year 2025

Another edition of the exhibition series “Nowotwórczość (Onco-creation) – At the Crossroads of Science and Art” is now behind us. 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 these two worlds closer – the world of art and the world of medicine. By presenting microscopic images of cancer cells as artistic expression, we seek to reveal the results of scientific research in a completely new light, while communicating and humanising scientific concepts in the field of oncology.

The vivid and intriguing cell images were captured using 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 research can inspire artistic interpretation. It uses art to visually represent cancer cells, making the complex and often difficult subject of carcinogenesis – the process through which healthy cells transform into malignant ones – more accessible to a broad audience. The images reveal how cancer cells can form extraordinary, visually captivating structures, provoking a sense of cognitive dissonance: how can something so dangerous be so beautiful?

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 published here.

Exhibitions held so far:

• 4 February – 4 March 2025 – CINiBA – Scientific Information Centre and Academic Library, Katowice, 11A Bankowa Street
• 24 May 2025 – OnkoObrazy (Onco-Images): The Space of Health – Culture, Wellness, Prevention, Hala Kultury, Łomża, 6 Stary Rynek “…Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood.” – Marie Skłodowska-Curie

Deepening knowledge, fostering understanding, and learning to see the world in new ways can help reduce the fear and anxiety associated with what is unknown and unfamiliar. As Marie Skłodowska-Curie used to say: “Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood.”

Conferences held so far:

24 May 2025 – OnkoObrazy (Onco-Images): The Space of Health – Culture, Wellness, Prevention, Hala Kultury, Łomża, 6 Stary Rynek “…Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood.”