Modernising Medical Microbiology Residency
Anna Dumitriu received a Leverhulme Trust Artist in Residence Award in 2011 to work Modernising Medical Microbiology at The University of Oxford. Modernising Medical Microbiology looks at the changing face of medical microbiology in light of the possibilities of (near) real-time whole genome mapping of bacteria and new developments in bioinformatics. Since 2012 she has continued in the artist in residence role on an ongoing basis and further develop her work supported by funding from Arts Council England and The Wellcome Trust. Ongoing work also takes place on the project in Brighton, Leeds and Birmingham.
Through the project Dumitriu has been developed artworks, investigating the aesthetic and cultural implications of the scientific research and communicating the impact of new technologies in microbiology and how they will improve understanding, diagnosis, treatment and control of infections. It is becoming possible to sequence whole bacterial genomes, make comparisons and even see whether bacteria carry genes for drug resistance. Bacteria are the most diverse and successful life-forms on Earth and with this technology we can know them a little better. Since 2011 much of Dumitriu’s work has been focussed on this area.
Projects in collaboration with Modernising Medical Microbiology
Major projects in collaboration with Modernising Medical Microbiology include The MRSA Quilt, The Romantic Disease, The Hypersymbiont Enhancement Salon, The Hypersymbiont Dress, The Sequence Project, “Don’t Try This At Home“, Spindle, Superbugs: The Fight For Our Lives at The Science Museum and Susceptible.
Exhibitions
“Normal Flora” at R-Space at The Linen Rooms in Lisburn, Northern Ireland 30th July – 17th September 2011.
“Normal Flora” at The Barn Gallery, St John’s College, The University of Oxford. 23rd – 27th May 2012.
“Gone Viral: Medical Science and Contemporary Textile Art” at The Jesse and Marion Art Gallery at The Rockefeller Art Centre at The State University of New York (USA). March and April 2013.
“MRSA Quilt” and “Sequence Dress” at the V & A Museum, London (UK) at the Digital Design Weekend. 21st and 22nd September 2013.
“The Romantic Disease” at Watermans in London, UK, funded by The Wellcome Trust between January and March 2014
“Becoming Resistant: MSSA to MRSA” was selected for the Research and Art Exhibition at International Conference on Research Infrastructure (ICRI2014) in Athens (Greece) and was awarded a distinction. 2nd – 4th April 2014.
“Genius Germ“, The Picasso Museum, Barcelona (Spain). June 2014.
“The Romantic Disease” in the Theatrum Anatomicum at Waag Society, Amsterdam in the Netherlands in 21st June – 27th July 2014.
“[Micro-biologies] The Bacterial Sublime“, Art Laboratory Berlin (Germany). 26th September – 30th November 2014.
BioArt Seoul 2015, Gwacheon National Science Museum, Seoul, South Korea. 5th – 15th November 2015.
“The Romantic Disease”, Edinburgh International Science Festival in 1st – 30th April 2016.
“BioArt and Bacteria” (solo exhibition) at the History of Science Museum in Oxford (UK) from 28th September 2017 until 21st May 2017.
“Back from the Dead” at the History of Science Museum in Oxford (UK) from 4th November 2016 until 18th March 2018.
“BioArt and Bacteria” (solo exhibition) at The Esther Klein Gallery and the Science Center in Philadelphia (USA). The show ran from 18th October until the 24th November 2018.
The 8th Medecins Sans Frontieres Eastern Europe and Central Asia Conference on Tuberculosis between 28th February – 1st March 2019.
“BioArt and Bacteria” (solo exhibition) at Eden Project in Cornwall (UK) from 30th March – 1st June 2019.
The Extravagant Bodies Biennial in Zagreb 18th September – 10th October 2019 at HALA V of The Nikola Tesla Technical Museum.
“Art and Infectious Disease” (solo exhibition) for the Healthcare Infection Society’s 40th Anniversary Event, British Medical Association, London (UK), 19th and 20th May 2022.