Haydale Graphene Industries PLC LON:HAYD, a South Wales based company with offices globally, who are working to commercialise graphene and other 2D materials, is pleased to announce it is sponsoring Wonder Materials: Graphene and Beyond, a new ground breaking exhibition, making its world premiere at the Museum of Science and Industry in July.
The exhibition tells the story of graphene, the world’s first two-dimensional material, which was first isolated in Manchester. The show will combine science, art and history to reveal the inspiring story of one of the strongest, lightest and most conductive materials in the world.
Wonder Materials: Graphene and Beyond takes the audience on a scientific journey of discovery, through the past, present and into the imagined future of this new landscape. A combination of fascinating objects, photographs, music, films and newly commissioned artworks will illuminate the people and places involved.
Highlights of the exhibition include:
- A fascinating array of objects which bring the graphene story to life; from early pencils and an Elizabethan cannonball, to the famous sticky tape dispenser at the heart of graphene’s development
- A specially commissioned art installation by Random International, the collective’s first public commission in the UK since their internationally acclaimed Rain Room premiered at the Barbican in 2012
- A provocative new work by acclaimed poet Lemn Sissay MBE (Chancellor, University of Manchester), who is composing a call-to-arms on the potential future for graphene – and its possible effects on humanity
- An interactive exhibit where audiences are invited to imagine the remarkable graphene products of the future – from clothing with built-in computer power to electricity-generating windows;
- Imaginative scientific breakthroughs made by people at the cutting edge of graphene use. Learn more about San Hoon Park’s pom-poms, graphene sheets that have been frizzled into tiny round microspheres by being ‘deep-fried’ in a high-temperature organic solvent. Or discover Melina Blees and her graphene kirigami, in which sheets of graphene are cut and folded into flexible structures which might one day have use in microscopic working machines.
The exhibition is created in partnership with the National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester. It is a flagship event of Manchester’s programme as European City of Science 2016. It opens to coincide with the EuroScience Open Forum Manchester 2016 (23-27 July), Europe’s largest interdisciplinary science meeting.
Haydale CEO, Ray Gibbs said: “Haydale is hugely proud to be headline sponsors for this UK first. Material science has shaped the world around us and the potential for graphene and other 2D materials is tremendous. We are delighted to be working with the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry and the National Graphene Institute, to help communicate the story of graphene and the positive, environmentally friendly influence it will have on our future.”
Museum of Science and Industry Director Sally MacDonald said:
“It’s fantastic that Haydale has shown such commitment to our future understanding of graphene by sponsoring this important exhibition. They are the perfect partner to show the link between grand ideas and practical commercial success, as we explain how graphene is moving from the laboratory into the real world.
“This fascinating exhibition into the material of the moment will inspire the next generation of researchers and scientists, and in what better place to open than Manchester, the European City of Science 2016 and the home of graphene?”
Wonder Materials: Graphene and Beyond will be accompanied by a year-round programme for adults, families and schools, including hands-on science events, evening science socials, “in conversation” style events and creative workshops. The exhibition will eventually tour, starting with a residency at the Science Museum, London, in 2018.
Further details of the exhibition are available at msimanchester.org.uk/wondermaterials
