Queen Mary University of London is gearing up for a new programme of Arts and Culture activities focusing on the arts in science and technology.
Albert Einstein once said that all religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. It is with this in mind that Queen Mary’s Arts and Culture programme for autumn 2018, STEAM Ahead, has been launched.
STEAM Ahead will re-visit the “two cultures” debate, almost 60 years after CP Snow first coined the term. Do scientists speak a different language to that of artists? Has art grown too obscure and could it ever be instructive to scientific advancement?
The headline event of the programme will see Dr Tristram Hunt (Victoria and Albert Museum) and Sir Paul Nurse (Francis Crick Institute) explore these issues through a special debate on 7 November.
Dr Shahidha Bari, Lead for Arts and Culture at Queen Mary said: “We couldn’t have asked for two more eminently qualified people to lend their brilliant minds to this discussion than Sir Paul Nurse and Dr Tristram Hunt. It’s wonderful to have them headlining such a rich and thoughtful programme of autumn events at Queen Mary Arts and Culture.”
Jana Riedel, Arts and Culture Manager at Queen Mary said: “I am particularly excited about our autumn programme because it shows that Queen Mary takes a leading role in discussions and debates we need to have in the 21st century. We have many more thought-provoking and culture changing events and topics up our sleeves in months to come, so watch this space!”
The ambitious programme of events for autumn 2018 features film screenings, workshops and even a fancy dress lecture on Halloween.
Diann Bauer, Queen Mary’s commissioned artist, will be installing her artwork on the Mile End campus between October and December. Diann examines ideas from quantum physics in her work and her installation, projected onto the Arts Two Building, will be visible from Mile End Road. The work has been done in collaboration with the Nunnery Gallery’s exhibition Visions in the Nunnery. The launch will take place on 24 October, alongside the panel discussion, Wind, Rewind: Women Behind the Lens. At this event, panellists will discuss Visions lead artist Tina Keane’s influential work, known for pushing digital boundaries in the 1970s and 1980s. Queen Mary’s Dr Jenny Chamerette will chair the discussion. Visit the website of Bow Arts for more details.
Music fans will be treated to a series of workshops exploring musical creativity and spatial audio. Soundstack 2018 will take place between 5-7 October. Visit the website to book your free place.
The opening concert of the City of London Sinfonia’s Bach and the Cosmos series will take place on 10 October. Oxford Mathematician James Sparks will take the audience on a visual journey through JS Bach’s most numerical piece: the Goldberg Variations. More details can be found here.
Keyboard Evolutions will take place on 20 November and will see art and science entwine in an exploration of the evolution of keyboard instruments from early clavichord to cutting edge technologies. Visit the website of Music at Queen Mary for more information.
Queen Mary’s School of English and Drama will mark the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein on Halloween. The event will include a screening of early Frankenstein films and a fancy dress lecture. Book your place.
Being Human 2018 kicks off on 15 November and the theme for this year is London Bound. The national festival promotes public engagement with humanities research. Queen Mary researchers will explore the city through a series of workshops, tours and lectures. Visit the Being Human website for more information.
Dr Will Davies (Goldsmiths) will give the annual lecture of Queen Mary’s Centre for the History of Emotions on 22 November. Dr Davies will develop the themes from his book Nervous States: How feeling took over the world. Booking is essential, visit the website for more information.
Queen Mary launched its Arts and Culture strategy in November 2017 with the aim of developing the university as a world-leading centre of excellence in arts and culture within higher education. STEAM Ahead follows a series of successful events which took place in June 2018.
Queen Mary is a major contributor to London’s diverse artistic and cultural landscape, and has built strong relationships with its local, national and international audiences through the arts.
Download the Queen Mary Arts and Culture Strategy [PDF 17,652KB].
Study English and Drama at Queen Mary.
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