What is your role within the festival?
Project manager and brain child behind the Science in the City festival (pun intended), which this year takes place on Friday from 6pm.
How do you describe the concept behind the festival?
Good science, good art.
When I lived in Edinburgh I saw so many ways that scientists and artists were collaborating to create incredible things. Sometimes, the scientists themselves became actors, science butlers, or even stand up comedians. These examples inspired me to realise that the effort needed to have scientists and artists meet was worthwhile and lead to incredibly creative places.
The festival’s desire is to engage the public with research, any form, from the sciences to the humanities, in a way that is meaningful and memorable. We help people meet people: students and researchers. This is their night.
Apart from engaging, the festival pushes the fun factor. Most vistors can try something out for themselves. The idea is to inspire everyone with how science can be present in every pore of this world. We especially want to encourage career uptake by youths, while showing that research investment is vital for our country’s society and economy – we need to do more.
Science and the arts are traditionally at opposite ends of the spectrum. How do you see the link?
How I see the relationship between science and art changes over time with more projects I manage or see all over the world.
Bringing scientists and artists together to focus on a creative project is not easy, like it’s never easy bringing people together from different backgrounds or learned ways of thinking. However, there are similarities; both are creative professions. I think the arts can help scientists be more innovative and see problems from new angles.
The scientific profession is mostly about solving problems, problems created by the hypotheses needed to explain how the world works. Arts can also help criticise the sciences, such as stem cell research, genetic engineering or synthethic life. We need to discuss these issues as a society.
The arts can help scientists be more innovative and see problems from new angles
When did preparations for this year’s festival kick off?
Around two weeks after the last one closed, let’s say October 2015. A lot of blood, sweat, and effort goes into this festival. The team suffers from mass workaholism.
What is the main theme behind this year’s festival?
The brain. Research on the brain has become a world hot topic with two huge projects. They are seperately led by the US and the EU. Their aims are either to recreate the human brain on a computer (an artificial brain) or to map every single neuron in our brain, there are billions, and how it is connected to other neurons. Locally, this year the Malta Neuroscience Network was set up bringing together cognitive scientists, neuroscientists, psycologists, engineers, and others. We wanted to celebrate these achievements through science and arts.
There will be other other science and tech topics, as well. I think around a fourth of activities are themed around the brain.
Would you say that there is more awareness about science-related topics since the first edition was held?
I would say yes. We also recieve a ton of messages on Facebook and great feedback from those who fill in our questionnaire.
Our next step is to evaluate the festival in a more scientifically rigerous manner, to get an accurate picture of the effect the festival has on Maltese society. Are we really managing to achieve everything we want? In 10 years, will Science in the City have helped boost the amount of students taking Steam (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) careers?
What is the biggest challenge in organising such an event?
Coordinating the interests of over 50 different partners and trying to keep everyone happy and motivated while retaining the feel of a holistic festival.
Another huge, but highly rewarding, challenge is working within a 16th-century Baroque Unesco word heritage site. Though when you see DNA staircases, explosions and mazes transforming our capital city it all suddenly becomes worth it.
Another issue is staying within budget. The festival keep growing year on year without any growth in budget. Efficiency has its limits.
How big is the Science in the City team?
We are quite a small team. There are four core team members (Alex Felice as coordinator, Wilfred Kenely, Karen Fiorini and myself), plus an artistic consultant (Angele Galea), a logistics team and a marketing team. The small team are supported by four hard-working interns from the University of Malta who prefer festival organisation to working on their tan – Benji Fenech Salerno, Abigail Galea, Yasmine Gatt, and David Grech. We provide coordination, management, programming, science communication training and other support.
Apart from hundreds of musicians, researchers, students, performers and artists, we then have many partners, over 50 in fact. There are NGOs, student organisations, institutions, government organisations, and corporates, who spend weeks to months organising the activities.
Can you run us through this year’s main events?
As you enter through the beauiful entrance of Valletta you’ll be greeted with racing cars, rowing boats, and animal and insect sculptures revealing their inner workings. The science fair area is a wonder of experiments and activity. Geology, science and art projects, high-tech brain research equipment, health and rare diseases, plus loads of sofas in the middle of the street to sit down and have a chat with a researcher.
Inside the Parliament building we have our annual Science in the House exhibition, with the very best of local research. This is a networking activity with parliamentarians but everyone is welcome. This year loads of neuroscience will be shown.
Around the Parliament area there will be researchers and students from Mcast, science buskers from Esplora and other fun stuff like shark jaws, science fiction, plants, turtles and much more.
Look up to see Spazju Kreattiv, which we’ve packed like never before with science and film events, Malta Cafe Sci talks and a science theatre. There is a dementia series, science puppet shows – truely remarkable.
Going back to the main fare, check out our blindfolded dancers carrying out a Romberg’s test on a 2m by 2m platform in the middle of the street – will they trust each other or will they fall?
Walk down Republic Street for the heart of the festival: our Steam street student stands with over 10 student organisations bringing experiments, language tests and the like.
We have something really special for the two pjazzas in the heart of Valletta: Pjazza Reġina and St George’s Square. While you’ll see the theme elsewhere, this is where it will really come to life. St George’s Square will have a traditional dance, the Kummettiva fused with Alzheimer’s Disease, plus an evolution of psychiatry exhibition by Mount Carmel, as well as a brain show with brain themed music and talks by world-leading scientists.
A central piece is Brainrave, a light and music installation were these can be modified through a headset that reads your electrical brain. Inside the Grandmaster’s Palace is an exhibition by Richmond Foundation members and a giant hanging brain – explore to find it.
We have even snuck in an immersive performance by Upsa and starry night viewing on the roof of the Malta Postal Museum in Archbishop Street, round the corner from the Grandmaster’s Palace.
People can start from the St George’s Square... the crowds will be much less.
Is it just for the little ones?
No, definitely not. Families are awesome but are not the only people we think will love science and art. We have workshops and activities with kids in mind, but we also make sure there’s a good dose of adult material. We have a brain-themed stand up comedy at The Pub in Archbishop Street at 10pm, science debates, talks, films, all lasting till midnight which you can follow up with drinks at the great bars littered around Valletta.
Science in the City takes place on Friday in various areas around Valletta.
www.facebook.com/ScienceInTheCityMalta