Underground Galaxy

Museum of Science and Technology

At the exhibition Underground Galaxy, from 12 June to 15 September 2026, at the Museum of Science and Technology, photographs and exhibits from the private collection of minerals and crystals assembled by collector Irina Tomić will be presented.

The path Irina took, from the idea to the collection, is shaped by personal stories, choices, and long-standing dedication to collecting. The selection of minerals testifies to a deep connection between scientific curiosity and personal experience, while the exhibition itself creates a space where the visible and the hidden, the material and the imaginative, the scientific and the intimate meet.

In addition to the displayed exhibits, the author presents macro photographs of carefully selected specimens, revealing their complex structures, textures, and visual details that often remain invisible to the naked eye. These scenes not only possess aesthetic value, but also deepen the relationship between the viewer and the collection, enabling a new reading of already familiar objects. In this way, the collection does not end with the physical ownership of objects, but expands into the realm of the image, where science, art, and personal experience intertwine, and each mineral acquires a dual status: as a physical object and as an image, as a scientific specimen and as an aesthetic phenomenon. The exhibition layout further emphasizes this idea through the organization of photographs into "constellations," thereby establishing a symbolic link between underground structures and cosmic spaces.

In a broader museological context, this exhibition points to the importance of private collections as specific forms of knowledge and experience. They arise from personal fascination and dedication, but when encountered within an institutional framework they gain a new dimension, becoming part of the collective understanding of nature, science, and culture.

Displaying mineral exhibits and other geological samples from museum collections and private collections is the best way to bring the importance of geological heritage closer to the general public, encourage interest in science, and preserve awareness of natural resources for future generations.

As a kind of complement to Underground Galaxy by Irina Tomić, the exhibition also features exhibits from the collections of the Museum of Science and Technology, the Mineral and Rock Collection of the Faculty of Mining and Geology, University of Belgrade, and the company "Ametrin" from Subotica.

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