Life in the Dark exhibition review. Natural History Museum: ★★★★★

It's dark in the caves, where the shriek of moths causes your hair to stand on end, and only a tiny flicker of light illuminates a ceiling crowded with bats. We might fancy ourselves to be in the underground tunnels of Kurbera-Voronja in Georgia, or maybe the Dark Star cave in Uzbekistan. But actually, this is the Natural History museum in London, and the latest exhibition Life in the Dark.

Exploring the darkest places on earth – from the bottom of the oceans to deep inside cavernous mountain ranges – this family friendly exhibition immerses its visitors in the world's most unknown environments, and drags from out of the depths the mysterious, weird-looking creatures that reside there.


Life in the Dark, Natural History Museum. Photo: © Trustees of the Natural History Museum

From caves to oceans, from cuddly koala bears to eerie lanternfish, the exhibition features some of the most interesting and elusive animals on the planet. Visitors to the Museum are among the first human beings to see some recently identified specimens, thanks to the latest scientific and technological advancements that allowed researchers to go where no man has gone before.

Animals only discovered in the last few decades are littered around the gallery. There's the Dumbo Octopus, adorably cute and named for its large and flapping ears. A Bob Marley fish sits in its tank, with deadlock-like scales that surely gave the fish its name. A cookie cutter shark strikes a long and menacing presence up on a plinth.


Life in the Dark, Natural History Museum. Photo: © Trustees of the Natural History Museum

With entrancing installations and live specimens, this might just be the Museum's most ambitious exhibition yet. A huge emphasis has been placed on the immersive experience of the visitors with soundscapes, scents and an array of lights and colours used to steep a viewer in the undiscovered world of the darkest places on Earth.

The Natural History Museum has worked hard to make this exhibition as child-friendly as possible. The majority of models are free to touch, paper and pens are available to draw new imaginative, animals and tunnels are littered in the bat cave for some small brave soul to clamber through. The only downside is that the forensic information on offer languishes in the dark and so can be difficult to read, encouraging little ones to rush from one immersive experience to the next without necessarily absorbing the eye-opening facts about the recently discovered Remipede.

So grab the family and step into a whole new world (or two) at the Natural History Museum this summer. And heed our warning: after an hour of being submerged in the dizzying array of light and dark, stepping out into harsh summer sunshine can prove quite jarring. Maybe bring your sunnies.