Micropia

A museum of things you cannot see

Micropia is a museum about microbes: bacteria, viruses, algae and fungi. It opened on 30 September 2014 and says it is the first museum of its kind in the world. It stands on the Plantage Kerklaan, right next to the main entrance of Artis zoo. You do not need a zoo visit to go in. It is its own museum, though it belongs to Artis.

Why walk here? Because it changes how you think about the things you usually try to wash off. Most of us link microbes with illness. The museum shows the other side: they do essential work in daily life, and in your own body. Everything is indoors, so it also suits a wet day.

The idea behind it

Micropia has two aims. The first is to give microbes a better name. The people behind it say these organisms carry a stigma that does not match what they actually do. The second is to become an international meeting place for microbiology, where scientists and the general public can talk to each other. One of the developers is the professor Remco Kort.

The thinking is simple. If people feel friendlier towards microbes, they may care more about studying what the museum calls micro-nature.

It seems to have worked. In 2016 Micropia won the Kenneth Hudson Award, given to the most innovative museum in Europe. Each year it also gives a Microbiome Award to a student, to encourage deeper study of the smallest life on earth.

What to look for inside

The exhibits mix living microbes with virtual ones. That mix is the point. You are not only reading panels. You are looking at real organisms, and at digital versions of them.

Many displays start from ordinary life. Look for the ones that show where microbes turn up in your day, in your body and around you. They are the easiest way in if you know no biology at all.

The best-known piece is the Kiss-O-Meter. It measures how many microbes two people share when they kiss. Bring someone along if you want to try it. It is a light moment in a museum that is otherwise quietly serious about science.