iRoyal Ontario MuseumYorkville / Queen's Park
BEES: A Story of Survival
This exhibition has ended.
Immersive art-meets-science show by National Museums Liverpool and sculptor Wolfgang Buttress tracing 120 million years of bee adaptation and survival.
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In a dark room, a trail of pollen-coloured light leads to a plinth where a holographic bee pollinates a flower. Reviewing the show's first run in Liverpool, Apollo's critic found the bee only appears if you step back and keep still.
National Museums Liverpool made it with the sculptor Wolfgang Buttress, in eight sections that run from one bee's anatomy to a larger-than-life hive. You walk through an amber-lit honeycomb, feel sound through bone conductors the way a bee would, and watch lights shift with recordings of over 30,000 bees. The ROM added eight native species and a bee fossil in amber. Toronto's official bee, the ROM notes, lives in "condos", several females sharing one entrance underground, so it chose the right city.
Apollo called it "sensual, sensitive and genuinely beautiful", though a few stops felt lifted from a science exhibit. It's on Level 1, general admission plus a $9 surcharge (free for Members), and it closes on 18 October.
Editor's pick
Sculptor Wolfgang Buttress and National Museums Liverpool trace 120 million years of bee adaptation and survival in a show that mixes art and science. That's a longer run than any of your houseplants.
Look for
The holographic bee
Follow the pollen light trail to a plinth where a 3D bee lands on a flower and pollinates it.
The honeycomb
Step inside the stylized honeycomb and press against the bone conductors, which let you feel sound as vibration, the way a bee hears.
The bee in amber
A bee from the ROM's palaeontology collection, fossilized in amber 15 to 30 million years ago.
Toronto's official bee
The Bicoloured Striped Sweat Bee, shining green head and thorax over a black-and-yellow striped abdomen, is one of eight native species on show.
Light from 30,000 bees
The light patterns around the gallery change with recordings of more than 30,000 bees, under a soundscape by Buttress and Karman Line Collective.
Good for
- Out-Of-Town Guests
- Small Kids
- Teenagers
Skip if
You want specimens and long labels: the show is built around sound, light and projections rather than wall text.
With kids
The ROM recommends it for families and teens. Kids can move "pollen" between touchable flower models at a daily hands-on station, with pollinator crafts on weekends until it closes.
Also at Royal Ontario Museum
On now nearby
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Image credits
8
- Royal Ontario MuseumMaksim Sokolov (Maxergon), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Magnus Hara: The Light of DayCourtesy of Gardiner Museum
- In Search of Imperfection: The Macdonald Collection of Japanese and Japanese-Inspired CeramicsCourtesy of Gardiner Museum
- After the Island: Caribbean Canadian CeramicsCourtesy of Gardiner Museum
- Gardiner Museumremundo via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Art Museum at the University of TorontoUnderline Studio, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Bata Shoe MuseumCanmenwalker / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
- Art Gallery of OntarioOwen Byrne / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0