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University Museum of Bergen

Deeper than Light

Deeper than Light is an international touring exhibition based upon the discoveries from the MAR-ECO project. MAR-ECO is an international study of the ecosystem and animals inhabiting the northern Mid- Atlantic Ridge. The exhibition is designed, developed and produced by Bergen Museum.

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Deeper than Light invites the visitors to experience the unknown world and discoveries from the deep sea by presenting deep sea animals, art, images, films, models and interactive audiovisual software.

 

The exhibition was opened at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, March 2007, and has been shown in a number of European cities: Genoa( Italy), Helsinki ( Finland), Porto (Porutgal), Essen (Germany), Oslo (Norway), Aberdeen(United Kingdom), Bergen (Norway), Valencia ( Spain) Tromsø and Ålesund ( Norway). The exhibition will be displayed at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Washington DC ( USA) from February 20th to May 23rd 2010.

 

Fascinating and strange-looking deep sea animals like sea spiders, sponges, jellyfishes, and other deep sea organisms, beautifully displayed in glass showcases, get special attention. The full cover photos by David Shale show various fish and animals. Two large exhibition sections of watercolour paintings by the visual artist Ørnulf Opdahl convey impressions of deep sea fishes, animals, and nature as the artist sees it. For more than 50 years the illustrator Thorolv Rasmussen in Bergen illustrated fishes and marine organisms, among them were specimens from the Michael Sars Expedition in 1910. Some of the drawings are shown in the exhibition, colourful and extremely detailed. The exhibition also presents a model of the Ridge showing how advanced deep sea technology and vessels are being used. .

 

”Deeper than Light” is a visual exhibition which highlights exploration and the discovery of the deep sea. An interactive AV presentation of the MAR-ECO project conveys the project’s tasks, challenges, and preliminary results. The Ocean Land, a TV documentary ( 55 min) from the G.O. Sars cruise produced by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), is also part of the exhibition.

 

All this with the fascinating samples is presented on mobile modular panels which mean that it can be adapted to rooms of different sizes and shapes. The exhibition is optionally multilingual; all spoken and written texts are available in different languages and may easily be exchanged.

 

 

The outreach work in the MAR-ECO project has been awarded following prices:

  • 2005: The Research Council of Norway’s prize for outstanding science communication of research.
  • 2007: The EU Descartes Prize for excellence in Science Communication. category of "innovative action for science communication
  • 2007: Census of Marine Life prize: Outstanding Achievement Award for 'Overall Excellence' in science and communication.

More information, see Deeper than Light presentation