The Main Exhibition of the Museum of Tomorrow, conceived based on a curatorial proposal by the doctor in cosmology Luiz Alberto Oliveira, in partnership with a team of specialized consultants, occupies the second floor of the Museum, where the public is led through a narrative structured in five main areas: Cosmos, Earth, Anthropocene, Tomorrows and Us, which add up to more than 40 experiences available in Portuguese, Spanish and English.
Cosmos addresses the idea that we are made of the same stuff as the stars, connecting us with the universe and our origins. Here, visitors begin to address the questions that will guide their journey: what are the dimensions of our existence? How did we get here? What future do we want?
In Terra, three large cubes, seven meters high, with content that investigates the three dimensions of existence: Matter, Life and Thought. In the Life cube, for example, DNA, an element common to all species, is represented on the outside. Inside, the diversity and interconnectivity of life in the Atlantic Forest appear in a selection of photos produced during three expeditions carried out in the Guanabara Bay ecosystem.
The next area, Anthropocene, the focal point of the Main Exhibition experience, addresses the understanding that human activity has become a geological force: we are transforming the composition of the atmosphere, modifying the climate, altering biodiversity, changing the course of rivers. All life on Earth will have to adapt to these new times full of uncertainty – and opportunities.
The Tomorrows space focuses on major global trends. There are more and more people in the world, living much longer. Gigantic cities and hyperconnectivity. We will live on a planet with intense changes in climate and biodiversity. We will continue to expand the frontiers of knowledge and improve technologies. How and where will we live? Visitors are invited to think about issues of sustainability and coexistence.
The tour ends with an exercise of imagination in Nós, which proposes that visitors engage in the idea that Tomorrow begins now, with the choices we make. Today is the place for action.
Cosmos
The first experience of the long-term exhibition at the Museum of Tomorrow, Cosmos addresses the view that we are made of the same stuff as the stars, connecting us with the Universe and our origins. Here, visitors begin to deal with the questions that will guide their journey. How did we get here?
Inside a dome, visitors are immersed in a 360-degree projection, traveling through galaxies, the heart of atoms and the interior of the Sun. They witness the formation of the Earth, the development of life and thought, manifested through art. The idea is that visitors can experience dimensions of our natural existence that we are not accustomed to experiencing without resorting to scientific instruments. From the micro to the macro, from astronomical magnitudes to subatomic scales.
This is a sensorial, poetic, and motivating experience that presents us with the Cosmos as an evolutionary totality that far surpasses us, encompasses us, and constitutes us. Next to the dome, in the area called Cosmic Horizons, it is possible to deepen your knowledge with the help of six interactive screens. One of the ethical axes of the Museum of Tomorrow is that of coexistence. Our experiences were created to involve everyone, without distinction. However, in order to maintain the quality of the experience, we do not provide subtitles when showing the Cosmic Portal film. Check out the transcription of the content narrated in the film:
Terra
The second part of the Main Exhibition, Earth, is associated with the question “Who are we?”. We are matter, life and thought. Far from being isolated, these three dimensions interact with each other and, in the exhibition, they are represented by three seven-meter-high cubes.
All cubes have an interior and an exterior side. In the Matter cube, from the outside, visitors have a unified view of the Earth, as seen by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. The Earth is seen not in its fragmented form, in countries or continents, but as a single star. In this experience, visitors see around 180 highly magnified photographs of the Earth. Inside the cube, visitors will become familiar with the different rhythms that mark the material functioning of the planet. Different flows are called “oceans”.
The very slow movement of tectonic plates – a few centimeters per year –, the faster movement of ocean currents, the much faster ballet of winds in the air and the extremely rapid evolution of sunlight. These four rhythms combine to produce a new rhythm, which is the rhythm of the climate, of the succession of seasons.
Next, we have the Cube of Life, whose “skin” refers to the biochemical support of the basic code that coordinates the composition and development of all living beings, DNA; while the interior presents the immense variety of organisms, which interact in multiple ways and integrate to form ecosystems. The diversity and interconnectivity of life in the Atlantic Forest appear in a selection of photos produced during three expeditions carried out especially for the Museum of Tomorrow. We present the ecosystem of Guanabara Bay, where the Museum of Tomorrow is located, in its varied habitats, from the top of Serra dos Órgãos to the coastal waters. We also exhibit the microbial ecosystem that each of us carries, and on which our health depends.
The third cube, finally, presents the dimension of Thought. On the outside, we once again have a unifying element: our nervous system, which is essentially the same in all human beings. From this fundamental identity, however, results the incredible diversity of cultures, illustrated by hundreds of images that portray different aspects of our lives, feelings and actions – how we inhabit, celebrate, fight, belong.
Antropoceno
The Anthropocene is the central moment of the Main Exhibition: both spatially, since it is located right in the middle of the route, and conceptually, since it discusses our condition and that of the planet. Anthropocene is a term coined by Paul Crutzen, Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry in 1995. The Greek prefix “anthropo” means human; and the suffix “ceno” denotes geological eras.
