SciArt SwitzerlAnd: a dialogue between the arts and science

Like invisible threads laying out knowledge and culture, art and science meet to open up new paths to understanding our world. From this perspective, scientific research is not only a learning path, but also a bridge towards other dimensions of human culture, which are interconnected and yet to be explored and understood. 

IBSA Foundation for scientific research – the main promoter of the social responsibility activities of the IBSA Group – has been committed to make knowledge accessible and interdisciplinary, breaking down the barriers between science and society. Through dissemination initiatives, support for research and collaborations with academic and cultural institutions, the Foundation promotes its vision of science for all, so that knowledge does not remain confined to laboratories, but is open to debate with the public. 

It was precisely from this desire for interaction and contamination between different fields that SciArt SwitzerlAnd was born, a project of IBSA Foundation in collaboration with Lugano Arte e Cultura (LAC) and the Art Museum of Italian Switzerland (MASI, Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana), which promotes the interconnection between science and the arts, to stimulate critical thinking and the diffusion of scientific culture.

As part of this initiative, botanist e populariser Stefano Mancuso and physicist Guido Tonelli involved the audience in two fascinating meetings, held on 8 and 17 February together with LAC, revealing how science, art and ethics can intertwine to redefine our vision of the world and face the challenges of the present with new knowledge and perspectives.

Full videos of the meetings will soon be available for those who wish to relive the lectures and explore the topics in more depth.

THE INTELLIGENCE OF PLANTS FOR GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY

On Saturday, February 8, the LAC Theatre Hall hosted Stefano Mancuso, botanist and teacher of general arboriculture and plant ethology at the University of Florence and one of the world’s leading experts in plant neurobiology. 

During the conference, entitled Gli esseri vegetali nell’ottica di una sostenibilità globale (“Vegetable beings with a view to global sustainability”), Mancuso fascinated the audience by describing the state of the planet and how life is a rare, fragile element, mainly composed of plants.

Through his story, the speaker highlighted the importance of draw inspiration from the natural world to address the climate and social challenges of our time: “We should make an ecological conversion, that is, understand that we have an intolerable impact on the planet”.

ART AND SCIENCE: TWO LANGUAGES TO INTERPRET THE WORLD

Monday, February 17, physicist Guido Tonelli, one of the protagonists of the discovery of the Higgs boson, guided the audience through a journey into the astonishing relationships between art and science during the meeting Arte e Scienza: una storia di sorprendenti relazioni (“Art and Science: a story of surprising relationships”). 

In his speech, Tonelli explored the points of contact between two apparently distant disciplines, revealing their unity in purpose. Indeed, although they use different tools and approaches, both disciplines have a common goal: explore the unknown, interpret human reality and give meaning to the reality around us. 

The physicist invited the audience to reflect on the crucial role that art and science have always played in keeping the cohesion of the human community alive: scientific thought and artistic expression have always been interconnected, from Renaissance masterpieces inspired by mathematics and perspective, to the modern visual representations of cosmological theories. In Tonelli’s words: “They are both essential activities to keep the community together”.

FROM KNOWLEDGE TO SOCIETY: THE ROLE OF IBSA FOUNDATION

IBSA Foundation for scientific research carries out a mission: that of disseminating a science for all, trying to break down the boundaries between science and society and promoting a shared and accessible knowledge. With these aims, and thanks to projects such as SciArt SwitzerlAnd, IBSA Foundation confirms its commitment to make culture an engine of collective growth, on a journey that continues to evolve and contributes to bringing benefits to the entire society.