Medellin Planetarium Proposes New Ways of Looking at the Sky

Medellín Planetarium has introduced an innovative exhibition titled 'The Universe We Are', combining modern astronomy with Indigenous knowledge, accessibility, and diverse ways of understanding the sky. This exhibition spans three floors and 835 square meters, representing a significant transformation of the museum experience. The new narrative aims to present the universe from multiple perspectives, including astrophysics, history of astronomy, Indigenous knowledge, contributions of women scientists, and accessibility tools for people with disabilities.

One of the exhibition's core ideas is that many elements of the human body and Earth were formed inside stars that existed before the solar system. Carbon, oxygen, and other elements were created through stellar processes and later dispersed into space, becoming part of new generations of stars and planets. This concept helps reduce the vast distance between galaxies to everyday life.

Ethnoastronomy, which studies how different cultures interpret celestial phenomena and connect them with their social, environmental, symbolic, and territorial organization, takes center stage in the exhibition. It goes beyond just naming constellations, seeking to understand how celestial movements can serve as references for measuring time, identifying environmental changes, planning community activities, or transmitting stories across generations.

To create this component, the Planetarium collaborated with Indigenous peoples from Colombia for about a year. They worked with the Murui Muina, Wayuu, and Emberá Chamí communities from the Amazon, La Guajira, and southwestern Antioquia. This co-creation process aimed to avoid an outside perspective on Indigenous knowledge and allow communities to decide how their knowledge would be represented in the exhibition.

For example, among the Murui Muina people of the Colombian Amazon, celestial phenomena are connected to the ecological cycles of the rainforest. The Moon's phases, the Sun's path, and natural signals contribute to traditional calendars that help communities identify changes in their surroundings. Time is understood beyond a uniform sequence of days and months, incorporating factors like fruit appearance, waterway changes, animal behavior, and rainfall variations.

Wayuu knowledge from La Guajira demonstrates how stars, such as the Pleiades known as Iiwa, are linked to rainfall cycles. These connections illustrate the importance of prolonged observation in generating complex, community-tailored knowledge, distinct from modern meteorology methods.

Similarly, Emberá Chamí people in Colombia maintain a deep relationship between celestial bodies and their worldview. Knowledge of the Moon, Sun, and Earth is deeply ingrained in their understanding of the world, influencing various aspects of their daily lives.