“Do-it-Yourself” (DiY) exhibition from Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History

In 2018, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History launched its first-ever “Do-it-Yourself” (DiY) exhibition, providing ready-to-print digital files and other resources free of charge to venues ranging from museums and libraries to health centers and public parks. DiY exhibits are designed to be flexible and adaptable to diverse locations and budgets.

They currently offer three exhibits: Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World, Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code, and Dig It! The Secrets of Soils. The first DiY exhibit, Outbreak, which opened onsite in 2018, explores the connections between human, environmental and animal health and the nature of zoonotic viral diseases such as nipah, SARS/MERS, HIV, influenza and COVID-19. It has been to over 200 locations and is now available in 10 languages and timelier than ever.

Beyond it being free to download, access to DiY exhibits are also pretty seamless with their new online digital distribution portal: diy.naturalhistory.si.edu. Check it out!