'a vortex of new possibilities'
Science Gallery at the University of Melbourne’s journey started with a provocation from young people - that the gallery should be a “porous membrane, a vortex of new possibilities”. It was this starting point that led to an ambitious new gallery that ignites curiosity, experimentation and creativity at the intersection of art and science for a young adult audience.
Part of the acclaimed Global Science Gallery Network pioneered by Trinity College Dublin, Science Gallery Melbourne brings a southern hemisphere flair to its innovative and inclusive program to engage 15-30-year-olds and includes the STEM Centre of Excellence for school learning experiences in partnership with the Victorian State Government’s Department of Education. The gallery breaks the rules of traditional museums and galleries and is an inclusive place of bold experimentation that gives audiences the agency to be change makers by exploring future-focused themes that really matter to young people. With the belief that young people can tackle some of the greatest global challenges of our time, the gallery empowers the next generation with new ways of thinking and to spark ideas around radical action on challenges like the climate crisis, mental health and the rapid rise of our own technology.
Despite the odds of being built during the global pandemic and four attempts to open the gallery during state-imposed lockdowns, Science Gallery Melbourne has now become in important addition to Australia’s museums and gallery sector.
Since opening its doors in 2022, and through pop-up programming while the gallery was being built, Science Gallery Melbourne has now welcomed over 200,000 visitors, provided employment opportunities for over 100 young people, collaborated with over 400 artists and scientists, and toured two exhibitions internationally.
by Alan Weedon
‘Joyful, colourful… a gallery that delights’
The Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA) National Awards recognise excellence across the Australian museum and gallery sector and aim to inspire and recognise social impact and innovation in the collecting sector and encourage the continuous improvement and development of Australian museums and galleries. “The AMaGAs are our annual celebration of the museum and gallery sector and showcase the wonderful work that museums and galleries do in their communities and provide visibility for projects of national significance”, Katie Russell, National Director, AMaGA.
Science Gallery Melbourne received the 2023 AMaGA National award for Permanent exhibition or gallery fit out, recognising the gallery as a new permanent site within Melbourne’s cultural landscape, its launch in 2022, and its first year of operation after the major disruption of the Covid pandemic.
Designed by Smart Design Studio, the gallery design of 3500 square meters of cutting-edge, immersive exhibition and learning spaces, boldly achieves its audience-led objective and provides a welcoming, experimental and social space. To ensure visitors experience the gallery as a living and dynamic place, Smart Design Studio created an agile and open space that is modular, can be easily manipulated and minimises waste. All elements within the space support this idea including a dramatic, gridded ceiling that supports huge mobile walls that can be configured to create backdrops or rooms. This sustainable approach to a gallery is further supported by being situated with the University of Melbourne’s innovation district Melbourne Connect, a six-star green rated building designed by Woods Bagot in collaboration with Arup, Aspect Studios and Lendlease. The building is home to one of Melbourne’s largest rooftop solar PV arrays, geothermal energy, on-site rainwater and Indigenous Australian landscape design in Womin-djerring, a central courtyard named after the Woiwurrung word for “come together” by the traditional owners of the land of the site of the gallery, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation.
The gallery design is further recognised by a Victorian Architecture Awards accolade, being recipient of an Award for Interior Architecture. Writes the award jury:
“It is a gallery that delights upon visitation and skilfully showcases an eclectic series of events and exhibitions in constant evolution. As an interior, it extends an invitation to come back and explore some more. Joyful, colourful and effortless in its execution yet complex and precise in its operation, the Science Gallery achieves what the gallery aims to showcase, an exploration in the collision of science, art and innovation.”
Mental SGM Opening
Creativity, collaboration and cultural change
Few museums or galleries have a focused target audience of young adults, with Science Gallery Melbourne placing 15 to 30 yr olds at the heart of everything that we do. Young people are provided with a voice in the themes and content of all our exhibitions and the agency to tackle the global challenges that really matter through peer-to-peer conversations and hands-on interactive experiences.
It is this unique approach that was noted by the AMaGA National Award panel, who highlighted that Science Gallery Melbourne “demonstrates accessible, inclusive and provocative programming. The focus on young people and their engagement in the community and the science and cultural sectors is commendable”
The gallery’s programs delve into a broad range of themes that are future focused and really matter. For young people, mental health was the number one topic they wanted explored and was the theme chosen for MENTAL the inaugural exhibition in the new gallery. This wasn’t an exhibition about mental illness, treatments or cures but rather a welcoming space to confront societal bias and stereotypes around mental health. The exhibition highlighted that we are all on our own mental health journey through life, just not all journeys are equal, promoting an inclusive approach to understanding mental health through art and science. MENTAL further toured to ArtScience Museum in Singapore, having a wider engagement across Asia Pacific, and was pertinent as we all grabbled with the impact of Covid on our lives.
Science Gallery Melbourne has subsequently explored social behaviour and sustainability, gender, race and identity, and the quest to discover dark matter within our universe, and developed school education experiences for over 200 schools including an Indigenous STEAM learning program, collaboration with Victorian College for the Deaf and piloted the concept of a global classroom. Science Gallery Melbourne's deeply collaborative programming practices thereby encourages artists, scientists and young people to challenge the status quo. In doing so, the gallery is having transformative impacts on the next generation and a ripple-effect in promoting cultural shifts both locally and globally. It is with this real impact in mind, that yes, a gallery can drive social change.