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 items from the private collection of minerals and crystals of collector Irina Tomić will be presented.

Irina's journey from idea to collection is shaped by personal stories, choices, and years of devoted collecting. The selection of minerals testifies to a deep connection between scientific curiosity and personal experience, while the exhibition itself establishes a meeting space between the visible and the hidden, the material and the imaginative, the scientific and the intimate.

In addition to the displayed objects, the author presents macrophotographs 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, allowing a new reading of familiar objects. In this way, the collection does not end with physical ownership of items but expands into the space of the image, where science, art, and personal experience intertwine, and each mineral acquires a double 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 by arranging the photographs into 'constellations', thereby establishing a symbolic link between underground structures and cosmic spaces.

In a broader museological context, this exhibition highlights the importance of private collections as specific forms of knowledge and experience. They arise from personal fascination and dedication, but in encounter with 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, to stimulate interest in science, and to preserve awareness of natural riches for future generations.

As a kind of complement to Underground Galaxy by Irina Tomić, the exhibition also features items 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.

Hashtags

#museumofscienceandtechnology #exhibition