(R)EVOLUTION: Resilience in times of Covid’

A project of Science Gallery Rotterdam

Introduction
The scientific research of the Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam (Erasmus MC) is very broad and covers the continuum from fundamental biomedical research to clinical research and social health care. The COVID-19 crisis has led to new research across this spectrum: from the identification of this specific virus and the ability to prove this through testing, to clinical research into its diagnosis, course and recovery. of an entirely new disease; and the social implications of predicting peaks, plateaus and troughs and the associated policy advice, such as testing, social distance, lockdown, etc. In addition, there are researchers who pay attention to the social consequences: what are the consequences of the pandemic and the measures for various groups in society? Such as young people, the elderly, people of different socio-economic status, people with an illness or disability. In the field of social science, there is also collaboration with researchers from other faculties of Erasmus University Rotterdam, in order to map out the social consequences. Then there are the researchers who conduct very future-oriented research, for example into the questions whether we can predict on the basis of the DNA profile of people whether they are at risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 or developing serious side effects from one of the the vaccines, which can enable personally targeted prevention and treatment. In the realization of the exhibition, the Science Gallery Rotterdam team strived to do justice to this entire spectrum of scientific research and thus the efforts of all researchers.

The exhibition 'REVOLUTION: Resilience in times of Covid' takes the general public into the scientific and social story of the COVID-19 crisis. New infectious diseases have their origin in the animal world, which once again illustrates the relationship between human and nature. Scientific research is vital for society to maintain and improve our quality of life. However, science cannot stand alone, but is part of society. Interaction with societal stakeholders is important to make the results of research land, but also to feed science with people's ideas, expectations and concerns. The exhibition is the report of a dialogue between young people from Rotterdam, artists and scientific researchers. It offers visitors the opportunity to continue this conversation, for example during guided tours and events.

Wildcard
The impact of the COVID-19 crisis is huge. A microscopic mutation in the RNA of a virus has turned science, healthcare, society and the economy upside down. The socio-economic consequences are enormous. Worldwide, according to conservative estimates, more than 200 million people have become ill and more than 4 million people have died from COVID-19: a word that we did not know two years ago and that stands for 'Coronavirus-disease-of-2019'. The economy and our social lives have been disrupted, with dramatic consequences.

Suddenly, science is in the center of attention. Virologists, immunologists, epidemiologists and doctors join talk shows and continuously provide information for live media blogs covering the pandemic hour by hour. This shows that virologists have been warning for years about the risk of zoonosis, in which a germ, such as a virus or a bacterium, jumps from the animal world to humans. If this is a virus or bacterium that can also be transmitted from person to person, a new contagious disease arises. The way we treat animals in agriculture, the food industry and in the wild, in combination with our travel behaviour, international freight traffic and climate change, creates the chance that such a new disease will rapidly develop into a pandemic.

As the consequences of COVID-19 become more widely felt in society, scientific attention also broadens. From the social sciences, economists, sociologists and psychologists point to the urgency of their contribution to crisis management. From the humanities, historians, ethicists and philosophers provide context for the crisis.

The COVID-19 crisis also disrupted the plans for Science Gallery Rotterdam. The opening of (UN)REAL, the first exhibition in Erasmus MC, was planned for April 2020. But in mid-March, the Ducth cabinet announced the ‘intelligent lockdown’. The artworks had already been created and were on their way to Rotterdam. The exhibition took place in an atmosphere that can rightly be called 'unreal'. While museums were forced to close their doors, (UN)REAL, located in the public space of Erasmus MC, regularly formed the backdrop for interviews with members of the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) and working visits by ministers and the king. Although they had little eye for the exhibition. With micro-tours by mediators during the weekend, online events and virtual school excursions, Science Gallery still managed to attract nearly 10.000 visitors.

In the autumn of 2020, the board of Science Gallery Rotterdam had doubts about the decision for a new project. Does it make sense? After all, a Science Gallery project starts with meetings between young people, scientists and artists. Together they explore scientific topics and ask questions from social and artistic angles. This process of co-creation provides the essence of the eventual exhibition. But can those meetings take place during the lockdown? However, when it became very clear that young people are particularly vulnerable in the crisis, the choice was made. Science Gallery Rotterdam is starting a new project based on the COVID-19 research of Erasmus MC.

Two practical considerations determine the project: Due to the travel restrictions, Science Gallery Rotterdam is looking for Rotterdam artists with the quality to work on an international level; The workshops in which scientists, artists and young people meet and work together take place online, at least as long as the crisis measures dictate.

Co-Creation
When the project with the working title 'Virussen verslaan' (Beating viruses) started in January '21, the COVID crisis was felt everywhere. It was the time of the curfew and young people were not able to go to school or college for months. They were forced to sit at home. It became painfully clear how fundamental research into viruses, RNA and defense mechanisms is of direct significance for society and our daily lives. And although science has proved indispensable in interpreting and managing the crisis, it is also clear that going through and controlling the crisis is a collective social effort.

The first phase of the project (January – June) is the co-creation phase, in which Science Gallery Rotterdam organizes a series of masterclasses and workshops where young people from Rotterdam, scientific researchers, artists and designers discuss themes from the research and provide context. The results form the basis for the exhibition planned for autumn 2021 (September – December). There were four masterclasses with subsequent workshops:

  • ‘Woorden en Daden’ (Words and Actions), with IC doctor Diederik Gommers and spoken word artist Elten Kiene.

  • ‘De mens is ook een dier’ (People are also animals), with virologist Marion Koopmans and visual artist Iwan Smit.

  • ‘Wie ben jij online?’ (Who are you online?), with neuropsychologist Eveline Crone and artists Ellie Uyttenbroek & Ari Versluis.

