The Arts & Genomics Centre at Leiden University is announcing three-month bioartist-in-residence positions as part of a larger research programme called ‘Imagining Genomics: Introducing Visuality in the Genomics Debate’ which focusus on “the role of visual art in moral debates on genomics”. The results of the bioart-in-residence projects are planned to be displayed in the Dutch National Museum of Natural History, Naturalis. The application deadline is 1 September, i.e., already next week. For further details, see here.
I think this announcement is interesting for the way it connects visual art and moral debate. This is not an unproblematic connection. The use of art for moral arbitration has a troubled history indeed, and it would be interesting to hear further arguments for and against the use of art-works in contemporary moral discourse about biosociety. We will get ample opportunities for this at next week’s workshop on “Biomedicine and Aesthetics in a Museum Context” here at Medical Museion, where several participants are working on related research projects.
(thanks to Ingeborg for drawing attention to the announcement)
