The Dublin-based non-profit Science Gallery International (SGI) has signed an agreement with Ca’ Foscari University of Venice to establish a Science Gallery in the city, based on the model pioneered in Trinity. The agreement was signed by CEO of Science Gallery International Andrea Bandelli and Ca’ Foscari Rector Michele Bugliesi at a public launch last Friday in Venice.
Science Gallery Venice is scheduled to open in a permanent location in 2019, and will start hosting pop-up events and exhibits next year. The gallery will be located in San Basilio in Venice, an area which forms part of the city’s latest urban regeneration project.
Speaking ahead of the public launch, Bugliesi described the aim of the initiative: “Science Gallery Venice will be a centre for innovation and research in both science and the arts. It will become a source of ideas and experiments for researchers from around the world, in collaboration with international partners at the highest level.”
Bandelli emphasised the importance of the global connection between the members of Science Gallery International, saying: “Science Gallery Venice will bring the world-class contemporary art and frontier scientific research of Venice to the Global Science Gallery Network, creating endless opportunities to engage the local Venetian community with leading thinkers in art and science, both in Italy and internationally.”
Provost Dr. Patrick Prendergast has also welcomed the decision to open a gallery in Venice, saying: “We are delighted that Trinity College’s Science Gallery Dublin, with its creative collision between art and science, is now being emulated in this new Venetian model. Science Gallery brings creative, artistic, academic and tech communities together … It drives innovation in education, and has become essential to Dublin city. I am proud that the success of the Irish model pioneered at Trinity will now be replicated in a city of culture such as Venice.”
Science Gallery Venice will be the 5th member of the Global Science Gallery Network, joining the Dublin gallery and those currently under development in London, Bangalore and Melbourne.
Science Gallery International was established in 2012 in association with Google.org with the aim of creating the world’s first university-linked network dedicated to public engagement with science and art.
