Contemporary society is mistaken when it considers the humanities and scientific learning as separate fields. Nonetheless, there are exemplary organisations where this division has been discarded. The International Centre for Environmental Monitoring (CIMA) Research Foundation fosters art and science together, because the two realms of knowledge share fundamental values, such as the curiosity of discovery and the desire to investigate occurrences involving society and nature alike.
Over just a handful of years, CIMA Research Foundation has achieved international recognition for the excellence of its scientific research; in the meantime, it has also formed a prominent art collection.
Upon entering the foundation’s premises, a unique atmosphere is the first impression. Researchers visiting from all over the world for ‘hard science’ projects find themselves surrounded by artworks on the walls not only of the communal areas but also in every office. Illustrating how scientists are not pure ‘dry’ rationalists but instead possess a strong creative and aesthetic sensibility towards the world. Art and science are different manifestations of a single pool of learning. Each one, undeniably with its own specific features, is a tool for knowledge among the utmost expressions of creativity, shaping abstract thought and using this to develop a complex depiction of the world.
Can art be considered a significant communication channel? Of course. And for communicating science?
Artists and scientists strive to see the world in new ways and to convey those visions, when they have reached them. And, on reflection, it may be said that artists and scientists should possess the same skills: power of imagination and acute intuition, the gift of perception, observation penetrating reality, mathematical and physical precision, a capacity for thorough analysis, and a free and far-reaching imagination. In fact, contrary to what is often believed, artists do not work spontaneously. They always follow a sort of plan, which is more effective when talent is guided by a vision of the world. In addition, the aesthetics factor is also present in every science. Some researchers even view it as an element for truth: the beauty, elegance and simplicity of an experiment or theoretical construct stir admiration and provide intellectual and aesthetic pleasure.
The CIMA Research Foundation collection thus takes on a distinctive value, since every art piece represents teamwork with the artists, and goals reached by science.
Daniela Lauria | Art Curator – Art Consultant – Art Historian
