Area of Research

Raw Materials

What is human history about if not the distribution of scarce resources? Entire epochs (think the Iron Age) are named after raw materials. And people are prepared to kill to secure sources of raw materials, we know that. Cocoa and the coffee are rife with nice and terrible stories. The same can be said of gold, crude oil, rubber and rare earths. Telling these stories is one thing. Being able to interpret them is another matter entirely. And yet that is exactly what our exhibitions aim to do: use raw materials as a guide for deciphering how our modern world works.