10.6092/issn.2038-3460/17081
application/pdf
2038-3460
17081
1
en
Gianfranco Munizza
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/
Tecnoscienza – Italian Journal of Science & Technology Studies
Smile of a Stem Cell: A Dialogue between Science and Society (Cover's Comment)
Text.Serial.Journal
https://tecnoscienza.unibo.it/
4
Editorial
2013-07-12
2023-05-30
2013-07-12
2023-07-17
TS
Gianfranco Munizza
2013/07/12
10.6092/issn.2038-3460/17081
Cattaneo Lab
2038-3460
1
en
Smile of a Stem Cell: A Dialogue between Science and Society (Cover's Comment)
https://tecnoscienza.unibo.it/article/download/17081/16000
4
                                                              Cover’s comment

            Smile of a Stem Cell: A Dialogue between Science and Society


The exhibition Smile of a Stem Cell comprises 54 pictures collected from scientists
working in the research network ESTOOLS (www.estools.eu).
Supported by the European Union's Sixth Framework Program, ESTOOLS
investigated embryonic stem cell, science, ethics and law across 10 different Eu-
ropean countries. Aiming at improving integration and coordination in the Euro-
pean area, geographically dispersed research institutes shared their experience to
foster development in both science and ethics. As part of the project, a large
emphasis was placed on the production of outreach tools able to match and min-
gle with different cultural and religious contexts.
Scientists involved in the project selected their pictures following aesthetic crite-
ria. The caption of each image is comprised of a fantasy title and a condensed
scientific detail. Scientists looked at their everyday research from an external and
unusual perspective. They imagined something beyond the meaning they attribute
to pictures in their everyday laboratory activities: a cell or a fluorescent marker
might become a fairy, an astronomical phenomenon or a mundane urban activity.
The focus of the exhibition was to present science in a neutral way. Each picture
is expression of a scientific activity and contributes to foster debate, promote
enthusiasm and perplexity, though purposely avoiding influencing the observer
from an ethical perspective. Smile of a Stem Cell tries to use art as a universal form
of communication and – just like art does – it makes visible what the naked eye
would not usually see, highlighting the role of interpretation. One of the aim of
the exhibition was to attract the lay public to a scientific event. In these occasions,
people often fear they will face complicated and incomprehensible scientific data,
something bound to remain in the domain of few experts. Smile of a Stem Cell
does not require any scientific background: whoever is interested or attracted by
either science or art can appreciate it.
Art and science cannot be the same thing but both work as lenses or mirrors to
know more about the universe. The exhibition triggers the power of imagination
and displaces the perspectives of observers making them aware of the need for
interpretation, in an attempt to deal with the issue of visibility and to pave the way
for public debate.

                     Gianfranco Munizza (Project Manager at Cattaneo Lab)




Cover Pictures are reproduced with permission from Estools’s photo exhibition “Smile of
Stem Cell” (http://www.estools.eu).
