Art+Science: Aesthetic Experience in Neuroscience Education

At FESBE 2023, the annual meeting of the Federation of Experimental Biology Societies (FESBE) in Búzios (RJ), I presented a paper entitled ‘ART+SCIENCE: Aesthetic Experience in Neuroscience Education‘. This project, developed with Alfred Sholl-Franco, was a collaboration between the Educational Video Laboratory (LVE) and the Centre for Science Communication and Neuroscience Teaching (Nudcen), both at UFRJ, and explored the boundaries between art and science, focusing on an artistic practice that merges with aesthetic research.

Our aim was to address the convergence between the arts and the sciences, using non-formal education strategies centred on aesthetic experience to build knowledge about neuroscience content. It was a case report based on the exhibition ‘Arte+Ciência: o Cérebro e o Imaginário’ (Art+Science: the Brain and the Imaginary), understood as an innovative space for thinking about science in a more integrative and universal way, promoting the aesthetic dimension of science as part of the training of teachers and students.

The selection of works was supported by the Ciências e Cognição Organization, the Museum of Justice – Cultural Centre of the Judiciary, and NUDCEN/UFRJ itself. The curation followed three axes: artworks produced with scientific or laboratory tools, works created with traditional artistic techniques addressing neuroscience, and works produced in art therapy contexts or by people with a scientifically categorized condition.

After six months on display, as in-person restrictions continued, we adapted the exhibition to a virtual format. This included a video documentary, a book and a virtual exhibition, which became part of the permanent collection of the Neuroscience Museum.

This work testifies to the importance of the intersection between art and science in neuroscience education, showing how aesthetic experience can enrich learning and bring a deeper understanding of scientific content.

The abstract can be accessed by clicking here.

Reference

ARANHA, Glaucio; SHOLLFRANCO, Alfred. ART+SCIENCE: AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE IN NEUROSCIENCE EDUCATION. In: ANAIS DA XXXVII REUNIÃO ANUAL DA FESBE, 2023, Búzios. Anais eletrônicos… Campinas, Galoá, 2023. Available at: <https://proceedings.science/fesbe-2023/trabalhos/art-plus-science-aesthetic-experience-in-neuroscience-education?lang=pt-br>. Accessed: 18 Nov. 2023.