The science of colour is now on display in a new interactive exhibition at Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre.
Colour – see the world in a new light encourages visitors to share and compare their perceptions of colour; create experiences to challenge assumptions; and to show the variety of colour experienced in animals and in the natural world.
Colour leads visitors on a personal journey of discovery, using four themes; Coloured Light, Changing Colours, Seeing Colour and Making Sense of Colour. Blended together these themes create multidimensional experiences for all ages. Visitors to the exhibition will engage with 25 interactive exhibits, ranging from coloured bubbles to iridescent insects and colour illusions. Included in the exhibition is a Room of Missing Colours, an interactive room where lighting cycles change and visitors can explore and reveal the ‘true’ colours of objects using a tight-beamed white torch.
Questacon Exhibition Concepts Manager, Anita Beck, said the new exhibition delves into the ways we use and are affected by colour.
“Colour is everywhere and we use it in our lives every day, but we also all see it differently. One of the highlights of the exhibition is a colour blindness simulator that allows visitors to compare their perspective of common objects with that of an individual with colour blindness. It is an amazing way to experience how different people see their world,” Ms Beck said.
Questacon collaborated with Geoscience Australia and CSIRO’s National Research Collections Australia to develop the exhibition. Both organisations have provided specimens to showcase the role of colour in nature.
“Our biological collections are home to 15 million specimens that we use to describe, understand and manage Australia’s biodiversity. The colours of our biodiversity beautifully illustrate the richness of this resource,” said Dr David Yeates of the Australian National Insect Collection at CSIRO.
“We’re excited to share the most colourful examples from the National Mineral and Fossil Collection, which contains around 200,000 specimens. Colour is the first time any of the Collection has been displayed this way outside of our building in Symonston,” said Geoscience Australia Curator, Steven Petkovski.
Complementing the exhibition Questacon will be offering a range of activities themed around colour for visitors to engage with including Spectacular Science Shows and scientific demonstrations in Q Lab.
Colour will be open at Questacon until February 2019.
Media contact: Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre 02 6270 2917 or communications@questacon.edu.au
