David Pickering, Collection Manager, Vertebrate Palaeontology, strengthens the plaster jacket around the dinosaur fossil with help from Darren Hastie, a work placement student.
Image: Paul Chedgey
Source: Museum Victoria
In 2009–2010, the Science and Life gallery will be substantially redeveloped, introducing new exhibitions including Dinosaur Walk. Conceiving of and creating new exhibitions is a long-term collaborative process. For example, each of the 16 skeletons in Dinosaur Walk needs to be painted and articulated in position. To display these, a series of plinths are being built. There will be a ramp and suspended walkway for visitors to get great views of the skeletons. Add to this interactive exhibits, multimedia and graphic displays, and you have plenty of work for the exhibition development team until opening day in April.
Dinosaur Walk features skeletons of international dinosaurs from all the major dinosaur group. "These dinosaurs did not all live in the same place or the same time. The exhibition shows that dinosaurs were a diverse group of animals who were successful over many millions of years," said Tom Rich, Senior Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology. "This reminds us that even seemingly successful animals can become extinct when the environment changes suddenly, as happened at the end of the Cretaceous."
Exhibition development requires a long planning phase and time to test ideas and design concepts. "We did extensive visitor evaluation. This helped to clarify what information to include in the exhibition," said Kate Phillips, Exhibition Curator. As well as testing the content, the structure also needed careful evaluation. The floor plan of the exhibition was mapped out in the space to check that it would fit. "From an engineering point of view one of the most innovative aspects is the suspended walkway above and amongst the skeletons," said Peter Smyth, the Site Manager. "It is a large structure and I felt a bit nervous the day we brought it in but am happy now it is in place".
The exhibition was designed with environmental sustainability criteria in mind. "With input from the RMIT Centre for Design we researched the environmental impact of the materials and processes for building and maintaining the exhibition to help us make informed choice," notes Kathy Fox, Exhibition Producer.
Visitors will have a chance to see the finished product when the exhibition opens in April. "I certainly hope to see people of all ages walking up the ramp and getting amongst the dinosaurs," Phillips commented. "I can predict right now that the dinosaur fart and fossilised poo will be popular exhibits with a certain age group!"