The path of “The Universe of Light”

After a long process of conceptualization, design and construction, “The Universe of Light” began its tour in October 2007, moving from its hometown of Concepcion to Santiago in order to be the main activity of Science and Technology Week, organized by the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT). This was the first instance for the public to interact with the experiments, which in 20 days exceeded four thousand five hundred visitors.

Then it was the turn of Concepción. Installed in the building of the Regional Government, the exhibit was for one month the meeting place for children and adults, attracting nearly five thousand people.

Months later, with the support of the Millennium Science Initiative and the Explora Program of CONICYT, the national tour was launched in July 2008, starting with the city of Talca to continue in Temuco, Valparaiso, Valdivia, Punta Arenas and Coyhaique.

But the journey did not end there. In February 2009, the exhibition returned to Concepción, where it became the scientific activity of summer, opening in Coronel and then at the University of Concepción. A month later, the exhibition was prepared to continue its national tour that would take the magic of light to Santa Cruz, Arica, Iquique, Antofagasta, Calama, San Pedro de Atacama, Copiapo, Coquimbo and Los Vilos.

During 2010, the exhibition travelled through the south of Chile thanks to the joint efforts of ICM, the Explora Program of CONICYT and the Center for Optics and Photonics (CEFOP), who managed and organized the opening of the exhibition in Osorno, Puerto Montt, Castro, Los Ángeles and Chillán.

Later, in 2011 The Universe of Light moved to the Interactive Museum Mirador (MIM) in Santiago for three months, and then on to Talca and Coronel, until the moment arrived at mid-year to finalize the national tour of the exhibit.  For that, the organizers chose Easter Island, a place which will now host for the first time a scientific exhibit of such importance.   Thus, from October 15 through November 6, the islanders will have an opportunity to enjoy the magic of light, closing the national tour, and preparations will begin to prepare the exhibit for  internationalization.

For the members of the Millineum Nucleus Center for Optics and Quantum Information, who are actually part of CEFOP, the importance acquired by the exhibition was a surprise since they did not expect it to grow so rapidly,with exhibition numbers exceeding 150,000 visitors in two years, thus making it the most important scientific outreach activity of the country.