Open exhibition “Naked Technology” – the Hidden Side of Technical Devices Revealed for the First Time in Serbia
Belgrade, July 3, 2023 – The Museum of Science and Technology, in collaboration with the company “Visaris,” has presented an exclusive exhibition, “Naked Technology,” by authors Zoran Lević, Dušan Petrović, and Ivan Stanić, for the first time in Serbia and among the first in the world. The exhibition is dedicated to the “hidden” side of technical objects preserved in the Museum of Science and Technology’s collections. On June 29, 2023, at 7:00 PM, Marko Petrović, the director of “Visaris,” ceremoniously opened the exhibition in Gallery 51 at the Museum of Science and Technology. The “Naked Technology” exhibition in Gallery 51 will remain open until September 2023, and during its duration, the organizers are preparing various accompanying activities.
Technical devices usually “conceal” their interiors, covered in most cases to ensure their uninterrupted operation. As a result, the interior of most technical devices, and hence their functioning, remains hidden from the observer’s eye. For these reasons, the idea emerged to select exhibits from the collections of the Museum of Science and Technology that “hide” interesting interiors and allow the passage of X-rays. With the help of the local company “Visaris,” which manufactures digital X-ray machines and state-of-the-art software, an incredible result has been achieved. New X-ray technology enables dynamic imaging of objects, providing insight into their interiors without disassembly, even while they are in operation.
Hence, the strong desire of the organizers to share this new technological and museological practice, for the first time in Serbia and among the first in the world, with visitors through the intriguingly named exhibition “Naked Technology,” for the purpose of educating and demonstrating new museological practices in presenting cultural heritage.
“It is my great honor to collaborate once again with the Museum of Science and Technology after our very successful previous exhibition, which showcased the history of X-ray development in Serbia. I am confident that the new exhibition, ‘Naked Technology,’ will provide visitors with a unique insight into the world of science and technology, contributing to the development and inspiration of future scientists in the exploration and creation of new ideas and discoveries,” said Marko Petrović, the director of “Visaris,” a leader in the production of digital X-rays and information systems for diagnostics and image acquisition in Serbia and Southeastern Europe, during the exhibition’s opening.
Today, X-ray technology is an integral part of conservation and restoration museum practices and represents a non-destructive tool for imaging to better understand the interiors of museum objects, significantly facilitating the work of museum experts.
“Thanks to the development of new software tools and 3D printing, the results are much better today. However, it still remains a mystery how the interior of devices truly looks because it is impossible to see it in museum exhibitions. For all these reasons, the idea was born to select exhibits from the Museum’s collections that ‘hide’ interesting interiors and allow the passage of X-rays – among them are the ‘Belgrade Hand,’ the world’s first externally powered prosthetic robotic hand, the SLR CAMERA LEICA III, the first practical camera using 35mm film format with horizontal film placement in the camera, SONY MICRO 5-303W television, which, when it was released, was the smallest and lightest television in the world, and other interesting items,” added Ivan Stanić, senior curator at the Museum of Science and Technology.
The Museum of Science and Technology contacted the local company “Visaris,” which produces state-of-the-art digital X-ray machines. Thanks to their modern equipment and software, an incredible result has been achieved.
“With the advent of digital X-ray machines, dynamic imaging has been made possible, obtaining video recordings of X-ray images that greatly facilitate early diagnosis, both in orthopedics and fluoroscopy, as well as in other branches of medicine. Dynamic X-ray imaging used for the exhibition works on the same principle as a video camera, except that X-rays are used instead of daylight. The dynamic X-ray machine records a minimum of 25 images per second and arranges them to create a video recording in digital format,” explained Dušan Petrović, a museum advisor at the Museum of Science and Technology during the opening of the exhibition “Naked Technology.”