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CÚRAM, the Centre for Research in Medical Devices, has been awarded funding for the Chimera Art and Science Project. The NUI Galway0based project, will bring artists and scientists together to create a dialogue around the ethical and cultural issues of tissue engineering and medical devices.

The Chimera project is funded by the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Discover Programme which aims to support and develop the STEM education and public engagement sector in Ireland. Two Artists-in-Residence, Joanna Hopkins and Siobhan McGibbon, will be given access to the laboratories of CÚRAM in order to create art works and describe their experiences on social media.

In addition to the Artist-in-Residency programme, eleven Fine Art students from the Centre for Creative Arts and Media, Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) are participating in a student project. The artists’ and students’ work will culminate in an exhibition which will be exhibited during Medical Devices Week at the end of the year. The exhibition will take place alongside cutting-edge medical devices in the Biosciences Building at NUI Galway and in the foyers of key medical device companies.

The Chimera project will allow fruitful collaboration and communication between the two disciplines of art and science. Chimera is the brainchild of the project curator Andrea Fitzpatrick and Professor Abhay Pandit, who is the Director of CÚRAM. “Art can act as a vital catalyst for experimental practice and help develop new ways to inspire and communicate across traditional boundaries,” explains Andrea Fitzpatrick.

The programme will use a hands-on approach and offer a space for creative inquiry where artists will use the technologies and tools of science. By having the artists work in laboratories alongside scientists, professionals from both disciplines will be forced to think differently and find a common ground for communication.

CÚRAM is a major new national research centre based at NUI Galway. The prime objective for CÚRAM will be to radically improve health outcomes for patients by developing innovative implantable medical devices to treat major unmet medical needs.

CÚRAM is poised to design and create implantable ‘smart’ medical devices. Implants will be designed and manufactured to respond to the body’s environment and to deliver therapeutic agents, such as drugs, exactly where needed.

For more information visit http://chimeraartandscience.com/

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