Installation - GO MENTAL, Josh Muir. Photo - Alan Weedon.

Melbourne's Futuristic New Gallery For Art + Science

Excitement is high – the latest museum in the international Science Gallery Network opens in Melbourne today!

Writer
Sasha Gattermayr
20th of January 2022

The Science Gallery Melbourne has been operating pop-up events and satellite programs since 2017, but as of today it has its own IRL space!

Located on the corner of Grattan and Swanston Streets in Carlton, the new purpose-built gallery will house workshops, laboratories, social spaces, a learning centre, a theatre and an exhibition space in its 3500 square metres. It is connected to the University of Melbourne and will deliver immersive, interactive exhibitions and events focused on the overlap between art and science.

It’s all part of the international Science Gallery Network, a very cool program that embeds gallery spaces into leading universities around the world with the aim of piquing interest in STEM fields among high school and tertiary students. The experimental exhibitions are designed to engage young people in these education areas by combining scientific theory and technology with contemporary creativity. 

The gallery will open on January 20th with the inaugural exhibition, MENTAL: Head Inside – a display of works by 20 international artists and researchers focussed on the different perspectives around mental health. It was curated collaboratively with a group of young people alongside experts and academics, and features a life-size hamster wheel by artist Hiromi Tango and Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health researcher Dr Emma Burrows, and a new project by Wemba Wemba and Gunditjmara artist Rosie Kalina around rest and reflection. 

And just to make things extra futuristic, the facade is made up of 226 glass bricks which house a phone-sized screen behind each surface – making the building exterior an ever-changing digital canvas. So cool!

Melbourne’s Science Gallery opens on January 20th. – book free tickets to see ‘MENTAL: Head Inside’ here. Learn more about the gallery here, and more about The Science Gallery Network here.

Supported by Science Gallery

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