DARK Matters exhibition attracts more than 40,000 visitors

The DARK Matters exhibition last year helped the Science Gallery attract its highest number of visitors since opening its doors.

The exhibition aimed to explore the fundamental essence of life and the universe, and how so much of it remains a mystery.

In collaboration with the Science Gallery and Arts at CERN, it featured the work of local and international artists who developed pieces exploring life and all the dark matter that flows through it, in some cases collaborating with scientists and researchers from the CDM.

A total of 41,910 people attended the DARK Matters exhibition, with 89 percent reporting they were satisfied with their visit.

Of the visitors, 85 percent were first-time visitors to the Science Gallery who witnessed special dark matter-related talks and events.

A book created as a complement to the exhibition is titled ‘Sight Unseen’ and features the SABRE South experiment on its cover.

The book is available through Perimeter Books Perimeter books and features a contribution from Elisabetta Barberio.

Inspired by the first image of a supermassive black hole in 2019, the book considers phenomena in our universe and once hidden from human sight, now made visible through the combined efforts and outputs of artists and scientists.

It is a collection of essays and images that draws on Western and First Nations knowledge systems to ask readers to see together.

The DARK Matters exhibition was a collaboration between the Science Gallery, Arts at CERN and the CDM, and was co-curated by Head of Arts at CERN, Monica Bello, and Head of Curatorial at Science Gallery Melbourne, Tilly Boleyn, in collaboration with a curatorial panel of young people.