See the world in a new light at Newcastle Museum

School trips to Canberra may have been cancelled due to COVID-19, but you can still get a taste of one of the capital’s most popular experiences when Questacon’s Colour exhibition opens at Newcastle Museum today. 

Launched just in time for the start of the school holidays, this special touring exhibition developed by Questacon - the National Science and Technology Centre explores the science of colour and perception through more than 20 different interactive experiences. 

Set up in a COVID Safe space in the Supernova Gallery, Colour allows visitors to discover how light influences colour and why we all see colour differently, using everything from coloured bubbles and iridescent insects to spectacular fluorescent rocks and colour illusions. 

Questacon partnered with the Australian National Insect Collection and Geoscience Australia for this exhibition, which runs from 25 September 2020 to 31 January 2021. 

Newcastle Museum will also launch a second new exhibition on 25 September, showcasing the work of Newcastle photographer Luke Kellett. isolation: Portraits of Newcastle during COVID-19 includes around 25 large format photographs taken in the wake of the first COVID-19 Public Health Order closures announced in March 2020. 

Newcastle Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen said Colour and isolation: Portraits of Newcastle during COVID-19 represented the amazing calibre of touring and self-curated exhibitions being offered throughout the year by the Museum. 

“We’re excited to showcase the Colour exhibition to the Museum's audience in Newcastle and the Hunter, offering a taste of the science-based fun that both Questacon and our Museum are so well known for,” Cr Clausen said. 

“We’re also proud to play a role in recording history for future generations through the pictures and stories of Novocastrians during the current COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Our Museum continues to raise its profile nationally by presenting world class exhibitions to our community and I encourage everyone to come along and take a look for themselves.” 

Newcastle Museum Director Julie Baird said as part of isolation: Portraits of Newcastle during COVID-19, Luke wanted to document how the city felt and looked without the usual crowds and to explore togetherness during isolation. Luke photographed different types of households in isolation and recorded his subject’s thoughts, fears and hopes for the future via written responses to questions. 

“Through this amazing exhibition visitors can see how other people experienced isolation, and experience how in 100 years’ time Newcastle will remember this momentous period of time,” Ms Baird said. 

Tickets for Colour can be purchased through the Newcastle Museum’s website and cost $10 for adult, $5 for children aged three and over and $7 for concession card holders, while a family pass (two adults and two children) is $25. Entry into isolation: Portraits of Newcastle during COVID-19 is free. 

Visitors should bring a mobile phone to enter the museum using a QR code and interact with both exhibitions.