MIT MUSEUM TO UNLOCK MYSTERIES OF OUR OCEAN PLANET IN NEW THEMATIC SEASON, LAUNCHING SEPTEMBER 2026
An ambitious six-month program of exhibitions, installations, research projects, and events at the MIT Museum will dive into our planet’s vast oceans, connecting art, architecture, design, science, and technology to reveal mysteries of the deep.
Cambridge, MA, APRIL 23, 2026 — The MIT Museum is pleased to announce OCEANS, a new thematic season of programming that will unlock our understanding of one of Earth’s greatest unknowns. Running from September 2026 through March 2027, this series of exhibitions, programs, and events will uncover the complexity, beauty, and critical importance of the world’s oceans, while inspiring curiosity, courage, and human connection. Kicking off on September 30, OCEANS will welcome visitors to immerse themselves in one of the world’s most fascinating and significant subjects.
Global oceans make up 71% of the Earth’s surface yet remain largely unmapped; more is known about the surface of Mars than the ocean floor. As the origin of life on Earth, they sustain more than two hundred thousand species and support humanity’s global trade and food systems, but they contain the ecosystems most threatened by climate change, pollution, and other human activity.
In collaboration with MIT Sea Grant, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Biological Laboratory, and New England Aquarium, the OCEANS thematic season will shine a light on the many facets of the marine ecosystem, exploring complex ocean technologies, marine biodiversity and coral reefs, safeguarding ecosystems, and atmospheric impact, iterated through intersectional displays of art, design, technology, and science.
The Mark R. Epstein (Class of 1963) Director, MIT Museum Michael John Gorman, said: “In his book Alien Ocean: Anthropological Voyages in Microbial Seas, MIT anthropologist Stefan Helmreich describes the ocean as a space where ‘worldly nature oscillates between familiar and strange, in which the very category of 'life' is at sea’. Oceans challenge scientific, cultural and ecological boundaries. As we seek to sense, understand and navigate oceans through technology, from their microbial denizens to their currents and hydrothermal vents, we reveal an alien world that scientists and engineers at MIT and our partner institutions are exploring through a dazzling area of technologies. This is the focus of the MIT Museum’s new thematic season, which brings science, art, design and technology together to immerse us in our ocean planet”
EXHIBITIONS
Sensing Oceans
Opening date: September 28, 2026
Press preview and opening reception: September 30, 2026
Closing Date: February 21, 2027
Sensing Oceans will explore how humans extend perception below the ocean’s surface, an environment that remains beyond direct, unmediated reach. From underwater sensing equipment and animal-inspired robots to autonomous vehicles and immersive artworks, the exhibition brings together the MIT Museum’s collection with contemporary research and artistic practice. A highlight is the US premier of Marshmallow Laser Feast’s large-scale video installation Seeing Echoes in the Mind of the Whale, which merges deep listening and scientific insight to invite viewers to experience the ocean through the sensory abilities of three whale species. Taken together, the exhibition’s works illuminate how we assemble and represent knowledge about the ocean, shaping our understanding and stewardship of this complex, vital realm.
Crochet Coral Reef
Opening date: August 14, 2026
Closing date: February 14, 2027
Crochet Coral Reef will invite visitors into a mesmerizing convergence of art, science, and community. Centered on the work of Margaret and Christine Wertheim and the Institute For Figuring, the exhibition will present hand-crocheted explorations of the complex geometries hidden within nature’s most delicate sea creatures. More than a striking visual experience, the Crochet Coral Reef project is a globally-distributed, community-sourced investigation in applied mathematics and evolutionary theory while serving as a powerful artistic response to climate change.
Water Architectures
Opening date: December 17, 2026
Closing date: June 13, 2027
Water Architectures showcases the MIT Museum’s distinguished collection of architecture student thesis drawings alongside work by recent graduates, drawing from 150 years of innovative designs. The exhibition examines the role of architecture in mediating human activity at waterfronts, revealing both enduring principles and significant changes in design approaches and priorities over time.
PROGRAMMING
A full series of OCEANS themed programs will be announced this summer, deepening the thematic exploration and welcoming the larger community to engage with the museum. A programmatic open call garnered over 550 proposals from around the world, which the MIT Museum is developing into workshops, panel discussions, performances, and film screenings.
