Curating Crises Featured at Royal Society Summer Exhibition 2023
The Royal Society’s annual Summer Science Exhibition is one of the most prestigious science public engagement events, in the United Kingdom and been running for more than 200 years.
The findings of the Curating Crises project through the exhibit ‘Sensing Volcanoes’ was included as one of the nine (9) flagship exhibits at the 2023 installation of the exhibition.
Sensing Volcanoes was a hands-on installation that explored the recent volcanic histories of the Eastern Caribbean islands with specific focus on St Vincent and Montserrat; drawing on world-leading experts in volcanology and archived material to illustrate the realities of living in the shadow of a volcano.
The exhibition was developed as part of the Curating Crises Project, a collaboration between researchers at the University of East Anglia (UK), University of Oxford (UK), The Royal Society (UK) and The National Archives (UK), The Seismic Research Center (UWI-SRC) and the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO). It is funded through the UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) ‘Hidden Histories’ research grant.
By uncovering the previously hidden roles of local and experiential knowledge in shaping responses to volcanic crises, this work is acting as a lens to explore more widely how colonial influences have impacted the creation and circulation of knowledge. The exhibit drew on archive materials from the British Geological Survey, the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Institution (Washington DC), the Montserrat National Trust, the Montserrat Public Library, and the Yorkshire Museum. Our work is supported through funding from the AHRC-NERC Hidden Histories programme, the Royal Society and a UKRI GNCA award to the University of Oxford.
Visitors to the exhibits were able to meet the researchers, and see how studying the sights, smells, sensations and sounds of past volcanic activity can help us understand when another eruption might be imminent – and also help us to mitigate its impacts; explore how the instruments used to detect signals from volcanoes have evolved over the last 150 years, with the opportunity to try some for themselves and; Listen to a selection of stories from the people of Montserrat and St Vincent, including eye-witness accounts of the volcanic eruptions.
A key attraction was ‘The Imaginarium’: an interactive digital floor which simulates what happens during a volcanic eruption, both the hazards at the surface and the magmatic processes taking place deep underground. Produced by a collaboration between scientists and artists using real data from the 2020-21 eruption of La Soufrière St Vincent, the installation reconstructs the sub-surface movements of magma and gases before and during the eruption. This will enable visitors to experience the seismic shifts of an active Caribbean volcano before playing ‘The Floor is Magma!’: an interactive game which tests your decision-making skills as you imagine what might be happening beneath a volcanic island.
MVO’s Education and Outreach Coordinator – Ms Thiffanie Williams represented the MVO and had this to say about the exhibition: “The exhibition was an interactive and multi-sensory display that allowed visitors to experience life on a volcanic island and how scientist and local persons use their senses to forecast volcanic eruptions.”
Ms Williams added: “We had quite a few persons with Montserrat connection visit the exhibition and they were able to view some of the work that was done through the Curating Crises to help to bring to the forefront stories of how persons in the past would have responded to volcanic eruptions.”
Featured on the exhibit, were pictures of the murals that were created across the island as part of the Curating Crises Project with the aim of increasing volcanic risk awareness and to celebrate Montserrat’s rich history, culture and environment.
The Royal Society’s Summer Science Exhibition took place between Tuesday 4 – Sunday 9 July at 6 – 9 Carlton House Terrace, London. Full information can be found on the Curating Crises website: https://curatingcrises.omeka.net/exhibits/show/sensing-royal-society/sensing-volcanoes
