conference 2024

Nowotwórczość (Onco-creation) is a space where art and science meet — two realms that seem distant, even incompatible, standing at opposite poles of cognition and experience. Yet both are driven by human curiosity and creativity. Science strives to unravel the mysteries of the universe through systematic observation and experimentation, while art seeks to convey human emotions and ideas through various media. Can these fields be brought together?

The Górnośląska Fundacja Onkologiczna (Upper Silesian Oncology Foundation), together with the National Research Institute of Oncology in Gliwice, has taken on this challenge. Inspired by the success of the first edition, they decided to organize another one. The microphotographs presented in this exhibition were taken with a confocal microscope by researchers from the Centre for Translational Research and Molecular Biology of Cancer at the National Research Institute of Oncology in Gliwice.

The images you can see at the exhibition display various shapes, forms, and colours. They intrigue, evoke curiosity and emotion. They resemble coral reefs or outer space. They fascinate—at least until one discovers that they depict melanoma tissue. And then comes surprise, sometimes shock or aversion. A cognitive dissonance: How can something so dangerous be so beautiful?

Nowotwórczość (Onco-creation) – at the crossroads of science and art is a multidimensional project.

The first aim of presenting these microphotographs is to showcase the visual effects of scientific work and research achievements in an entirely new way – to reveal the scientist’s tools and the “special effects” that accompany laboratory work, as well as their artistic and inspiring dimension.

The second aim is to illustrate the complex process of tumour formation – also called carcinogenesis – in a way that makes it easier to understand. It depicts the transformation through which healthy cells change into abnormal, malignant ones. Through a multi-stage process that begins at the cellular level, changes occur within tissues, leading to the formation of tumours. Presenting cellular transformations serves, on one hand, to disseminate knowledge and make the difficult concepts related to cancer development more accessible to the general public, and on the other, to enrich the visual aspect of oncology so that what is unfamiliar becomes understood—and therefore less frightening.

Nowotwórczość (Onco-creation) also encompasses another extremely important dimension, particularly for people living with cancer and for their loved ones. It is a project intended to facilitate understanding.

By showing real images of cancer cells, we aim to nourish the sense of sight with something real, helping to reduce the fear of the unknown. The exhibition serves as a bridge connecting the biological – and often abstract – aspect of science with the emotional and imaginative dimension of human experience. The experience of illness, which affects the patient as well as those closest to them—a disease that is difficult to accept and difficult to come to terms with. A disease that evokes fear, anxiety, anger and helplessness – both in the patient and their loved ones. It can stigmatise, and it may disrupt relationships, both close and distant.

substantive patronage

media patronage

Selected moments from the “Nowotwórczość (Onco-creation) – At the Crossroads of Science and Art” conference
Photo credits: resources of Górnośląska Fundacja Onkologiczna (Upper Silesian Oncology Foundation) and PIOTR SKAŁKA