The last time the Da Vinci machines exhibition was in town was around 2 years back, said the counter person at the Mines International Exhibition & Convention Centre. It was previously hosted in the national science centre located in Bukit Kiara. Me and Ariel were thinking of going but our funds were overly tight at the time.
So we made it a point this time to pay it a visit. In addition, it was kind of our pre-Valentines date since the actual day falls on a weekday. 😛
Now, photography and video recording was apparently not allowed in the exhibit. Though I witnessed some other lady happily recording the whole place with her iPad2 as we exited the exhibition. Thus, as a disclaimer, let me say that my photos here are primarily to help promote the exhibition and isn’t used for personal gain.
Although the exhibit space wasn’t huge, there were quite a number of machines, some paintings and even manuscripts to read. Note though Leonardo Da Vinci wrote backwards.
The Da Vinci machines were downsized replicas of what the man envisioned in his drawings. Some replicas were so cool that it allowed you to interact with the machines itself. Look out for the ones which says, please handle with care.
The coolest machine me and Ariel liked was the Archimedes machine. It was a machine which drew water using a pipe wrapped around a cylindrical object. By turning in accordance of the pipe, it pushed water from a lower portion to the container above. Cool!
In the TV series Doing Da Vinci which was on Discovery channel, they recreated a life-size replica of what was known as the armored tank.
The exhibit had a few sections starting from war machines to flying machines and other machines used by Da Vinci to create new inventions by experimentation.
Unlike a changing room, explanation written for this exhibit was to observe the person in it – beats me, what what Da Vinci was observing. 😛
Some of the famous paintings you’ll see at the exhibit are the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. But they’re more like printouts than fake paintings. Nonetheless, I now know few other paintings which he did and what’s the story behind them.
Overall, it was an alright exhibition. Inspiring to see how one man, inventor and artist, actually visualized machines and ideas which gave birth to some of the things we use today.
The exhibition is on the Ground floor at the Mines International Exhibition and Convention Centre (MIECC). The entrance fee is RM28 for adults and RM18 for students. I personally recommend arts people, engineering backgrounds or people who appreciate Da Vinci to pay the exhibit a visit.
It just might be the spark you need to solve a problem. 🙂