[Reader-list] Call for Participants: India's First Intensive Biological Art Workshop

[Prayas Abhinav]

hi all,

might be interest to the members of this list,
prayas

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National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore March 10-14 2008

Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology and the National Centre
for Biological Sciences, in collaboration with the Arts Catalyst and
SymbioticA, is organizing an intensive 5 day workshop for artists and
others interested people. It will be led by SymbioticA¹s Director Oron
Catts and his scientific collaborator Greg Cozens from the University
of Western  Australia.

This is a hands-on workshop where the tools of modern biology are
demonstrated through artistic engagement, which in turn gives voice to
the broader philosophical and ethical exploration into the extent of
human intervention with other living things. It involves exploration
of biological technologies and issues stemming from their use, and
serves as a theoretical and practical introduction to the creation of
biological art and is aimed at educating artists from India in issues
of biotechnology and the life sciences.

The workshop will cover hands-on engagement with these technologies in
order to be able to carry out and critique manipulation of living
systems from an informed practical perspective. The practical
components include DNA extraction and fingerprinting, genetic
engineering, plant and animal tissue culture and basic tissue
engineering techniques.

The workshop will present work of contemporary artists dealing with
biotechnology. Scientists will be involved discussing ethical issues
raised by artists' work in this area and leading visit to NCBS
laboratories. At the end of the week, the ideas explored in the
workshop will be opened out with a public discussion event at a venue
to be announced in Bangalore.

Attendance and Conditions:

Attendance at the workshop will be by selection through open
submission or by invitation. The selection will be made by Srishti,
SymbioticA, the artist in residence at NCBS, and the Arts Catalyst's
curator, currently in residence at Srishti. Artists are expected to be
available and present for the entire week-long workshop, as this is an
intensive process of learning and social interaction. Artists should
be based in India, or nearby  countries in South Asia.

There is no cost to selected participants to attend the workshop, but
travel and other expenses will not be covered. Limited accommodation
is available at NCBS for artists traveling from outside Bangalore.
Subsidized meals will be available for participants at NCBS.

The organizers believes that the effects of the workshop will be felt
in the long-term, as the artists, having learned the technology, will
start working on their own biotech projects, or at least feel their
work is informed by the experience.

Please send an expression of interest in attending as an email,
including a CV and brief bio, by February 8 2008 at the latest to
Yashas Shetty: yashas at cema.in

For More Information Visit: http://cema.srishti.ac.in/bioart