Explore the science of Colour at Scienceworks

03 March 2026

*Colour* at Scienceworks: Photographer: Tom Breakwell. Source: Museums Victoria.

Scienceworks is about to light up with Colour, a spectacular exhibition developed by Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre, Canberra. Bursting with curiosity, play and discovery, this exhibition reveals the surprising science and sensations behind one of the most powerful forces shaping how we see and experience the world.

Featuring 21 hands-on experiences, Colour invites visitors of all ages to experiment, explore and be amazed. Play with coloured bubbles, lose yourself in optical illusions, encounter iridescent insects and discover how light creates the colours all around us. Along the way, visitors will uncover how colour influences behaviour, communication and perception and why colour is never as simple as it seems.

The exhibition unfolds across four themes:

Coloured Light – Discover the origins of all colour
Changing Colour – See how colours are added, removed and transformed
Making Sense of Colour – Explore how we experience, interpret and respond to colour
Seeing Colour – Compare how humans, animals and machines perceive the world

Spanning physics, chemistry, biology and psychology, Colour reveals colour as many things at once: a property of light, a property of materials, and a deeply personal, subjective experience.

Visitors will explore how energy behaves in light through concepts such as wavelength, fluorescence and polarisation, alongside eye-bending effects like refraction, diffraction and scattering. The exhibition also dives into additive and subtractive colour mixing, absorption and reflection, and the science behind light spectra.

Lynley Crosswell, CEO and Director of Museums Victoria, said: ‘Colour takes visitors beyond the world we see every day, revealing that there is far more to colour than meets the eye. From pigments found in plants to colours shaped by geology and technology, this exhibition transforms something familiar into a wonderland of discovery.’

The exhibition is the first to be supported by Swinburne University of Technology as part of a new three-year learning partnership with Museums Victoria which will deliver a suite of flagship exhibitions, festivals and education programs.

Throughout the partnership, Swinburne will collaborate with Museums Victoria to bring to life programs that engage students in STEM principles and design thinking, including through major exhibitions and events including Top Designs at Melbourne Museum and the Science is a Superpower Festival at Scienceworks.

Professor Pascale Quester AO, Swinburne University of Technology Vice-Chancellor, said: ‘Colour is a perfect example of how Swinburne and Museums Victoria are coming together to bring research, education and ideas to our community, inspiring a love of learning through interactive, real-life experiences.’

Through playful, visual experiences, Colour encourages visitors to think differently about how light interacts with the world, how the world shapes light, and how these interactions affect humans and other species alike.

For more information, visit the Scienceworks website.

This exhibition is generously supported by Learning Partner, Swinburne University of Technology.