The National Science and Technology Museum of Catalonia (MNACTEC) has opened to the public the temporary exhibition "Illuminated", presenting the evolution of lighting along a historical and technological journey. The exhibition is open to visitors until 17 March 2024.
The story begins with the use of fire in prehistory, and the first fuels burned to produce light (greases, oils, waxes, etc.), down to the sophisticated light bulbs and lamps of today, with the host of different applications they offer. It also offers an insight into the future of new light-related forms and trends.
"Illuminated" analyses the social implications of lighting, and how access to this technology has been controlled over the course of history, for reasons of economy, power or security. In parallel, the exhibits reveal some of the inventions in the field of lighting which have constituted major technological revolutions, alongside the figures who designed them, such as Humphrey Davy, William Murdoch and Thomas Edison.
A small part of the MNACTEC heritage collection in the field of lighting is on display: a Roman oil lamp, a Petromax Estelar petroleum lamp, a collection of old light bulbs, a set of six mining lamps, showing their technological evolution, etc. A number of interactive displays accompany visitors along the way, revealing the different illumination capacities of the light bulbs we now have available to us, and intriguing facts about lighting in days gone by.
6 June 2023
