Founded in 2018, Norwegian BioArt Arena –NOBA is the first permanent arena for BioArt in Norway. We organise art exhibitions and events featuring Norwegian and international artists and scientists with a focus on sustainable development, the environment, and life sciences.
NOBA is a department at Vitenparken Campus Ås – a science center dedicated to the environment, food, and climate change, located on the territory of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
What is BioArt?
We define BioArt as an umbrella term for a broad range of art forms that engage with biology, and scientific research. Bio-artists mix artistic processes and scientific methods, approaches and tools, and artworks are often created in between the field, the studio and the laboratory.
Through these processes, bioart delivers social and political critique, poses questions about the role of science in society, engages societal actors in bio-scientific innovation, stimulates dialogue, and challenges our relationship with the living world that surrounds us.
Why art and science?
In our time many artists and researchers are working on issues relating to sustainability and environment. The effects of human activity on the processes of our globe are becoming increasingly apparent, and earlier oppositions between nature and culture are seen to be less clear-cut.
In the context of environment and climate change we consider cross-disciplinary and critical thinking in the intersections between bioscience, art, and environmental humanities where bioart can be found, as particularly well poised to encourage sustainable cultural and societal development. An expanded interplay in between art and research stimulates both fields. Common factors can be found in curiosity, creativity, specialized knowledge, critique, and dissemination.
Through the creation of an arena where these environments can come together for mutual inspiration, exchange of knowledge and mutual critique, new connections and collaborations can arise that benefit both fields. For the audience this constitutes a novel cultural offering. For school pupils it represents a different source of inspiration for future education and involvement in a sustainable society. For the sustainable development goals of our society, it can further desirable developments.
What we do:
NOBA is a project by Vitenparken, a research, food science, and experience center located at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) in Ås, Norway. Campus Ås is a central part of environmental and sustainability research in Norway.
Situated amid the research communities of Ås, we facilitate interaction and collaboration between artists and scientists focused on bio-related disciplines. NOBA has a range of different exhibition venues at its disposal, and can provide networking opportunities and access to laboratories and archives.
Our vision:
We aim to be a platform for art that engages with the living world, with questions and methods from the sciences. A critical attitude combined with playful, sensory exploration is central to NOBA’s approach.
Through exhibitions and events, we seek to:
- Stimulate public interest and spread knowledge about relevant societal challenges linked to the environment, life sciences, climate change, and sustainable development through artistic and interdisciplinary events.
- Offer a unique cultural experience in Norway and increase the popularity of art and science.
- Introduce Norwegian artists to the public in Norway and abroad.
As the first permanent arena for bioart in Norway, we aim to:
- Support the development of bioart in Norway by providing a platform and tools for professional growth to the artists.
- Facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration between artists and researchers in Norway and abroad.
