year 2024
year 2024
nowotwórczość (onco-creation) – at the crossroads of science and art
nowotwórczość (0nco-creation) – at the crossroads of science and art
The second edition of the exhibition, accompanied by a conference and discussion panel, was opened on 8 November 2024 at the Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology in Gliwice.
Nowotwórczość (Onco-creation) is a space where art and science meet – two realms that may seem distant, even incompatible, standing at opposite poles of cognition and experience. Can they truly be brought together?
The project and exhibition aim to bring the worlds of medicine and art closer together. By presenting microscopic images of cancer cells as artistic expressions, we seek to reveal the outcomes of scientific research in a completely new light, and to communicate and humanise scientific concepts in the field of oncology. The vivid and intriguing images of cells were captured with a confocal microscope by scientists from the Centre for Translational Research and Molecular Biology of Cancer at the National Research Institute of Oncology in Gliwice, and artistically developed by Małgorzata Lisowska, microscopic photographer and artist.
Nowotwórczość (Onco-creation) demonstrates how scientific discoveries can inspire artistic interpretation. It uses art to visually represent cancer cells and to make the complex and often daunting process of carcinogenesis – in which healthy cells transform into malignant ones – more accessible to a wider audience. These images reveal how cancer cells can form extraordinary, visually captivating structures that provoke a kind of cognitive dissonance: how can something so dangerous be so beautiful?
Nowotwórczość (Onco-creation) also represents another, deeply important dimension – especially for people living with cancer and their loved ones. It forms a bridge between the biological and often abstract aspects of science and the emotional and imaginative dimensions of human experience. It fills the visual gap in oncology – helping transform what was once unknown into something understood, and therefore less fearful.
The Górnośląska Fundacja Onkologiczna (Upper Silesian Oncology Foundation), together with the Gliwice Branch of the National Research Institute of Oncology, is undertaking an initiative to reshape public perception of a crucial social issue – how patients and their families relate to cancer. Through authentic microscopic images of cancer cells, reimagined in artistic form, the exhibition seeks to replace fear of the unknown with understanding – and, in doing so, to support patients in their healing process.
The second edition of “Nowotwórczość (Onco-creation) – At the Crossroads of Science and Art” has taken on a slightly different form this year. It will be presented at various times and in multiple locations across Poland and abroad. Updates on upcoming dates and venues will be posted here.
Exhibitions held so far:
- September 2024 – spinPLACE, Katowice, 5 Bankowa Street
- October 2024 – Mill of Knowledge Modernity Centre, Toruń, 8 Wały gen. Władysława Sikorskiego Street
conferences
Deepening knowledge, fostering understanding, and perceiving the world in new ways can help reduce the fear and anxiety associated with what is unknown and unfamiliar. Because, as Marie Skłodowska-Curie used to say: “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.”