MADELEN BODIN IS senior lecturer and director of Curiosum at Umeå University.
"We're so excited. But at the same time, there's so much to do that I hardly have time to feel anything. We can finally implement the things we've planned for in the last year. We're moving into such a nice building and are confident it will be great."
Autumn term is a hectic period when everything needs to be put in place. And a lot will be squeezed into the 2,000 sqm facility: installations and exhibitions, a dome theatre, educational programmes and workshops for experiments, exploration and creativity including a chemistry workshop, technology workshop, textile workshop and digital production workshops with 3D printers and laser cutters.
At Curiosum, visitors are encouraged to learn in a creative way by exploring, watching, listening, feeling and making their own products. The objective is to encourage interest in knowledge and curiosity for science and technology.
"We'll be using Umeå University research to create activities and we hope that many researchers will want to contribute. Our lecture hall, Black box, fits 100 people and we're planning on housing outreach activities, lectures, theatre performances and shows here," says Madelen Bodin.
IN THE NEW YEAR, Curiosum will be opening gradually and the staff will be fine-tuning their activities and offerings by inviting school classes — as the younger population is a very important target audience.
At Umevatoriet, many requests had to be turned down. The current expansion will allow for the capacity of school visits to be doubled. Curiosum will in time aim to reach out to all pupils in Umeå municipality, including surrounding towns and villages, from pre-school to upper-secondary school level. In doing so, young people's families and friends will also get to know Curiosum and can pay a visit in their spare time.
"We'll be an important part of reaching out with the research conducted at the University. The central location on Umeå Arts Campus makes our science centre accessible.
And the closeness to Bildmuseet, which is also a public place, strengthens our opportunities of reaching new target audiences. Umeå municipality is the collaborative partner and sponsor. The municipality bangs the big drum and sees Curiosum and Bildmuseet as a promising upcoming tourist attraction in Umeå. With that, Curiosum will offer generous opening hours both day and night as well as on school holidays and weekends. And there will be a shop and a café.
Curiosum also has an important task of contributing with skills supply in society. Outreach with the local industry and jointly finding new ways of encouraging children and adolescents to get an education, particularly in science and technology, is an important part of Curiosum's role.
The creative environment also acts as an inspiration to other actors in the building. The third floor houses eXpression Umeå, an incubator for cultural and creative industries, and Kulturverket with an objective to promote aesthetical learning processes in children.
A DONATION FROM the Knut and Alice Wallenberg through the national project Wisdome has enabled the establishment of a digital dome theatre for planetarium viewings and 360 degree films with scientific themes. The Wisdome investment on public scientific visualisations is led from the Visualisation Centre in Norrköping. Other participating parties are Universeum in Gothenburg, the Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm and Malmö Museer.
"It feels comforting to share experiences and collaborate with similar organisations. Using competence from the Visualisation Centre provides good conditions for Curiosum as we're in the start-up phase."
"The real public opening will take place when the dome theatre is finished in spring 2020," says Madelen Bodin and reveals that the first dome production will cover digital special effects in film and computer games.
MADELEN BODIN AND her staff have practically worked from a suitcase over the last year as they have been evacuated to a temporary location in the town centre. Merging two organisations — Sliperiet and Umevatoriet — signifies a number of challenges.
"I have fantastic co-workers who make this possible. We merge plenty of experiences into this new organisation."
"In five years, I think Curiosum will be a creative learning environment that continues to develop and arouse curiosity and interest in science and technology.
Curiosum is an exciting place to visit in the region and tourists from all over the North come to visit Umeå thanks to us. I hope that all Umeå inhabitants will be familiar with Curiosum and that people come back to us since our activities and experiences encourage continuous explorations."
TEXT: INGRID SÖDERBERG PHOTO: MATTIAS PETTERSSON
This text was published in Aktum no 2 2019.