When Ratchakorn Klakerd, a curator at the Office of Art & Culture, visited Chulalongkorn University Museum of Natural History at the Faculty of Science, she was impressed with the museum's extensive butterfly collection. The diversity of butterflies on display inspired Ratchakorn to organise an exhibition.
After a discussion with Hunsa Khamlion, director of the Division of Museum and Art Gallery at the Office of Art & Culture (OAC), the team decided to enhance the exhibition's content by pairing butterflies with cockroaches.
Hunsa explained that since there are 20 museums in Chulalongkorn University, the OAC sought to work with each for promotion and to create collaborative exhibitions. While designing an exhibition for Night Museum Festival and Children's Day, the OAC decided to work with the Museum of Natural History at the Faculty of Science because it wanted to inspire children to enjoy learning science.
Since the exhibition is titled "Beauty And The Beast: Butterflies And Cockroaches - Ambassadors Of Adaptation And Survival Of The Fittest", most visitors probably assume beauty refers to butterflies and beast to cockroaches.
An Uneasy Dream Of Metamorphosis.
However, Hunsa explained that the words beauty and beast in the title refers to butterflies and cockroaches because both animals have each aspect.
"People usually appreciate the beautiful wings of butterflies and overlook their unattractiveness during early stages of life -- the egg, larva and pupa stages. Butterflies become beautiful only when they reach adulthood and get colourful wings," she said.
"People find cockroaches disgusting because they smell, consume trash and live in an unsanitary environment. Unlike colourful butterflies, cockroaches are unattractive with brown shades. However, some cockroaches can be beautiful. Hence, the exhibition title was created to highlight the contrast between butterflies and cockroaches."
Since the target audience of the exhibition are children and families, it is designed to provide basic knowledge.
"As the exhibition curator, I gathered information to be displayed. After that, a lecturer from the Department of Biology helped validate the information and translate the information to English. We needed assistance from a biologist because the content includes technical terms," explained Ratchakorn.
Samples of cockroaches.
To enhance the exhibition's appeal, the OAC team believed it should be presented artistically. Janat Thiengsurin, a lecturer at the department of Creative Arts at the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, was invited to help create an art piece for the exhibition. She designed a display titled An Uneasy Dream Of Metamorphosis using the projection mapping technique.
An Uneasy Dream Of Metamorphosis features virtual fluttering multi-coloured butterflies. The exhibit, showcased in a dark room, has become a popular photo spot for young visitors, especially females.
While the projection mapping room focuses on butterflies, the exhibition also features three massive paper mache cockroaches to maintain balance. Two of these cockroaches are attached to the wall near the projection mapping room and the third is placed lying on its back. Some viewers enjoy examining details of the cockroaches' body parts, but others are scared or reluctant to walk past them.
At the exhibition entrance, there is a video that was filmed while the OAC team gathered information about butterflies at Ban Krang Camp in Phetchaburi. Most people usually see butterflies sipping nectar from flowers. At Ban Krang Camp, the OAC crew witnessed butterflies consume a salt lick. Here, Hunsa experienced the unattractive side of butterflies and said she had goosebumps while watching close-up shots of butterflies using their straw-like tubes to consume liquid.
The exhibition is informative with text incorporated into photographs and illustrations. Visitors can learn that both butterflies and cockroaches play important roles in maintaining balance in nature. For example, butterflies serve as pollinators by transporting pollen which allows plants to reproduce, resulting in increased diversity. Meanwhile, cockroaches help with the decomposition process of organic matter which keeps the environment clean.
Young visitors enjoy painting.
Some visitors might find it intriguing to learn that there are about 17,500 species of butterflies in the tropical zone. Most butterflies have a short lifespan of only two weeks. However, monarch butterflies can live up to six to eight months due to their need for long-distance migration.
The information on cockroaches at the exhibition is impressive. For example, the exhibition teaches that cockroach fossils were found in a rock aged 320 million years -- one of the oldest animal fossils in the world. Also, cockroaches have complex nervous systems which helps them respond to threats quickly. Moreover, their high adaptability helps them survive in diverse environments. Common cockroach species are the German (found in warm and moist areas like the kitchen), the American (found in moist areas like sewers and basements), and brown-banded (found in storage areas).
There are samples of each of these cockroaches at the exhibition. At the exhibition, visitors can also see various species of butterflies, but the two most interesting are big butterflies known as Attacus atlas and small butterflies which can barely be seen.
Additionally, there are photographs of cockroaches that look less unattractive than others, such as the green, golden and Australian shimmering cockroach. The green cockroach is found in bananas and other plants in the Caribbean and Central American region as its green wings help it blend in. The golden cockroach, found in South America, is small and can move quickly. It lives in the rainforest and underneath fallen leaves. Meanwhile, the Australian shimmering cockroach lives in plants and flowers and is a non-pest.
A huge Attacus atlas butterfly.
Cockroaches are known for being resilient creatures. According to the exhibition, cockroaches are living fossils as they have gone undergone little change over millions of years. To learn more about their survival abilities, the exhibition features a video created by National Geographic which shows cockroaches surviving squeezes and smashes.
"Cockroaches can tolerate radiation and survive in conditions humans cannot. I also learned that flushing cockroaches down the toilet will not harm them because they can hold their breath for 40 minutes. Even if though they lose their head, they can survive for eight days," Hunsa said.
Two more activities that young visitors can enjoy at the exhibition are playing a cockroach video game, and colouring and creating patterns for butterflies and cockroaches.
After organising this exhibition, Hunsa and Ratchakorn became interested in cockroaches due to their survival abilities.
"It doesn't matter what kind of animal they are. To survive in nature, animals must adapt to the environment. While the world changes, cockroaches adapt and survive. People should learn how to adapt to changes in society and the environment as well," said Hunsa.
"An important lesson is that people should not harm butterflies because it can have negative effects such as reducing pollination and causing an imbalance in the ecosystem. As natural decomposers, cockroaches play a crucial role in the environment. Both butterflies and cockroaches contribute to ecological balance," said Ratchakorn.
The OAC team hopes that people will come to the exhibition.
"The exhibition provides knowledge which is not difficult to understand. We hope that visitors will feel engaged and enjoy the exhibition," said Hunsa.
"Beauty And The Beast: Butterflies And Cockroaches" runs on the 1st floor of Chula Museum until Feb 28. Admission is free. For more information, visit facebook.com/chulamuseum.
A green cockroach.
A golden cockroach.
Australian shimmering cockroach.
