Bug Lab: Little Bugs, Super Powers exhibition at Melbourne Museum aims to educate and entertain
A NEW immersive exhibition at Melbourne Museum aims to educate and entertain through large-scale models of creepy crawlies.
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BUGS are a lot smarter than we think and their adaptive genius comes to life at Melbourne Museum in the Bug Lab: Little Bugs, Super Powers exhibition from June 23 to October 15.
It features six large-scale bugs — the orchid mantis, bombardier beetle, jewel wasp, dragonfly, Japanese honeybees and katipo, New Zealand’s most dangerous native spider.
A collaboration between Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington and Weta Workshop, Bug Lab will allow visitors to marvel at ultra-detailed large-scale model bugs, discover cutting-edge science and explore the world as bugs through immersive sensory experiences.
The exhibition will also look at how humans are adapting bug technology — from drones inspired by the housefly to spider venom being used for treatment.
Weta Workshop executive officer and design and effects supervisor Richard Taylor says Bug Lab is an experience created by the bugs to show humans their genius traits.
On its origin, Mr Taylor said Te Papa had asked them to pitch some creative ideas around a bug exhibition that would bring joy and delight to people and could be shared around the world.
“We wanted to create a fantastical environment where audiences are delighted to discover the uniqueness of these extraordinary inhabitants of our planet,’’ he said.
Weta Workshop is best known for its creative wizardry featured in movies such as The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, King Kong, Avatar and District 9.
The exhibition will also offer visitors the chance to test their reflexes and see real specimens.
Tickets from $13 — $28.
Details: museumsvictoria.com.au/bug-lab
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