  • ‘1,5 meter steden’ (1,5 meter cities) with architect and urban planner Dick van Gameren and graphic designer Monice Janson.


These online encounters not only captivate young people, but also an adult audience. The Q&A sessions and the workshops for young people afterwards provide ideas for the exhibition. A few examples:


  • The working title 'Defeating viruses' was experienced as being too one-sided from a scientific point of view;

  • The One Health model with which science looks at the emergence of new viral diseases is in line with holistic, narrative and mythological motifs in art;

  • The COVID-19 crisis has a major mental impact on young people, but also releases resilience that can help make the exhibition;

  • Although the consequences of the crisis are different for everyone, there is also an enormous collective experience, which has probably not occurred in the Netherlands since the Second World War;

  • In the future, the crisis will leave lasting traces in the design of public space through urban planning, architecture and art.

The results have been elaborated by a focus group of young people, scientists and artists. This has led, among other things, to the definitive title description of the exhibition:

‘(R)EVOLUTION: Resilience in times of Covid’

New viruses reach us through the animal world. That's evolution. People come up with ways to deal with it. Sometimes that is radical change. Young people, scientists and artists develop resilience together.

Exhibition concept
As a result of the resulting dialogue, the artists who participated in the series were invited to contribute to the exhibition. 

  • Iwan Smit creates two works for the exhibition, including the campaign image, in which he is inspired by One Health and the caring person; 

  • Ellie Uyttenbroek and Ari Versluis, world famous for the Exactitudes series, in which they document street styles, organize four follow-up workshops with young people and scientists, which lead to an entirely new work of art: 'The Other Me'. 

  • In typographic images, Monice Janson contrasts scientific statements with personal statements by Erasmus MC researchers. The scientists represent the continuum of fundamental, clinical, societal and interdisciplinary research: Marion Koopmans, André Uitterlinden, Diederik Gommers, Luc Coffeng and Dick van Gameren.

These key artworks partly determine the total concept of the exhibition. The works are 'in your face', and use contemporary formats such as projections, stickers and inflatables. They are large and emphatically present in the public space, so that they can hardly escape visitors' notice. At the same time, they hardly take up space, so they do not block the walking routes of the 1,5 meter society. For example, the choice of artists has resulted in typical Rotterdam artworks: streetwise, monumental and with a future-oriented view. 

Elaboration
During the masterclass and workshop 'Wie ben jij online?’ (Who are you online?) with neuropsychologist Eveline Crone and artists Ellie Uyttenbroek and Ari Versluis, the idea for 'The Other Me' was born. In a series of four workshops, young people, scientists and artists investigate how online culture influences the identity of young people. Online culture already flourished before COVID-19, with popular social media, such as Instagram and TikTok, but during the crisis it became a matter of survival for many young people and the continuation of daily life as good and bad as possible, via online classes and events, livestreams, games, etc.

A core group of twelve young people aged 17 to 21 participated in the workshops. Each of them formed a bubble, a group of other youngsters, around them. Each bubble collects and creates images that say something about the experience of their identity during this crisis. A regular part of each workshop is a presentation by a scientific researcher on topics ranging from virology and genetics to psychology. Ellie and Ari, in collaboration with interaction designers from studio Rnul, guide the young people in creating an algorithm-driven dynamic digital artwork that is projected into the exhibition with beamers.

With the Willem de Kooning Academy, Science Gallery Rotterdam organized a co-creation project in which 60 first-year Transformation Design students followed presentations by Erasmus MC scientists and international artists for a week. These presentations can be followed by all students via the Studium Generale program of the academy. The Transformation Design students then worked for two months on a project at the intersection of science, art and social experience. The result consists of 16 presentations by the students. Four of the best presentations are video productions that can be seen in the exhibition. The quality of these video productions is so high that they 'premiered' in August during the Pleinbioscoop Rotterdam, during which the students gave a live explanation of the project.

The Studium Generale program produced by Science Gallery Rotterdam and WdKA:

  • ‘Zoönosis / Pandemic Prevention’ with virologist Ron Fouchier, internist-infectiologist Bart Rijnders, and visual artist Isaac Monté

  • ‘New dynamics in healthcare’ with researcher Social healthcare Juanita Haagsma, clinical physicist and audiologist Jantien Vroegop and visual artist Anna Dumitriu.

  • 'Trust in Science' with science journalist Jop de Vrieze and visual artist Tuur van Balen.

  • ‘Future Perspectives’ with epidemiologist Luc Coffeng, geneticist André Uitterlinden and visual artist Agnieszka Wolodzko.

In the spring of 2021, Science Gallery Bengaluru, India, opened the CONTAGION exhibition with contributions from science, art and youth on infectious diseases. In view of the thematic interfaces, a selection has been made of two artworks that will be taken over by Science Gallery Rotterdam in the exhibition (R)EVOLUTION. These are works by British artist Robert Good and German artist Basse Stittgen. Robert Good examines how our understanding of basic concepts such as science, but also shopping, are radically turned upside down by dramatic events. Basse Stittgen draws attention to the stigma attached to infectious diseases, which leads to exclusion and discrimination. These works of art add extra reflection to the exhibition (R)EVOLUTION.

The latest work that has been added to the (R)EVOLUTION exhibition is also entirely in line with Science Gallery's approach. Following a call for plans by young people by Gemeente Rotterdam (Municipality of Rotterdam), a group of young people from Rotterdam submitted a proposal to organize workshops for young people during the summer months. They are invited to talk about their experience during the COVID-19 crisis and to record these experiences on tiles, creating a time document. The Rotterdam visual artist Quinda Verheul has been asked to guide this process and to elaborate it in an installation. At the request of the Rotterdam Make It Happen! brand alliance, in which Rotterdam organizations collaborate on city marketing, the artwork has been included in the exhibition.