From October 29, 2024, the time has finally come: the new permanent exhibition "MISSION: KERAMIK" on technical ceramics at Porzellanikon Selb will officially open its doors to all visitors.
In the new permanent exhibition, Porzellanikon - State Museum of Porcelain - is implementing a concept that is typical of science centers: scientific content is presented with emotions, participation, digital elements, games and lots of fun. "MISSION: CERAMICS" is an experience exhibition in comic style. The new way of communicating aims to involve museum visitors in an exciting story, the course of which they determine themselves. They are part of a mission on whose path they experience and learn many new things. Characters that embody the properties of the material accompany the exhibition visitors through a story like in a science fiction film, which begins with chaos and ends with the salvation of the world. Current standards of museum education, participation and digitalization invite visitors to learn and experience exciting facts about technical ceramics in a storytelling style that is both practical and scientifically sound. State-of-the-art communication through augmented reality makes the exhibition a groundbreaking experience for the whole family. The exhibition is aimed at children, young people, families, school classes and individual visitors who are interested in technical experiments, hands-on stations and science centers.
The high-tech material ceramic has become an indispensable part of modern high technology. Technical ceramics have enormous potential for the future in a wide variety of areas. As a relatively young group of materials, it is the subject of intensive research. Despite this, technical ceramics are hardly known to the general public. At school, ceramics are at most used in handicrafts lessons and in science courses they usually only play a minor role compared to metals and plastics, even though they can be found everywhere in everyday life and have fascinating properties.
When redesigning the permanent exhibition on technical ceramics, it was therefore important to present these materials from the outset and make them tangible. Visually, they are relatively inconspicuous: parts made of technical ceramics are usually very inconspicuous and small and invisible from the outside when incorporated into everyday objects. But the stories and phenomena that can be told about these materials are incredibly fascinating. The exhibition therefore focuses on precisely these stories and phenomena, with which the exhibition aims to surprise, inspire and captivate visitors. In comic book style, visitors themselves become part of a space mission in which emotions, participation, play and fun take center stage.
New permanent exhibition at Porzellanikon Selb "MISSION: CERAMICS" © Porzellanikon
At the beginning, chaos awaits the museum guests: water is running out of the taps, appliances no longer work, cars are parked in the middle of the intersection. Behind this is the mysterious disappearance of technical ceramics from the earth. The effects can be seen in all areas of everyday life. In search of the missing ceramics, visitors embark on a comic adventure that takes them into space. The aim of this mission is to bring the ceramics back to earth. In eight stations, which are interwoven into an exciting story, technical challenges are shown that can be solved with the right use of technical ceramics. These technical ceramics are embodied by eight comic figures, the "Ceramicons", each symbolizing a special property of technical ceramics. They help not only the visitors, but also the comic heroine Lucy and her aunt, a scientist, to overcome the adventures and solve the puzzles. The comic characters come to life in an animated film, which can be seen in the newly built movie theater. Once visitors have literally stepped through the movie screen, the adventure begins.
New permanent exhibition at Porzellanikon Selb "MISSION: CERAMICS" © Porzellanikon
A flyer with a QR code for use with your own smartphone serves as a guide, providing important information on the individual sections of the exhibition. In addition to the playful and adventurous framework narrative, another focus is on hands-on stations to make the physical phenomena tangible with all the senses. Various high-tech applications will be on display, from brake disks and ski jump surfaces to bulletproof and transparent ceramics and heat shields for spaceships such as the space shuttle - technical ceramics have become indispensable everywhere.
After trying out the many different physical and technical experiments, visitors find themselves in a deceptively real, completely normal apartment. Tablets are available here for a special experience: Using augmented reality, visitors can find out which everyday objects contain technical ceramics. From the bathroom to the kitchen and the bedroom to the cellar - people are surrounded by technical ceramics everywhere: be it the seal in the tap, the coatings on pans and tools, the sensors in smartphones or the grinder in a pepper mill. This builds a bridge to everyday life and real life in a way that is easy to understand.
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