Tardigrade, one of the creatures in the exhibition.
Tardigrade, one of the creatures in the exhibition.

Extraterrestrials. Is there life outside Earth?

Barcelona

03.09.24

2 minutos de lectura
Available resources

What if we were not the only living beings in the universe? The search for life in the cosmos, its history and its representation in the arts are the main focus of this exhibition.

Space is the final frontier, that which we have yet to discover and explore. The human race has always speculated on the possibility of life on other planets, and the confluence of science and imagination has led us to wonder whether such life might be intelligent; whether, if it existed, we would be talking about peaceful creatures or whether they would come to conquer and subjugate us; whether they would be human-like beings or whether their bodies would have a morphology adapted to a radically different ecosystem. We still have no clear evidence, but for the first time, scientific and technological advances are allowing us to glimpse some answers to these mysteries.

This exhibition begins by situating us in the cosmos, because understanding our place in it is what leads us to ask whether extraterrestrial life exists; it sketches the philosophical dilemma this would pose for us; it shows how the human imagination has reflected worlds beyond our own in art, film and literature; and, through scientific evidence, it projects some possible futures if inhabited planets were to be discovered.

The exhibition features interactive elements, models, real artifacts, works of art and audiovisual material, creating an experience that excites the imagination with the possibility that there could be other beings in the universe.

  • Conception and production: ”la Caixa” Foundation
  • Curator: Montserrat Villar Martín, PhD in Physical Sciences, astrophysicist, researcher at the Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) CSIC-INTA; Eva Villaver Sobrino, PhD in Physical Sciences, astrophysicist, research professor at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC); Ester Lázaro Lázaro, PhD in Biological Sciences, virologist and molecular biologist, researcher at the Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) CSIC-INTA, and Benjamín Montesinos Comino, PhD in Physical Sciences, astrophysicist, researcher at the Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) CSIC-INTA