En science, tout particulièrement en astronomie, les projets à 10 ans sont monnaie courante. En art, c’est une rareté. C’est avec gourmandise que je me lance avec Lily Hibberd et Claudia Schnugg dans cette aventure de Venus Conversations.
Nous lançons le projet au Dana Research Centre and Library du Science Museum à Londres, ce 23 novembre 2024.
Voici le communiqué de presse, en anglais.
Venus is our twin planet, the most visible celestial object in the night sky after the Sun and Moon. And yet it has been marginalized in cultural imagination and space science for almost half a century. Venus Conversations 2024-2034 turns our attention to Venus once again to embrace its pivotal place in human cultural history and to prepare for a new era of discovery as seven or more scientific missions will return to our neighbouring planet in the next decade.
Venus Conversations 2024-2034 is a series of dialogues and art projects launching from the planet Venus to explore cultural, scientific and artistic forcefields.
This ten-year project is initiated by artist Lily Hibberd (AUS/FR) with art critic and independent curator Annick Bureaud (FR), and art-science curator and scholar Claudia Schnugg (AT).
From 2025, artists, curators, and scientists will be supported to develop conversations around Venus. Creative outcomes include gatherings, research visits, performances, exhibitions, publications and podcasts in different locations worldwide. An exhibition will be timed to coincide with the launch of the EnVision ESA-NASA mission to Venus planned for 2031.
The project aims to establish a strong creative community around Venus to transform how the planet is understood and represented as a cultural, artistic and scientific object. A collective approach will empower more inclusive ways of doing art & science.
Co-organizer Lily Hibberd says, ‘The planet Venus has been a powerful celestial and cultural object and artistic inspiration for millennia. It is a pivotal timekeeper and ritual tool that traverses gender and cultural archetypes, making it a prevalent medium for art today.’
EnVision ESA-NASA mission and Imperial College scientist Dr Philippa Mason emphasizes that, ‘It may seem surprising that so little is known about our closest planetary neighbour but Venus holds the answers to many important questions about the evolution of rocky planets in the solar system and beyond. Unravelling the story of Venus’ evolution may therefore be a vital key to understanding how a planet can become or cease to be habitable.’
Project launch, Saturday 23 November 2024, 4-6pm
The first in a decade of transnational conversations, the three co-organizers will share their vision for Venus Conversations 2024-2034, along with curators from the Science Museum, and scientists leading the EnVision ESA-NASA mission to Venus, as well as the audience.
A Q&A session will follow and the audience will be invited to join in discussion with the speakers.
Science Museum curators Laura Joy Pieters (Mathematical Sciences, Astronomy), and Rebecca Mellor (Exhibitions) will speak about the presence of Venus in the collections.
Venus scientists attending are Gerard Gallardo i Peres (UK), along with Philippa Mason (UK) and Thomas Widemann (FR), who are also representing the ESA-NASA EnVision Venus mission launching in 2031.
Other invited conversationalists include social scientist Saskia Vermeylen (UK), and international artists Michèle Boulogne (FR/NL), Oscar Santillán (ECU/NL), and Andrey Shental (DE/RU).
The Venus Conversations 2024-2034 documentary exhibition curated for the launch presents reproductions of contemporary artworks, Science Museum collection items, and current scientific research, all inspired by Venus. International artists represented are Michèle Boulogne (FR/NL), Lily Hibberd (AUS/FR), Anna Hoetjes (NL), Oscar Santillán (ECU/NL), Andrey Shental (DE/RU), Matt Smith (IR/UK), and Shireen Taweel (AUS).
Bookings are required for this free event and places are limited
Time 4pm-6pm
Location Dana Research Centre and Library
165 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 5HD, UK
Note: this venue is not accessible from the Science Museum building
Follow