GenArt: Interdisciplinary Art and Science Event Memory

Description

This dataset documents GenArt, an interdisciplinary biotechnology and art initiative developed as an educational and co-creation strategy involving students from the Bacteriology and Clinical Laboratory Program of the Universidad de Santander (UDES), Colombia, and art students from the Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM). The initiative brought together participants from art and STEM-related disciplines to collaboratively explore the intersection of biotechnology, science communication, and cultural expression. The GenArt event was held at the Universidad de Santander, Carare Building, on May 15–16, 2025, where interdisciplinary teams worked through guided learning and collaborative creation processes. All participants completed a shared introductory training through the online course “BioArt: Science and Creativity in Action”, developed by Fundación Eureka, which provided foundational knowledge in microbiology, genetic manipulation, and the use of chromogenic-protein-producing bacteria for artistic purposes. Following this training, students formed interdisciplinary teams, each supported by a tutor, to co-create artworks inspired by Indigenous communities from Colombia and Mexico. Art students led the conceptual and visual design of the pieces, which were first developed through digital co-creation. These designs were later interpreted by students from the Bacteriology and Clinical Laboratory Program into agar-based biological artworks using genetically modified bacteria, following established biosafety guidelines. The resulting works were assembled into a collective installation titled “Ethnic Cell”, structured around the central artwork “The Nucleus” and surrounded by 22 artworks representing Indigenous communities from both countries. The final installation was exhibited as part of the International Museum Day activities at the Universidad de Santander on May 23–24, 2025. This dataset compiles the complete visual and documentary record of the collaborative artworks, including photographic documentation, digital designs, and supporting materials, and serves as an event memory and educational resource for interdisciplinary practices at the intersection of biotechnology, art, and science communication in Latin America.

Steps to reproduce

Participants from art programs and STEM-related disciplines were organized into interdisciplinary teams to promote experiential learning at the intersection of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and art. Each group included students from the Universidad Autónoma de México and the Universidad de Santander and was assigned a tutor to support guidance, coordination, and knowledge exchange throughout the process. Prior to the artistic production phase, all participants completed the online course “BioArt: Science and Creativity in Action”, developed by Fundación Eureka and available on Udemy, which provides foundational training in microbiology, genetic engineering, chromogenic protein production, and the use of bacteria as biofactories for creative applications. This shared educational framework ensured a common baseline of scientific understanding across participants from different disciplinary backgrounds. Following the training phase, interdisciplinary teams collaboratively conceptualized the artworks through a digital co-creation process. Art students led the development of visual concepts inspired by Indigenous communities from Colombia and Mexico, while STEM students contributed scientific interpretation and feasibility considerations. These digital designs were subsequently translated into biological artworks by students from the Bacteriology and Clinical Laboratory Program, who interpreted the visual concepts into agar-based compositions using chromogenic-protein-producing bacteria, following the biosafety framework outlined in the Biosecurity Guide included in this dataset. The resulting works were assembled into a collective installation structured around the central piece “The Nucleus”, which functioned as the conceptual and visual core of the project, representing the plasmid, bacterial cell, and genetic union. Surrounding this nucleus, twenty-two artworks representing Indigenous communities from Colombia and Mexico were exhibited as part of a large-scale collaborative installation known as “The Ethnic Cell”. The final installation was displayed in the Panopticon space of the Carare Building at the Universidad de Santander, where the artworks were documented through standardized photography under white and blue light conditions and cataloged using structured metadata files, forming the basis of the dataset presented here.

Institutions

• Universidad de Santander

  Bucaramanga
• Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico

  México, Toluca

Categories

Funders

• Universidad De Santander

  Santander Department, Colombia
• Fundacion Eureka Soluciones

Licence