Open Museum BlogProject Profile: Maloka
Maloka Interactive Science and Technology Center
Bogotá, Colombia
November 2007
O V E R V I E W
Maloka, a science center in Bogotá, Colombia is a corporation that operates on national and international levels. Its goal is to build a society based on knowledge and continuous learning. To do this, Maloka designs strategies to achieve social appropriation of science, technology and innovation in order to generate a critical spirit and consciousness about their impact, both, in everyday life, and in the social and economical development of Colombia. Camilo Sanchez, chief of the exhibition design department at Maloka, sought the assistance of Heritance after meeting Heritance's Technical Director, Jean Bermon at the international museography conference, SITEM.
The Museum's Identity:
- Maloka is a private non-profit corporation
- Maloka generates 273 direct jobs and 4000 indirect jobs in several cities of Colombia
- It opened its doors to the public in December 1998.
Maloka operates in three scenarios:
- The Interactive Centre: 9 galleries in 10,000 m2 of underground construction; 300 interactive displays on subjects of City, Petroleum, Natural Gas, Life, Water, Telecommunications, Universe, Biodiversity; also temporal exhibitions.
- "Maloka without borders": Travelling exhibitions, Outreach programs
- Virtual Maloka: www.maloka.org
C U R R E N T S I T U A T I O N
Maloka was the first Science Interactive Centre in Colombia. It was opened to the public in 1998 after a challenging process of planning, financing and design. Since its opening Maloka has been struggling first, for its self sustainability, and most importantly for the public support of science in Colombia. As a result, Maloka has been involved in the creation of the first science law in the country and many projects involving communities of metropolitan and rural areas.
Maloka is quite a ´strange beast´ in Colombia. Although it works closely with national and local government, it has no support from it, so Maloka has to go out and look out for money wherever it can be found. That situation has driven Maloka to be involved in great deal of activities which may seem strange for a Science Centre, but that have enriched and strengthened the image of the institution and its impact in the community as the results involve diverse social actors.
Today, Maloka is facing new challenges such as competition (new centers being open around the country), internal re-organization, a natural process of renewal of exhibitions and an ambitious project of expansion. All these challenges respond to the same goal: to enrich the experience of the visitor, which is something quite hard to evaluate and improve. What is the message we want to transmit? How to improve interactivity and understanding of scientific phenomena? How do we understand interactivity? These are some of the endless questions that will sure enrich and improve the future of Maloka.
Maloka is thinking on the construction of a phase II. The project comprises 23,000 m2 where the idea is to continue the storyline of Maloka I, which revolves around the evolution of the universe and the general theory of systems. From macro world (biosphere) to atoms, everything will have relation with eco-efficiency and sustainable human development.
Maloka II is desgined to address the following social issues:
- Generating new jobs: 1.500 jobs (construction) 300 jobs (operation).
- Transforming educational practices: Teachers + students Families Media Community Leaders
- Generating integration of science into social concerns.
- Become a MALOKA of the XXI Century.
W O R K S H O P O B J E C T I V E S
- To introduce to the designers staff the idea of a museography program (the synthesis of all the wishes and contents of an exhibition) and to switch from the designer's point of view to the "museographer" practice.
- To imagine an extension from the building so that it opens direct environment and the members of the local community.
H E R I T A N C E A C T I O N S
The workshop Heritance planned was a five-day session, with 4 hours of meetings per day. The 10-20 participants were mainly members of the design team (industrial and graphic designers).
The agenda comprised:
A. On-site evaluation of the Maloka 1 building and potential space outside the building.
B. Workshop discussions which focused on the situation Maloka is facing right now and development of an alternative vision for Maloka 2:
- An evaluation of the current exhibits.
- A constructive debate on Maloka 2.
- Writing of a program illustrated by concrete proposals made by the members of the staff but with a museographer point of view.
C. Introduction to Heritance's online project collaboration environment BASECAMP.
D. Exploration of the possibility of a Heritance workshop to address other questions related to project planning.
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