The Arte Institute, in partnership with Cultivamos Cultura and ArtSci Salon, has the pleasure to announce FACTT – Festival of Art & Science in Toronto, starting on March 29.

Artists:
André Sier
Elaine Whittaker
Felipe Shibuya & Pedro Cruz
Gunes-Helene Isitan
Jenifer Wightman
Jennifer Willet
Jude Abu-Zaineh
Kathy High
Maria Francisca Abreu-Afonso
Maria Manuela Lopez
Nicole Clouston
Nigel Helyer
Suzanne Anker
Tarah Roda
Tosca Teràn

Opening Tour:
March 29, 5 PM
Meet at Sidney Smith (University of Toronto), 100 St George street (enter from Huron street).

Panel Discussion:
Evolve, Mutate, Transform
March 29, 6 PM – 8 PM
The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences
222 College Street

Panel Guests: 
Marta DeMenezes – Artistic Director, Ectopia; Director, Cultivamos Cultura;
Gary Smith – Gary Smith Design;
Boris Steipe – Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Department of Molecular Genetics;
Jenifer Wightman – Research Associate (Cornell) and Lecturer (New School/Parsons).

Click here for more information!

What is nature and the evolution of living beings is an inevitable issue? While searching for the answer to this and other questions around Nature and its variations, we find what we are and how we stand among all organisms and in the world. Charles Darwin offered the world a simple scientific explanation for the diversity of life on Earth: evolution by natural selection. Countless scientists have found that Darwin’s work is fundamental to their own. Contemporary scientists can now answer questions about the natural world in ways Darwin never could. New tools and technologies, such as DNA analyses, can reveal unexpected relationships between seemingly dissimilar groups.

This event consists of an exhibition (part of FACTT-TO) and a panel discussion. Together, they interrogate the meaning, the relevance and the implications of evolution from different vantage points, including perspectives from a range of scientific disciplines, technological approaches, and artistic practices. We wish to reflect on the condition of co-habitation and co-existence of human and non-humans in this world (and beyond?) and pose questions about transformation; forced or elective mutation and survival; agency and decision making; conservation and intervention.

Text by Marta de Menezes and Roberta Buiani