REVIEW - BEES: A STORY OF SURVIVAL EXHIBITION | WORLD MUSEUM, LIVERPOOL | 13/08/2025

Item: Bees: A Story of Survival
Rating: 4
Author: Sarah Monaghan

Sarah Monaghan
Aug 15
3 min read

Colorful bee art with text: "BEES: A Story of Survival, designed by Wolfgang Buttress." Dark background emphasizes vibrant bee details.

Black background with bold white text "ALL ABOUT FUN." Four purple stars underneath, bordered by a purple outline. Fun theme.

Review – Bees: A Story of Survival at World Museum Liverpool – A Stunning, Immersive Journey Through the World of Bees

On Wednesday 13th August 2025, my husband Lawrence, our daughter Alice (7) and son Leo (6) visited Bees: A Story of Survival at the World Museum in Liverpool. It was probably the hottest day of the year, and after exploring the rest of the museum, the children were hot and tired – perhaps not the ideal timing for a detailed exhibition visit. We paid £14 per adult, while the children were free. Despite the heat and our little ones’ impatience, we spent about 40 minutes in the exhibition, though it was clear that without the children we could have taken much longer, reading every panel and absorbing the full experience.

Bees: A Story of Survival exhibition - A child in a yellow shirt touches a mechanical bee model in a dimly lit exhibit. A placard labeled "Feel the Bee" is visible.

The exhibition is the result of a remarkable collaboration between World Museum Liverpool, bee communication expert Professor Martin Bencsik, and the award-winning artist Wolfgang Buttress. From the moment you enter, you’re transported into the world of bees: low-lit spaces, atmospheric soundscapes, and stunning visual displays give you a sense of life from a bee’s perspective. Spread across eight immersive rooms, the exhibition blends art, science, and technology, using sculptures, interactive screens, and sensory elements that let visitors see, hear, and even feel like a bee.

The first room is highly educational, featuring beautifully illustrated screens on bee anatomy, life cycles, and the 20,000 species found worldwide. Alice and Leo loved the large tactile model of a bee, split down the middle to reveal its inner workings – a hands-on experience that immediately captured their attention. As you move deeper, the exhibition becomes a fully immersive, multi-sensory art experience. Dark wood panels, dramatic lighting, and Wolfgang Buttress’ atmospheric soundtrack create a hive-like environment, while transparent blocks show the loss of wildflower meadows, and hive walls allow visitors to navigate as if flying among the bees themselves. It’s an immersive journey that blends science, art, and technology seamlessly, evoking both awe and reflection on the fragility of these vital creatures.

Bees: A Story of Survival exhibition - Person with a phone in a dark room with glowing, textured walls displaying colorful patterns. A small screen shows text in the background.

The children’s favourite part of the exhibition was Symphony, an interactive room where movement is captured and expressed in light and sound. Stepping onto a spotlight, their motions created ever-changing patterns of particles on the screen, accompanied by the sounds of over 30,000 bees. Watching themselves transformed into a living artwork delighted them, and even I found it captivating.

Other highlights included the hexagonal pollen room, which magnifies and animates the beautiful structures of pollen grains, and the sections showing bee behaviour – nesting, pollinating, communicating, and swarming – through light, sculpture, sound, and even subtle olfactory elements.

Bees: A Story of Survival exhibition - Illuminated cubes on stands in a dark, mirrored room cast reflections, creating a sense of infinite space. A person walks through the exhibit.

The exhibition also delivers powerful conservation messages, showing how habitat loss and pesticides threaten bee populations and offering simple ways we can help. It balances education with artistry, never feeling heavy-handed, and succeeds in both inspiring awe and provoking thought about our relationship with these essential insects.

Families with very young children should be aware that the exhibition space can get quite warm, despite the large fans positioned throughout to help with airflow. Some areas also feature narrow, dimly lit corridors, which might be challenging for little ones or those sensitive to low light. Alice and Leo, full of energy and curiosity, soon lost interest in some of the quieter, more artistic sections. I’d suggest this exhibition is best suited for children aged 10 and above, or for younger visitors with a strong interest in science and art.

Bees: A Story of Survival exhibition - A girl with a backpack interacts with glowing particles on a dark wall, creating a human silhouette. The room is dimly lit and immersive.

Before leaving, we stopped at the museum’s well-stocked gift shop, located near the entrance. Alongside dedicated exhibition merchandise – t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, magnets, tote bags, books, and jewellery – there’s a broad selection of other gifts. Alice chose a small bee plushie for £5, a sweet reminder of our day inside the hive.

Bees: A Story of Survival - Close up of bee larvae in honeycomb cells, showing shiny, reflective heads. Brown and golden hues dominate the image.

Bees: A Story of Survival is visually stunning and deeply thought-provoking. It combines interactivity, education, and artistry in a way that is rare in museum exhibitions, and I found it both moving and inspiring. For anyone interested in the natural world, the lives of bees, or innovative art-science collaborations, this is a must-visit.

“Step inside the hive and see the world through a bee’s eyes – an unforgettable journey of wonder, sound, and light.”