World-renowned artists visit RSU Institute of the History of Medicine

On 29 November RSU Institute of the History of Medicine was visited by world-renowned artists Stelarc and Nina Sellars who were introduced to the upcoming and eagerly expected transformations in the shape and layout of RSU Anatomy Museum and had the chance to take a glimpse at the collections and displays of the Pauls Stradiņš Museum for the History of Medicine.

During the visit the artists met with the director of RSU Institute of the History of Medicine Prof. Juris Salaks and curators Ieva Lībiete and Ilze Sirmā to sign a memorandum on the artists’ participation in the interdisciplinary conference Anatomy&Beyond that has been scheduled for next September and will be held in anticipation of the new grand opening of RSU Anatomy Museum in 2019. The conference Anatomy&Beyond will challenge artists, performers, researchers and philosophers to share their perception of the human anatomical body on earth and to ponder on the future scientific findings on its organic structure, and how it will be influenced by discoveries in medicine, IT robotics and space. The meeting was also attended by RSU Head of the Communications Department Edijs Šauers who supervises the reconstruction project and is responsible for promoting the conference on social media.

The idea behind the conference belongs to Professor Juris Salaks and the presently London-based Belgian artist Pascale Pollier who have a joint interest of capturing how art meets science. More about the artist is available here.

The conference is organized by RSU Institute of the History of Medicine and RSU Anatomy Museum, continuing their traditional cooperation with the Pauls Stradiņš Museum for the History of Medicine where pieces of art specifically created for the conference will be incorporated into the museum displays (curators Pascale Pollier and Nina Sellars).

The artists took the chance of visiting Riga on their way back from Moscow where Stelarc opened his exhibition. During the visit, the performance artist recognized that he is still interested in expanding the realm of the human body and in its transformation into a piece of art. The extra “ear” implanted onto his forearm will be soon connect to a listening device for everyone to track and hear whatever he does.

Stelarc is the world’s most reknowned performance artist who combines technologies, art and human body. In his works, which are usually displayed on his body, he probes and implements ideas of improving the human body through technological possibilities. For more information about the artist, visit his website.

Nina Sellars is an artist, writer, and curator, whose research area is the study of anatomy. Her artworks relate to the disciplines of art, science and humanities and focus on the contemporary and historical influence of anatomy on our understanding of the body, identity and subjectivity. To read more about the artist, visit her homepage.