Provost Linda Doyle has said that she and Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris will discuss the future of the Science Gallery with relevant stakeholders next week.
It was reported yesterday that the gallery would close in February 2022 as it was deemed not to be financially viable.
Doyle wrote on Twitter this afternoon: “Just had a really productive call with @SimonHarrisTD and we both agreed to sit down together next week, with other departments and stakeholders, to discuss the future of @SciGalleryDub.”
A petition has been launched demanding a reversal of the decision to close.
At the time of writing, it has amassed over 1,300 signatures.
The petition reads: “Thousands have visited the Science Gallery over the years, to learn more about the world we live in, to make treasured memories with family and friends, to see the amazing amount of effort that goes into every part of every exhibition and installation.”
“To close the Science Gallery is to close another valuable part of Dublin’s culture.”
“We won’t let Trinity contribute to the death of Dublin. The Science Gallery is an institution worth fighting for and worth keeping open.”
The extended closure of the gallery during the pandemic was a factor in the decision. It re-opened last Friday for what will be its last exhibition.
Trinity declined to provide a comment to The University Times on the issue.
The Science Gallery opened in 2008 and aimed to encourage interest in scientific discovery and creativity through its exhibits, which combined art and science. More than three million visitors have attended since its opening.
It is part of the Global Science Gallery Network, created by Trinity, which has other locations in London, Melbourne and Berlin. Other galleries will not be closing.
Chris Horn, who served as chairman of the Science Gallery’s governing board until 2012, told the Business Post that he was surprised by the decision.
“It’s very sad. I’m surprised and disappointed. It was a jewel in Trinity’s Crown”, he said. “It made a statement in terms of Trinity’s engagement with schools, both at primary and secondary level.”
The Science Gallery celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2018. Then-Director Lynn Scarff said at the time that the gallery “is a great example of a unique idea that exploded onto the cultural scene just at the right time”.
It provided a platform to “experiment with the potential social and ethical consequences of new research”, she added.
The current exhibition, “BIAS”, is an interactive exploration of preferences, prejudices and digital equity. It interrogates how prejudice can move from human to machine, as algorithms and artificial intelligence systems are encoded by humans.