Programs will include a participatory performance on sea level rise with Boston Dance Theater, Drifting with Plankton: An Interactive Performance Lecture on Ocean Science, Art, and Sensory Knowledge, a maker workshop titled Molecular Poetry – Reading and Writing Like a Clam, and a Coastal Climate Change Toolkit weekly drop-in learning lab. An OCEANS film series will feature the films Entangled followed by a conversation with filmmaker David Abel and Erica Fuller, Senior Counsel, Conservation Law Foundation, The Coral Rescuers followed by a conversation filmmaker Jason Spingarn-Koff and A Life Illuminated followed by a conversation with producer Jessica Harrop.
The MIT Museum’s popular After Dark series will provide moments to explore subjects such as waves, deep sea exploration, and coral. This event series is held on the second Thursday of each month from 6-9pm for adults aged 18+.
In addition, Community Crochet Coral Reef workshops will be held for the MIT community in collaboration with artists Margaret and Christine Wertheim and MIT Professor in Computer Science Eric Demaine, with partial funding from MIT’s Center for Art, Science, and Technology. Corals crocheted out of yarn and plastics will be assembled into a wall mural in early 2027 to cap off the OCEANS theme.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
About The MIT Museum:
The MIT Museum welcomes all to participate in MIT’s unique culture of problem-solving and playful creativity, bringing together science, technology, art, and design in surprising ways to explore potential futures.
In addition to exhibitions, programs, a maker hub and learning labs, the museum invites visitors to take part in ongoing research while demonstrating how science and innovation will shape the future of society. In October 2022, a reinvented MIT Museum opened in a new location in the heart of Kendall Square in Cambridge, MA.
Highlights of the Museum include freshly conceived exhibitions featuring objects from the Museum’s collections of over 1.5 million objects, along with loans of art and other objects; the Lee Family Exchange event space for public dialogue and conversation; the hands-on Heide Maker Hub, where audiences can create and invent; and an expanded MIT Museum Store.
The MIT Museum is open daily 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
For more information, including accessibility and amenities, please visit mitmuseum.mit.edu
Address: MIT Museum, Gambrill Center, 314 Main Street (MIT Building E28), Cambridge, MA 02142.
Located next to the Kendall/MIT MBTA Red Line stop at the new Kendall Gateway to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Campus. Museum Director, Michael John Gorman; Director of Exhibitions, Ann Neumann.
About The MIT Museum’s Thematic Seasons
Launched in 2025, the MIT Museum’s thematic seasons are a new way of organizing its exhibitions and programming around a single, expansive concept. Each thematic season weaves together exhibitions, installations, programming, and educational initiatives under one unifying theme, encouraging more meaningful and comprehensive exploration.
MIT Museum credits:
- Michael John Gorman, The Mark R. Epstein (Class of 1963) Director, MIT Museum
- Ann Neumann, Curator and Artistic Advisor, Sensing Oceans and Crochet Coral Reef exhibitions
- Libby Meier, Curator, MIT Museum, Sensing Oceans
- Andrea Lipps, Curator, MIT Museum, Sensing Oceans
- Jonathan Duval, Curator, MIT Museum, Water Architectures
- Emily Cheeseman, Exhibitions Project Manager, MIT Museum
- Rob Gainfort, Manager of Exhibitions, MIT Museum
- Tyler Derryberry, Preparator and Media Integrator, MIT Museum
- Alexander Harrington, Preparator, MIT Museum
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The MIT Museum wishes to thank its OCEANS advisory board members:
- Andrew Bennett, Senior Lecturer, MechE, MIT Sea Grant
- James Brice, PhD student, MIT-WHOI Joint Program
- Penny Chisholm, MIT Institute Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Dept. of Biology
- Kat Cizek, Artistic Director, Co-Creation Studio, MIT Open Documentary Lab
- Sam Harp, Vice President for Advancement and Chief Marketing Officer, WHOI
- Stefan Helmreich, Elting E. Morison Professor of Anthropology, MIT
- Letise LaFeir, Chief of Conservation and Stewardship, New England Aquarium
- TM Lim, APAC Regional Executive Director, OceanX Education
- Nipam Patel, Director, Marine Biological Laboratory; Professor, University of Chicago
- Raffaele Ferrari, Co-Director, MIT Lorenz Center and Ida Green Professor of Oceanography
- Helen Rozwadowski, University of Connecticut Professor, Dept. of History; MIT Museum Collections Committee Member
- Teagan Sullivan, MIT MechE (Course 2) Class of 2026; Arcturus MechE Co-lead
FOR PRESS RELEASE ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT:
Sasha Wallinger, Director of Marketing and Communications, MIT Museum
sashaw@mit.edu
Jill Robinson, Camron
jill.robinson@camronglobal.com
Adam Mulder, Camron
adam.mulder@camronglobal.com
