The temporary exhibition as a tool for communication and relationship between science and society: the case study of the Darwin-Dohrn Museum in Naples (Italy)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The temporary exhibition ‘Sharks of the Mediterranean sea’ features scientific and artistic collections. Priority focus is the knowledge of the biodiversity of the selachians of the Mediterranean sea and the Gulf of Naples (Italy), through a museum itinerary that illustrates their biology, ecology, vulnerability, protection, and scientific research. The aim here is to describe the scientific communication strategies used to inform/educate the public but above all to promote a reflection that stimulates the latter to be a protagonist of a concrete action of care and custody of the selachians through a paradigm shift of the person-sea and person-shark relationship. The result is an exhibition set up in the graphic/photographic, videographic, and scenographic/museographic aspects, focusing on the visitor’s experience, his or her psychology, emotional and aesthetic relationships with the museum spaces as well as the solicitations of curiosity triggered by the interaction with the collections.