MUSEUMS
Thinking big and aiming high are what has made this museum successful. The building is the bridge between the science world and the art world
How is the story presented? Unlike most science museums, we didn’t have a collection of specimens to put on show. Instead, we decided the museum would be a collection of concepts. Each gallery tells a story relating to
Panama. Instead of exhibit cases we have large murals, sculptures and interactive elements. This approach meant that with every gallery we had to start afresh, because nothing is repeated. The story is told in large items, which represent large ideas, and are complemented with small, detailed elements which will tell the whole story.
What were the main challenges? The main challenge is the complexity of building a building with North American quality control, but with Panamanian labour. The style in Panama is usually fast and cheap, so a lot of processes took longer because of the learning curve and these delays cost money.
What stage is the museum at now? The fi rst fi ve galleries opened in October and we had more than 60,000 visits in the fi rst six months: 60 per cent of which were from Panama. We’re still fundraising for the fi nal three galleries, which are architectural
spaces currently being used for temporary exhibits. They are the most expensive ones, and will house an aquarium.
It is a very expensive project. Was it the right move to be so bold? Thinking big and aiming high are what has made this museum successful. It’s true that having an architectural
masterpiece makes Biomuseo relevant to whole sections of the public who wouldn’t otherwise be interested in biodiversity. The building is the bridge between the science world and the art world. It’s been diffi cult, but it’s undeniably been worth it.
The permanent exhibition is titled Panama: Bridge of Life, and consists of eight galleries
36
attractionsmanagement.com
AM 2 2015 ©CYBERTREK 2015
PHOTO: FERNANDO ALDA
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104