The MOC (Museum of Cosmology) is an ambitious museum concept that aims to challenge the way people experience and learn about Space by infusing Science, Tech & the art of storytelling.
The MOC is a curated space that celebrates the nature and beauty of the Cosmos, our place within it and our connection to it. The concept is unique in that it is the first museum dedicated exclusively to the subject of Cosmology and Theoretical Astrophysics. Having visited and studied a variety of Space Exhibits and museums around the world, we noted that the subject Cosmology is usually secondary to that of Cold-War & modern era space exploration. We idetified three main reasons why this is so:
1) Much of what we understand about theoretical cosmology is still being hotly debated in academic circles and the risk of obsoletion is high. For example, Imagine investing hundreds of thousands, or even millions into an installation about the nature of the Andromeda Galaxy, only to learn through research and observation that its actually the opposite of what was once believed.
2) Its much more simple, popular and profitable to simulate aeronautical experiences such as space ship launches, the ISS, or Voyager’s journey across our Solar System, (to name a favourite). Whilst these exhibits can be breathtaking in their execution and concept innovation, the prime focus and the vision they offer is still bounded to our own immediate celestial neighbourhood.
3) The best funded Space Museums often tend to celebrate technology, innovation, and human ambition as a politico-historical tool by the governments that fund them. In some cases, that funding means the museum can afford a brilliant curator and digital experimentalists who capture the crowning achievements through tools like VR. Still this means that once again there is little “space” for the discoveries made beyond our own solar system, arguably since no flag has yet been planted outside of it.
These are just a few of the challenges faced by the MOC’s founders since inception.
This museum shuns the passive model of information and instead focuses on innovative methods of curation.
The proposed curation process borrows its inspiration from the work and pioneering talents of those in the contemporary Art, Tech & Digital Art Installation field. We have worked with animators, UX developers, graphic illustrators, storytellers, software and hardware engineers, UI experts and planetary scientists to help curate our museum from the conceptual to the prototype stage. Since launching we’ve completed mapping our customer experience journey, held related exhibits, and identified three themes we wish to emphasise such as the Life & Death of stars - Extraterrestrial Life - & Time.
The Museum of Cosmology is intended as a nomadic exhibition which is consistent with its flagship initiative, the Laniakea Project. A name which borrows its meaning from ancient Polynesian explorers who traversed the Pacific Ocean using the stars. By the same token, the Project hopes to traverse land and sea to deliver its powerful experience to new lands, in the hopes of spreading knowledge and inspiration in its wake.
The concept originated in Montreal and has continued to be developed by Exosphere Group at present.