Marie Skłodowska / Madame Curie
Shown to 29 April 2012
Marie Curie is an icon in the history of science. As the lone woman in a male world, her life story is almost as groundbreaking as her discoveries. In 1903 Marie Curie received the Nobel Prize in Physics and became the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize. 1911, she was awarded the full Nobel Prize in Chemistry and thus became the first person ever to be conferred the award a second time. On September 17 the Nobel Museum's self-produced exhibition about Marie Curie – Marie Skłodowska / Madame Curie – opened, an exhibition with a new approach to the familiar story of Marie Curie.
"The Nobel Museum's exhibition is about life in the service of science. With scenographic design and unexpected perspective, we wish to allow our audience to meet Marie Curie's passion for her scientific work in a playful and thoughtful way. This is not yet another biographical exhibition in the line, but rather we are approaching the phenomenon Marie Curie from a variety of different perspectives. The exhibition title refers to both person and persona Curie – what makes them different, what unites them? Not the least, we want to make visible the resistance Curie met as a woman in a male dominated world and how she managed to overcome it," says Anna Stenkula, curator at the Nobel Museum.
The exhibition covers 300 sqm and is divided into five main parts: in The Nobel Prizes we sort out what the Nobel Prize meant to Curie, and what Curie meant for the Nobel Prize; in Woman of Science we examine Curie's life and achievements from a gender perspective, as a woman among men, being at the same time an icon, an inspiration and an anomaly; in The Laboratory, we highlight Curie's at most times unglamourous everyday life as a researcher in the very environment where her discoveries took place; in Radioactivity we look at the contemporary enthusiasm for radium, but also the devastating effects of radiation; in The Atoms the importance of Curie's discovieries to the scientific field is examined.
The exhibition Marie Skłodowska / Madame Curie is shown to 29 April 2012.
Exhibition production
Design: stage designer Katrin Brännström, architect Erland Flygt
Curator: Anna Stenkula
Graphic design: Fredrik Skog
Artifacts: Anna Busch
Research: Karin Jonsson; Åsa Husberg, Ulf Larsson
Editors: Aron Ambrosiani, Karl Berglund
Writers: Ewa Hemmungs Wirtén, Anders Bárány, Gustav Källstrand, Sylwia Chutnik, Julie Des Jardins, Anette Lykknes
Installation/Audio-Visual techniques/Lighting: Transpond
Carpentry: Långholmens Snickeri
Smithery: Björkqvist Smide
Textiles: Arenatextil
Animation: Sarah Gampel
Fillms: Katrin Brännström, Erland Flygt, Fredrik Skog
Actress: Gunilla Röör
Extras: Åsa Husberg, Rebecka Husberg
Make-up artist: Patricia Svajger
Sound: Charlotta Simonsson, Per Lenner
Interviews: Åsa Husberg
Participants: Hélène Joliot-Langevin, Helena Danielson, Johanna Wachtmeister, Susanna Wold, Françoise Gueritte, Ana-Maria Lennon, Veronique Migonney, Agnieszka Kowalczyk, Anna Lankoff, Anna Skowrońska-Gardas
Photo: Musée Curie, Paris
Translations: Accent språkservice, SDI Media
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the following institutions and individuals who have contributed in various ways to the organisation of the exhibition:
Polish Institute, Stockholm, Institut Français, Stockholm, Embassy of France, Stockholm, Musée Curie, Paris, École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la Ville de Paris, Areva, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Museum, Warsaw, Swedish Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Stockholm, Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, Evolutionsmuseet, Uppsala University, Sveriges glasmuseum, Växjö, Center for History of Science, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Marcus Angelin, Karin Blanc, Karolina Bregula, Per Carlson, Rebecka Husberg, Solveig Jülich, Anders Lundgren, Claudia Lindén, Christina Moberg, Joanna Rose, Bengt Ågerup
