Overview
Melburnians are set to score a brand new place to get a culture fix this winter, when Science Gallery Melbourne opens its doors as part of the University of Melbourne's new innovation precinct. Celebrating the intersection of art and science, the 3800-square-metre site is slated to welcome its first visitors in June, showing off a state-of-the-art gallery complete with a theatre, learning centre, workshop facilities, social areas and a range of exhibition spaces.
It'll be the first permanent home for Science Gallery Melbourne, which has hosted various exhibitions and programs at public spaces and pop-up sites all over the city for the past four years. This major new addition is set to showcase a calendar of immersive, interactive exhibitions and events, and will also feature a significant educational hub in its STEM Centre of Excellence. It's one of a whole suite of Science Gallery museums located in universities around the world, which are dedicated to exploring a fusion of scientific theory, new technology and creativity.
The purpose-built museum has been designed by award-winning architect William Smart of Smart Design Studio, and its fitout is inspired by the hidden forces of nature. Inside, it boasts a dramatic ceiling that appears to warp as you move beneath it, while at the front entrance, the gallery's facade has been constructed from Venetian glass bricks, each housing one of 226 touch-enabled screens, creating a changeable digital canvas for future works and collaborations.
Helping to launch the museum in June, will be opening exhibition Mental: Head Inside, which is set on exploring the societal bias about mental health and diving into the spectrum of our lived realities. It'll showcase 25 new projects and installations from artists local and international, along with a calendar of performances, panel discussions, workshops and public art.
Science Gallery Melbourne is slated to open at the corner of Grattan and Swanston streets, Parkville, on June 15. For further details, head to the museum's website.
Images: Peter Casamento