Making space for new forms of energy
Exploring important issues in a fun way: The special exhibition "energie.wenden" ("energy transitions") can be experienced at the Deutsches Museum from 15th February.
Even the title of the special exhibition at the Deutsches Museum is a call to action: "energie.wenden" (energy turnaround). It brings to life a highly complex, hotly debated issue with creative activities and displays. The exhibition can be seen – and experienced – at the Deutsches Museum starting on 15 February 2017. In an entirely new approach for the Deutsches Museum, energie.wenden (English title: energy.transitions) is centred around multimedia role plays, where the visitors themselves make decisions on the energy turnaround.
What makes this topic a perfect fit for the Deutsches Museum? Museum director Wolfgang M. Heckl explains: "The energy transition is one of the major global issues for the 21st century. It imposes daunting tasks on society, science and technology. With the exhibition, we want to make our contribution to this project – and help to overcome the challenges."
Sabine Gerber, the head of science exhibitions at the Deutsches Museum, is proud of the exhibition – and the role play: "In a sense, it's a rehearsal space for society – a world in miniature." That's because the centrepiece of the exhibition is a game that takes visitors onto the "political dance floor" leading into the main space. There they encounter big screens with key figures in the energy turnaround played by actors. Everyone is there: from the nuclear power lobbyist and the farmer to a woman involved in building hydroelectric and a technician who works on the electric power network. And they all have excellent arguments. Naturally they're all lobbyists. But they know what they're talking about. All of them try to win over visitors with clear demands: "Expand the power networks!" "More electric cars!" The visitors have to sort out the slogans and arguments and decide what kind of energy turnaround they want – and slip into the role of policy makers.
The exhibition planners have come up with a pleasingly analogue solution for analysing the visitor's choices: At the entrance, they will be handed punchcards to indicate the policies they favour. At the exit, they will push the resulting ballot into a reader that will tell them what kind of "energy turnaround" profile they have. "That's a lot of fun. But at the same time, it greatly expands your knowledge of the energy turnaround," says Sarah Kellberg, the head of the special exhibition team. Sabine Gerber adds: "The exhibition is anything but trivial because the topic is very far from it. That's part of the reason why we thought up a fun way of approaching it." As they make their way through the "game", visitors are invited again and again to take a detour through the special thematic areas. To the right and left of the yellow game pathway, a total of nine exhibition areas are dedicated to such topics as solar, water and wind energy, mobility and nuclear energy.
The list of impressive exhibits is extensive. Visitors encounter the first one in the museum courtyard: a large floor with petals made of solar cells. During the day it continuously rotates to face the sun and collect solar energy. At night it folds up its "petals". And it's more than just a novelty: It generates about 4,000 kilowatt hours per year – roughly equal to the amount of power consumed annually by an average European household.
The exhibition itself features a Tesla Roadster, which in 2012 became the first series-produced electric car to drive around the world – in 127 days. As evidence of the power of the sun, visitors can also see a piece of metal with a hole in it. It was produced in a solar power station. "The topic of the energy turnaround has many different facets," says Sarah Kellberg. It touches on such topics as the smart home, emissions trading, storage technologies and radioactivity. Nor is the exhibition limited to the German energy turnaround. It's about the impact on the entire Earth. Kellberg: "The energy turnaround is a task for the century. And it has to be shouldered by society. With this exhibition, we want to show: Yes, the energy turnaround is possible – but how? The exhibition is intended to provide knowledge to help navigate the issues, but also to inspire action. And to show that people can change things."
Sarah Kellberg has high praise for the exhibition design: "The architectural office Space4 and the media production company teamstratenwerth have succeeded in creating a multifaceted exhibition concept with the right information density to allow visitors find their way with ease. There is no fixed route – but there are clear structures. And an amazing space concept."
The exhibition also presents very personal objects. Kellberg: "We put together a gallery of "nonsensical products" that people donated or loaned us for the exhibition. You can only wonder what a battery-operated, yodelling flamingo plush toy is supposed to be good for, how much energy was used to manufacture it, and whether we really need it in our lives." There's also a thematic area on mobility where people can share their most amazing leisure-time experiences – but can also try to calculate the energy costs and CO2 emissions behind their most recent holiday. Sarah Kellberg's favourite installation is a periscope that looks across the exhibition area – with a control that lets the user set various levels of air pollution.
Numerous curiosities will also be on display – for instance a nuclear energy lab set for children. "Especially in the nuclear energy sector, advocates were once convinced that their technology would solve all of the world's problems," says Kellberg. "In our exhibition, we would never claim to have found a global solution for the energy turnaround. What we can say, however, is where certain things have worked well – and what new possibilities are emerging." Designed as a touring exhibition, energie.wenden may be headed to Japan after the stint at the Deutsches Museum. Discussions are under way with an interested organisation there.
The exhibition will be open to the public at the Deutsches Museum in the special space in the New Technology Centre, Level 1 until 19 August 2018.
Weitere Informationen:
http://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/exhibitions/special-exhibitions/energiewenden/
Die semantisch ähnlichsten Pressemitteilungen im idw
