applications, explains Cybèle Robichaud, Director of the Science Center, with whom La Presse visited the premises. To create new content, she and her team are “inspired by what is being done elsewhere, but also by [leur] Experience”. For example, when it came time to revamp the Science 26 exhibit, which ran from 2007 to 2019, it was clear that some “favorite” attractions needed to be retained. The giant bubble and water mirror are part of the revamped ones (and multiplied) experiments for the Explore exhibition, which, like its predecessor, deals with grand scientific principles, a subject that never goes out of style.
Focus on interactivity
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The huge kaleidoscope of the Explore exhibition
In order to interest young (and not so young) people in science, the museum relies heavily on interactivity. “Visitors come here not to read a text. You can do that in a book or on the internet. They come for an experience,” explains the director. In each room, visitors are invited to touch objects. How long is an adult intestine? In the Human exhibition, the curious are invited to unwind a six-meter rope to discover it. “One guideline we try to follow when developing experiences is to give our visitors something they can’t experience at home or at school,” adds Cybèle Robichaud. An example ? To explore the theme of light and mirrors, the museum turned to the kaleidoscope. While anyone can get one at the store, nobody has a huge one like the one at the Science Center.
Fix excessive enthusiasm
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The workshop where broken rides are repaired
Museum visitors are sometimes “very enthusiastic,” admits the director. “When you come expect to touch everything, test different mechanisms. It has to be solid, it has to be durable, but sometimes there are surprises in the way visitors use their creativity. Also repaired during the passage of La Presse was an experiment involving a series of tubes in which air propels objects. “We have a team of technicians […] who ensure that the magic continues. That everything is always in very good condition and functional,” explains Cybèle Robichaud. Your “magic” takes place in a workshop on the second floor, where you can find all the equipment needed to carry out repairs of all kinds.
Listen to the audience
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Intended for children from 0 to 7 years, Mini mondo is an awakening to eco-citizenship.
“When creating an exhibition, we set up several moments in development to test elements with our visitors. […] It can be an activity, a prototype. This can be testing a design, a guide or a multimedia game,” reveals Cybèle Robichaud. The participants of this “tester club” are recruited via the Science Center newsletter. For its part, the Mini mondo exhibition, intended for children aged 0 to 7, was tested by families with a migrant background in terms of “inclusion and diversity”. “We wanted them to feel welcome,” says the director. The Science Center also pays particular attention to universal accessibility “so that everyone can benefit from it”.
Navigate through restrictions
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The Dinosaurs Around the World exhibition runs until March 12th.
A tyrannosaurus and a few dinosaur companions stormed one of the exhibition halls until March 12. The impressive size of some specimens caused the museum team some headaches. “Visitors may not notice, but we are in an old hangar in the Port of Montreal that was built in 1908. […] When we built the science center in 2000 we kept the skeleton of the old hangars, which is fantastic for highlighting industrial heritage, but it’s a bit more complicated when you’re doing exhibitions. We have very variable ceiling heights. We have pillars in several places,” explains Cybèle Robichaud. All of these limitations must be taken into account when the museum receives a temporary exhibition. However, the next one should be easy to install, since the Science Center had a hand in its creation. His topic? Ice Hockey. To discover from April.
Learn more
2 or 3 Number of years it takes to design a new permanent exhibition
4 Number of permanent exhibitions in the Science Center: Explore – Big Science, Human, Mini mondo and Fabrik – Creative Challenges. Two temporary exhibitions are also currently on view, Dinosaurs Around the World and Our Climate Quest: Small Steps to Big Change.
Source: Montreal Science Center