Explore the legacy of history’s most celebrated artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci with Nurturing Leonardos, a free, two-day conference hosted by ArtScience Museum this May. Join leading experts in history, art, science & technology, education and futures thinking as they shed light on how the far-reaching ‘systems’ thinking of da Vinci remains applicable within these fields today.
While most studies of da Vinci focus on a specific area of his expertise, the Nurturing Leonardos conference will offer an alternative point of view. It will offer discussions and analysis of da Vinci’s way of thinking and the cultural landscape which nurtured him, through a range of presentations from Singapore and international speakers.
Thursday 7 May 2015, 7pm – 10pm
ArtScience Late will feature a special performance from, our international ArtScience resident, Maurizio Martinucci (TeZ). The show is free, and there will be performances at 8pm and 9pm.
For more, see: https://www.facebook.com/events/628941177236899/
Friday 8 May 2015, 10am – 6pm
The first full day of the conference presents Leonardo da Vinci and the approach that he took to all of his lines of enquiries. It analyses how da Vinci not only understood the essence of ‘systems thinking’, but how he also applied this to his inventions, ideas and work generally. We will explore if there was something within the context of da Vinci’s time which encouraged his thinking and ‘systems’ awareness, or if his approach was a one-off. We will ask if there are there other examples of interdisciplinary thinking and approaches throughout history. The day will continue with a reflection on the more recent times and the advent of new media – a marriage of two seemingly quite separate, established disciplines: art and technology, moving the dialogue into the 20th century, and beyond.
Timetable and Speakers for Friday 8 May
10:00am Registration
10.15am Welcome remarks by Conference Chairs Honor Harger and Andrea Nanetti
10:30am Session 1: Keynote on Leonardo da Vinci’s approach to systems thinking
Chair: Don Alberto Rocca, Director of Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy
Speaker: Professor Paolo Galluzzi, Director, Institute and Museum of History of Science, Florence (Italy), Chair of the Advisory Boards of the National Edition of Leonardo da Vinci’s Manuscripts and Drawings and of the Updates to the National Edition of Galileo Galilei’s Work
11:15am Conversation and Q&A between Don Rocca and Professor Galluzzi
11.30am Don Alberto Rocca, Director of Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy, speaking on the educational and cultural context in the time of Leonardo.
12pm Lunch break
1pm Session 2: Historical applications of systems thinking
Chair: David Harvey, Senior Vice-President of Exhibitions, American Museum of Natural History and chair of the International Advisory Board Member for ArtScience Museum
Speakers: Gunalan Nadarajan, Independent Art Theorist and Curator and International Advisory Board Member for ArtScience Museum – speaking along the lines of his paper Automation and Robotics in Muslim Heritage: The Cultural Roots of al-Jazari’s Mechanical Systems
Gregory Clancey, Associate Professor, Department of History, National University of Singapore, who will critically address the idea of systems, and its relation to Leonardo, from the viewpoint of an historian of technology.
Margaret Tan, Fellow and Director of Programmes, Tembusu College, National University of Singapore, who will be contemplating if Singapore has the cultural landscape to nurture “Leonardos” of tomorrow.
2.30pm Tea break
3pm Session 3: Systems thinking in art
Chair: Vibeke Sorensen, Chair, NTU School of Art, Design and Media, Singapore
Speakers: Luciano Chessa, Composer, performer, musicologist – speaking to his paper, ‘L’Arte dei ‘Romori’: Leonardine Devotion in Luigi Russolo’s Oeuvre
Ruben de la Nuez, Lecturer at School of Art, Design and Media, NTU – speaking on New Media Art: Leonardo da Vinci and the Equation of Art and Technology
Isabelle Desjeux, Artist and scientist, based in Singapore, with a scientific background background in molecular biology.
5pm Closing remarks by Honor Harger and Andrea Nanetti
5.15pm Optional Tour of Da Vinci: Shaping the Future
6.15pm End of proceedings
Saturday 9 May 2015
The whistle-stop tour through key ‘systems thinkers’ in history from the previous day continues with a day exploring contemporary ‘systems approaches’, specifically addressing the areas. It will cover how science and technology environments might nurture the “Leonardos” of tomorrow and stimulate interdisciplinary working, and look at innovative education and pedagogical methodologies today which will encourage the same.
Fittingly, the last session looks to the future. Curated by Forum for the Future, it addresses how complex problems of this time may be solved using multidisciplinary and the ‘systems’, or ‘complexity theory’ approaches. A sub-theme will explore addressing challenges at scale.
10:00am Registration
10.30am Session 4: Systems thinking in science and technology
Chair: Honor Harger, Executive Director, ArtScience Museum.
Speakers: Eileen Tan, Science Centre Singapore, and Maker Faire Singapore
Peng Kian Tan, Centre for Quantum Technologies, NUS, Singapore
Veerappan Swaminathan, One Maker Group and the Sustainable Living Lab, Singapore
Grace Sai, CEO and Co-Founder, The Hub, Singapore
12:30pm Lunch break and optional tour of Da Vinci: Shaping the Future
1.30pm Session 5: Systems thinking in Education
Chair: Kenneth Kwok, Director (Arts & Youth and Strategic Planning), National Arts Council
Speakers: Venka Purushothaman, Academic, arts and cultural manager, and writer and Vice President and Provost of LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore
Noorlinah Mohamed, Arts Consultant, Singapore
Tong Yee, founder of The Thought Collective and the School of Thought, Singapore
3.30pm Tea break
4pm Session 6: Systems thinking in Foresight and Futures
Chair: Cheryl Chung, Strategic Foresight Practitioner
Speakers: Alistair Douglas, Managing Director of SmartAqua, Asia
Yin Shanyang: Swarm design studio, Singapore
Zhen Goh, Senior Consultant at Cognitive Edge, Singapore
Justin Pickard, Anthropologist of technology and innovation, UK
6pm Closing remarks by Honor Harger and Andrea Nanetti
6.30pm End of proceedings
More infos on: https://www.facebook.com/events/1593859740826661/
Admission: Free. Register on the day.
Venue: ArtScience Museum, Level 4 Expressions Gallery
When: 8 - 9 May 2015,
By: ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands
