Directions 
Travelling exhibition Brown Gold
Is poop waste? Or is there more to it?
Fecal matter is part of us and our daily lives. Stool can tell a lot about our health and eating habits, but it’s also the root of social and environmental issues we may not fathom.
Did you know that a huge portion of the world’s population does not have access to sanitary toilets? Through health crises and issues, as well as hope in the potential of repurposing human waste, find out why understanding poop can lead to a better of understanding of humanity.
A fresh look at what is turning out to be the world’s most undervalued yet inexhaustible resource
Through the lens of microbiology, anatomy, social history, ethnology, engineering, ecology and art, Brown Gold provides an experiential exhibition that will not only make people laugh, it will make them think as well.
This clever and sensitive exhibition, with a rigorous scientific underpinning, features immersive scenography, 200 objects from the collection, engaging videos and interactive content.
Amusing grossness guaranteed!
Brown Gold received the following two awards:
- Award of Excellence from the Société des musées du Québec
- Numix Award for the CACArcade zone
The Musée supplies all exhibition components, tailoring them to your space. It is also responsible for organizing, setting up and dismantling the exhibition, as well as loaning objects from its collection.
- Surface area: 600–800m2 (6,500–8,600 ft2)
- Height: 3.85 m (12.63 ft)
- Standard rental period: 8 months
Zone 1: Let’s talk poop!
In this first highly educational zone, poop is looked at from a historical and societal perspective. Historic toilet seats, geographic maps and a series of toilets showing the different types of fecal matter on the Bristol Stool Scale are on display.
Zone 2: Planet toilet(s)
This immersive zone features reproductions of eight private or communal places for defecation in an impressive, oversized hall. You will discover familiar and foreign environments, evoking empathy for other cultures around the world.
Zone 3: Today’s challenges
This section presents the social and environmental issues of managing fecal matter around the world. Audiences are encouraged to learn about, analyze and become aware of realities here and elsewhere.
Zone 4: Brown gold
Bathed in green and hope, this zone is all about upcycling excrement. After a thorough exploration of the subject, we come back to our founding premise: What if poop is actually a resource, not waste? Museum goers will be amazed by toilet models of the future.
Zone 5: CACArcade
Focused on the sanitary issues of managing fecal matter, this interactive, creative and fun sone features four video games—all poop-related! At the end of their visit, visitors are assured a good laugh while playing arcade games connected to exhibition content.
- 5 zones
- 200 objects
- 6 videos
- 7 interactive features
- Original and immersive scenography
- Educational programing
- Languages: French/English—other translations possible
- June 2021 to March 2023: Musée de la civilisation, Québec, Canada
- May 2024 to January 2025: Canada Science and Technology Museum, Ottawa, Canada
- March 2025 and beyond: available
- The exhibition was seen by 460,000 visitors during its run at the Musée de la civilisation (20 post-pandemic months).
- It had a positive effect on 84% of visitors, regardless of age.
- Some 79% said their perception of feces changed from waste to resource because of their visit to the exhibition.
“We loved Brown Gold. It was educational and provocative, and it changed how I think. It focused in a wonderful way on human excrement as a unifying substance. Absolutely everyone—rich and poor, citizens of developed and developing nations, young and old—produces poop and so it affects each and every one of us.”
“Brown Gold was both entertaining and instructive.”
“Brown Gold was really fun and we learned a lot.”
Article published in the Boston Globe:
Articles published in French-language media:
En un coup d’œil
Document d’information
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