Yes, for three months, from November 29, 2022, to February 26, 2023, the bacteria we have been cultivating and caring for in our studio for over five months will be “speaking” in Euskara. They have traveled to Bilbao to settle in Azkuna Zentroa as part of the exhibition “Zientzia Frikzioa. Bizitza espezie lagunen artean” (Science Friction: Life Among Companion Species).

SCIENCE FRICTION: LIFE AMONG COMPANION SPECIES

There, they are sure to feel right at home, surrounded by works from artists such as Petra Maitz, Susana Talayuelo, Ernesto Casero, Shoshanah Dubiner, and Diana Toucedo, among others, as well as scientific institutions like Aranzadi Zientzia Elkartea and the Elgoibar Museum of Fossils and Minerals (Mufomi).

The exhibition, a co-production of Azkuna Zentroa and the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), was previously showcased in 2021 at the CCCB under the title “Ciència Fricció. Vida entre espècies companyes.” Now, with some adaptations to fit the new exhibition space, it has arrived at Bilbao’s former Alhóndiga.

And there they are—our three Winogradsky columns and a small piece of microbial mat from the Ebro Delta—serving as introductory elements to the work and theories of the American biologist Lynn Margulis (1938–2011). She can also be seen and heard through excerpts from John Feldman’s film “Symbiotic Earth: How Lynn Margulis Rocked the Boat and Started a Scientific Revolution,” in which we had the pleasure of collaborating. These excerpts are displayed on a screen next to “our bacteria.”

Ana and Iker (Science into Images)

After the CCCB exhibition opening in 2021, I wrote a blog post about it (you can read it HERE), but I felt like writing about it again—not just because it is now in Bilbao but especially to highlight the dedication and effort of the team that welcomed us with open arms and took special care of both our bacteria and the Science into Images team members who traveled to Bilbao (Ana, Iker, and myself).

Maintaining living organisms in an exhibition of this nature is no easy task—especially because the transfer from our studio to Azkuna Zentroa is difficult and stressful, particularly for the microbial mat. However, both María Ptqk (the exhibition curator) and the Azkuna Zentroa team—especially Marina Urrutikoetxea (Cultural Programming and Education Technician), Rakel Esparza (Head of Cultural Programming), Iraia Olea (Cultural Programming Administrative), and Olaia Ibarzabal (Cultural Production Technician)—have given us their full support and care (as well as to our tiny creatures).

In my previous blog post after the CCCB inauguration, I highlighted the figure of Josep Querol, whom we affectionately nicknamed “the microbiologist resurrector.” This time, I want to recognize Olaia Ibarzabal, who could also be given that same honorary title. She has been, is, and will be the “nanny” of our bacteria for as long as they remain at Azkuna. And who knows—she might even teach them to speak Euskara!

Lynn Margulis, in one of her lectures, while discussing the fact that bacteria evolved just fine without us and will continue evolving just as well once we are gone, showed images of bacteria “dancing and singing” to Viola Wills’ song “Gonna Get Along Without You Now.” She even translated what the bacteria were saying so the audience could understand them. Perhaps, at some point, Olaia will also translate for the exhibition visitors what our bacteria are telling us: “Zu gabe jarraituko dugu” (We will continue without you).

If you want to watch the exhibition presentation from November 29, HERE is the link to the video published by Azkuna Zentroa.

La entrada Bacteria also speaks Euskara se publicó primero en Science into Images.

Last Friday, June 11, 2021, the exhibition “Friction Science. Life among companion species” at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB). And it will remain open to the public until November 28th.

The exhibition is based on the scientific theories of Lynn Margulis and Donna Haraway, from which it proposes the opening of new paths in our relationship with the rest of the living beings with whom we share the planet, and with the planet itself.

María Ptqk has been the curator of the exhibition, and has carried out a meticulous work of selection of contents that has resulted in the presence of numerous artists whose works connect, in one way or another, with the general discourse of the exhibition from different scopes and conceptual origins.

Among the works exhibited are three Science into Images productions: a set of Winogradsky columns, a portion of a microbial mat, and an audio-visual of bacterial growth in time-lapse. This last production is part of Jaime Serra Palou‘s work entitled “The movement for the rights of nature (El moviment pels drets de la natura)”.

In addition to presenting these works, I have had the privilege of acting as scientific advisor for the entire exhibition together with Prof. Ricard Guerrero, emeritus professor of microbiology at the University of Barcelona.

The opening and the previous press conference allowed me to reconnect with Ernesto Casero, a Valencian artist who is also part of the cast of artists in this exhibition and whom I met at the beginning of February 2020 on the occasion of the closing ceremony of his exhibition “A not so natural story”, during which we screened John Feldman‘s film “Symbiotic Earth. How Lynn Margulis rocked the boat and started a scientific revolution”. By the way, the film will also be screened at the CCCB on September 16.

Another participant with whom I had the pleasure of sharing some very interesting moments of conversation was Petra Maitz, an Austrian artist –in addition to being a scientist– whose work entitled “Lady Musgrave Reef” was exhibited in the space adjacent to Science into Images. We agree with Petra that, just as science is a fundamental element of inspiration for art, art, in any of its manifestations, also opens up new ways for scientific thought. And that it is everyone’s job, artists and scientists, to break down the barriers that separate both views and interpretations of the world.

The calm and deep conversation with the artists (I do not consider myself as such, although this time they have wanted to give me that treatment) has been, not only a personal pleasure, but also an intellectual pleasure. Checking the enormous amount and diversity of connections that can be established between the purely scientific vision (which could be mine) and the artistic one is surprising. And delving into the possible ways of interconnection, the establishment of synergies, the creation of “intellectual symbiosis” that eliminate once and for all that nefarious and artificial separation between scientific and humanistic knowledge, is a challenge.

Although that day of the inauguration allowed me to contact or re-contact with some artists, the previous days –or rather, the previous months– have allowed me to meet and work together with an extraordinary human team formed by María Ptqk (curator of the exhibition), Jordi Costa Vila (project director), Neus Moyano and Teresa Navas (coordinators), Álex Papalini (designer of the exhibition) and Susana García and Josep Querol (registration and conservation).

All of them, except María Ptqk, are part of the CCCB’s team, an excellent team that has been able to make that the “little alien” referred to in the title of this writing, not feel so “alien” in that apparently parallel artistic universe.

I especially want to highlight the work and dedication of Josep Querol, a member of the CCCB team and to whom at Science into Images we have affectionately awarded the honorary title of “resuscitating microbiologist”. His effort, care and perseverance in keeping the microbial mat in good condition has been –and continues to be– extraordinary, and has not gone unnoticed by any of the people who have participated in the production. This special relationship has been captured in the words of María Ptqk: “Josep’s relationship with bacteria is one of the strong intra-stories of this expo, what a beautiful love story between species was plotted there.”

Perhaps this “intra-story” is a magnificent example of that “life between companion species” to which the exhibition’s subtitle refers.

La entrada I was an alien, I was a little alien. I was a biologist among artists se publicó primero en Science into Images.