There are two exhibitions currently underway in France, one in the center of Paris, and another one near Paris, which have soil-related themes. The first one (see www.senat.fr/evenement/expo_automne/2014.html) is in the gardens of the French senate, and is entitled "Fertile soils, secret lives". The second exhibition, in the Abbey of Maubuisson, shows stunning and inspiring work by Japanese artist Kôichi Kurita (see http://next.liberation.fr/arts/2014/04/02/koichi-kurita-collectionneur-de-poussiere_992586). Both exhibitions have apparently had quite a bit of success so far, and are very interesting examples of what can be done to explain to the public at large how important soils are for everyone's well-being. To us, scientists, these types of event can also greatly help us understand better how it is possible to make soils appealing to a wide audience...
There may be other such events going on in other parts of the world... It would be interesting to know what these are, and how they are trying to present soils. If you know of any exhibitions or other cultural event that focuses on soils in some fashion, please point them out.
Dear Philippe,
we had an exhibition called "Soil, our treasure "at the "Musée d'Histoire Naturelle" in Luxembourg and moving in different city of Luxembourg.
http://www.mnhn.lu/blog/2013/11/nouvelle-exposition-itinerante/
Here in Edmonton, the University of Alberta has a permanent monolith collection as part of their museums collection. Edmonton also has a district (neighbourhood) within Edmonton named after a soil series (Malmo), the result of an open competition to name the new development back in the 1960's.
In the USA, they had a soils exhibit that ran for several years at the Smithsonian museum. I don't know why it was not made into a permanent collection/display. In California there is a pygmy forest state reserve named after Hans Jenny as well as an associated state park (Jug Handle) created in honour of the sequence of ancient marine terraces and related soils/plants ('ecological staircase').
Are you assembling a directory to release in 2015, the International Year of the Soil?...
http://www.rr.ualberta.ca/Research/MuseumsandCollections/SoilMonolithsCollections.aspx
http://forces.si.edu/soils/
http://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/research-unit/hans-jenny-pygmy-forest-reserve
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=441
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmo_Plains,_Edmonton
There is an exhibit created by the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) and the Smithsonian called "Dig It! The Secretes of Soil" (https://www.soils.org/discover-soils/dig-it).
The exhibit is currently in Sacramento, California (http://www.californiamuseum.org/dig-it) until March 2015, at which point it will go to another museum in the US. Included are monoliths, one for each US state and territory (e.g. Guam). The exhibit is much more than monoliths, however, and has a strong focus on teaching principles of soil science like Cl-O-R-P-T to a younger audience.
Andrew,
I am aware of that exhibition... Do you find personally that soil monoliths are a good way to make the general public sensitive to the importance of soils? I am not sure that it is effective. I have heard of another exhibition, at the Natural History museum in Chicago, some time ago, where they did not have soil monoliths, but where they had a blown up version of soil pores, with arthropods and earthworms the size of human beings. Apparently, children loved it and the exhibition was a great success... I don't know if it is still there....
When I visited the exhibition at the Abbey of Maubuisson, near Paris, by the Japanese artist Kôichi Kurita, I was struck by how much earthy colors are hard-wired in our brain as being appealing and soothing... Perhaps there is something there that we, soil scientists, should take advantage more when we are trying to promote our work... Kurita uses very cleverly the differences in color among soils to create very nice visual effects, and the fact that the color of soils resonates so much to us, humans, for a variety of reasons, makes his art even more attractive, I think. Apparently, 13,000 people have visited this exhibition, including lots of elementary school and middle school students, taken there by their schools. All this is encouraging...
Hi Philippe,
yes, we have a soil exhibitions in Osnabrück, Germany. The soil exhibition is particularly suitable for the general public ( not only for soil experts).
Please see at (sorry, that page is only in German):
http://www.osnabrueck.de/unterwelten/21037.htm
Or enjoy the virtual walk through at the museum of Osnabrück:
http://www.osnabrueck.de/unterwelten/rundgang/Rundgang/uwelten/bodenstart_1.html
Best regards from Osnabrück, Stefan
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