Spaceship Earth

6 June - 24 November 2019

Spaceship Earth

The exhibition Spaceship Earth, compiled by guest curator Eva Rovers, challenges visitors to take a look at the world through the eyes of an astronaut. It is a journey from the macrocosm to the microcosm that makes you realize that everything is connected. At every ‘stop’, a historical object from the University collection tells a contemporary story about the richness and vulnerability of the earth.

The design of the exhibition is in the hands of five young artists from Groningen who have turned these ‘stops’ into spectacular Cabinets of Curiosities. This design was inspired by a curiosity cabinet by Boudewijn Büch, which by way of rare exception has been made available for exhibition (courtesy of the Teylers Museum). This exhibition was supported by the University Library, the Vereniging Vrienden Academisch Erfgoed Groningen [Friends of the Groningen Academic Heritage Association] and the Nicolaas Mulerius Foundation.

Book presentation: De rebelse held

The exhibition will be accompanied by Eva Rovers’ book De rebelse held [‘The rebel hero’], a volume of provocative letters to the creator of the concept of Spaceship Earth: the eccentric, almost forgotten inventor, architect, car designer, philosopher and futurist Richard Buckminster Fuller – also known as ‘the Leonardo Da Vinci of the twentieth century’. Over half a century ago, he developed numerous eccentric solutions to today’s problems, varying from climate change and failing democracies to the dark sides of the tech revolution. He invented flying cars, self-sufficient houses and a bizarre map of the world in order to keep ‘Spaceship Earth’ liveable, now and in the future.

More information on the exhibition:

• Eva Rovers talks about the exhibition in Alumnimagazine 'Broerstraat 5' (in Dutch)