This is, therefore, the moment in which we find ourselves today: the Epoch of Humans. The Epoch in which Homo sapiens realizes that civilization has become a force with planetary reach and geological duration and scope. There are billions of us in the world and we continue to multiply.
This is, therefore, the moment in which we find ourselves today: the Epoch of Humans. The time in which Homo sapiens realizes that civilization has become a force of planetary scope and geological duration and scope. There are billions of us in the world and we continue to multiply.
From a biological point of view, this is a growth equivalent to that of a colony of bacteria: an extremely explosive pace, in a very short period of time. We have become planetary: there is not a single region today that is not directly or indirectly affected by all human activity. In the Anthropocene, therefore, the question to be explored is: “Where are we?”, and the time is “Today”.
In the exhibition, six ten-meter-high totems feature audiovisual content about how we have shaped the planet and extreme climate change. Inside the totems, the characteristics of each of the antecedents that formed this new era and their contemporary evidence. In other words, historical processes have allowed us to go from approximately 5 million Homo sapiens approximately 12 thousand years ago to the 7 billion individuals that we are today.
Amanhãs
The Tomorrows area focuses on major global trends that will see more people living much longer in the world. Giant cities and hyperconnectivity. Living with people from the most diverse cultures and lifestyles will be part of our daily lives. How and where will we live? Visitors are invited to think about issues of sustainability and coexistence in three areas: Society, Planet and Human.
There are many possible Tomorrows, full of unforeseen events. In the coming decades, we will probably be even more numerous, some living much longer. We will inhabit megacities, but with great social inequalities. We will live on a planet with intense changes in climate and biodiversity. We will continue to expand the frontiers of knowledge and perfect technologies, modifying our bodies and minds and expanding our presence in the Solar System. In a future of uncertainty and challenges, we will build Tomorrows based on our own choices, individual and collective.
Tomorrow is defined by the question “Where are we going?”. The simulations, estimates and projections associated with this moment are arranged in an “origami”. It demarcates three areas, presenting six trends that will shape the future in the coming decades. The demarcated areas concern coexistence (society), living (planet), and being (person). The six trends are climate change; the increase in the world population by approximately 3 billion people in the next fifty years; the integration and differentiation of peoples, regions and individuals; the alteration of biomes; the increase in the number, capacity and variety of artifacts that we produce; and, lastly, the tendency towards the expansion of knowledge.
These trends are presented in historical perspective through games, including the Civilization Game, based on a model studied by NASA. By examining examples from the past, the development and collapse of civilizations can be measured using variables such as resource consumption, population size, and social inequality. In the game, it is possible to control certain parameters going forward to make a civilization persevere or collapse.
Nós
The Main Exhibition ends with the exercise of imagination in Nós, proposing that visitors engage in the idea that Tomorrow begins now, with the choices we make. We live on a planet that has been profoundly transformed by our own intervention. Today is the place for action. What will our legacy be for future generations?
Our actions, no matter how small they may seem, can change the world. If we connect with the planet and with each other in our differences, we will be a bridge to a sustainable future. It is always dawning, somewhere on the planet. Each dawn is always the same and also always different. Each of us makes our own Tomorrow. And together we make ours – the Tomorrows we want.
We are structured around the environment of a hut, which symbolizes a house of indigenous knowledge, where members of the tribe's families and clans come to gather and the oldest repeat to the youngest the legends, narratives, and stories that form the foundation of their culture.
After experiencing the vastness and variety of the Cosmos, the information and experiences surrounding the dilemmas we face, it is time to reflect on ourselves a little and reflect on how we want to live with the world – for sustainability – and with others – for coexistence. Here the emphasis is not on information, but rather on the values we share with the visitor.
It is also here that the visitor finds the only physical object in the museum's collection: a churinga. This artifact of the Australian Aborigines, which seems enigmatic to us, is actually a tool. However, it is not used for drilling or cutting: it is a symbolic utensil. For that people and many others, it serves as a temporal tool, associating the past with the future. The knowledge of past generations is passed on to future generations. The churinga thus represents the very continuity of the people and their culture.
It is also here that visitors will find the only physical object in the museum's collection: a churinga. This artifact from the Australian Aborigines, which may seem enigmatic to us, is actually a tool. However, it is not used for drilling or cutting: it is a symbolic tool. For this people and many others, it serves as a temporal tool, connecting the past with the future. The knowledge of past generations is passed on to future generations. The churinga thus represents the very continuity of the people and their culture.
The slender carved wooden object left the arid Australian desert in the 19th century to land on the pier at Praça Mauá in the 21st century. Interestingly, its basic design is quite similar to the shape conceived by architect Santiago Calatrava. Coincidence, destiny, shape – everything conspires, therefore, to make it a more than appropriate symbol for the mission that the Museum of Tomorrow proposes: to awaken to the sustainability of life and peaceful coexistence among all human beings.
