Events

16 August 2025, 7 pm, Zurich, Switzerland

17 August 2025, 5 pm, Zurich, Switzerland

argilla - lat. clay

A crack beneath your feet. Cool stone against skin. The earth breathes. argilla is a site-specific culinary installation—an act of devouring the ground itself. Bodies move through the pit, touch sediment, inhale minerals, consume time. Clay wraps, heat seeps in, textures fracture. The menu follows a geological score – loose, compacted, crystalline – mirroring our own corporeality. The earth becomes flesh: feeding, shaping, and remembering. In this ritual of taste and touch, we take in the land —and let it take us. 

On the weekend from 15.08-17.08.2025 Blanka Major and Cassandra Hänggi, in collaboration with the Art x Science Office, invite you to experience the offspace Grube[n] through the taste of earth: a culinary installation that unfolds in 2 acts, accompanied by insights into the research of the Department of Geography at the University of Zurich. Through site-specific cooking with fire and water, interwoven with scientific impulses, the earth itself becomes the stage, the bearer of flavor, and the canvas of stories – creating a collective, place-bound dining experience that challenges our ideas of shared eating.

More infos about Grube[n] - Garage für Zusammenkunft und zeitgenössische Kunst: Instagram or Telegram Channel.  

Location: Grubenstrasse 39, 8045 Zurich

Tickets available from 16.06.2025 via Eventfrog. 

6 – 9 February 2025 / Delhi, India

We are thrilled to receive the opportunity to showcase “Wiping Out” (installed video and live performance) by artist Karoline Schreiber and “Triggered by Motion”, at the 16th edition of the India Art Fair in Delhi. 120 different exhibitors present a wide variety of artists to a curious local and international crowd. 

The exhibition of the two Art x Science pieces is made possible with the support of the Swiss Embassy in Delhi in collaboration with Swissnex in India, the Kiran Nadar Museum and the Habitats Trust.

More aboutWiping Out
More aboutTriggered by Motion 

19 May 2025, 6 pm Zurich, Switzerland

What if you forgot your thumbs? What would your fingers push against? How would you hold a pen, a cup or someone else's hand? 

At our next event on art, science and culinary arts on the 19 May 2025, at the University of Zurich’s UniTurm Restaurant we will explore these questions together.

At the heart of the experience is the titular tableware No Spare Wheels, designed and handcrafted by artist Thomas d’Enfert, to facilitate a simulated amnesia of one's thumbs and encourage connection with elderly people and people with disabilities. Dr. Franziska Felder, Professor of Inclusion and Diversity (UZH), and Dr. Andrea Horn, gerontopsychologist and head of the SERH research group (UZH), will provide scientific insights through short presentations on their research.

No Spare Wheels is a participative happening, an exchange of scientific and artistic ideas, visions and expertise, where through playful unlearning, we create space for new ways of thinking. 

At this time, we are fully booked and unable to accommodate any additional participants. Please stay tuned on our social media or our website for future events. 

This event was created in collaboration with the ZFV.

Location: UniTurm Restaurant, Rämistrasse 71, 8006 Zürich

More about No Spare Wheels 
More about SERH research group (UZH)

19 April - 25 May 2025, Noida, Indien

As they continue their journey across Delhi and beyond, our two Art x Science pieces — 𝗪𝗶𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝘂𝘁 by Karoline Schreiber and 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — arrived at their next very exciting destination: the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in Noida, India. 

In the video piece 𝗪𝗶𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝘂𝘁, the artist Karoline Schreiber meticulously forms and erases shapes of extinct species in black sand. A quiet, yet powerful gesture that — for one short moment — brings back the dead and thus reflects on humanity’s role in their extinction. Meanwhile, 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 invites visitors into an immersive video environment where lively but endangered animals appear in their shrinking habitats, highlighting the urgent threat of habitat destruction. Through these beautiful, yet haunting images, both works address fundamental questions of human responsibility in the climate crisis and its consequences.

The ongoing tour of both Art x Science pieces is possible thanks to the Embassy of Switzerland in India and Bhutan under its initiative “Sustainability with a plus” and in partnership with the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art and the Habitats Trust. 

Location: Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in Noida, Indien.

More about Wiping Out 
More about Triggered by Motion 

20 March - 2 April 2025, Gurugram, India 

After being part of thewell visited 16th edition of the India Art Fair, our two Art x Science pieces “Triggered by Motion” and “Wiping Out” by Karoline Schreiber  will travel beyond Delhi to Gurugram, India. From today, 20th of March, until the 2nd of April 2025 they will be on display at the Ambience Mall in Gurugram, India. 

In the video piece “Wiping Out” Karoline Schreiber meticulously forms and erases shapes of extinct species and thus forms a comment on the human involvement in their disappearance. 
Triggered by Motion, a walk-in video installation, on the other hand concentrates on the threat of habitat loss and lets you meet very lively but endangered species around the world. Through these beautiful and vivid images, both works appeal to our human responsibility concerning biodiversity, the climate crisis and its consequences. 

The ongoing tour of both Art x Science pieces is possible thanks to the Embassy of Switzerland in India and Bhutan under its initiative “Sustainability with a plus” and in partnership with the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art and the Habitats Trust. 

Where: Ambience Mall in Gurugram, India.

More aboutWiping Out
More aboutTriggered by Motion 

9 February 2025, 4:30 pm / Delhi, India

From a small mound of black sand at the center of the stage, Karoline Schreiber slowly and meticulously forms and erases figures and shapes of extinct species. First conceived as a video piece and now performed by the artist in front of a live audience at the 16th edition of the India Art Fair the Art x Science piece “Wiping Out” underlines the major role humans play in the extinction of animal species.

Location: Live Performance Open Area, India Art Fair.

8 February 2025, 3 pm / Delhi, India

In this workshop, participants will gain an insight into Karoline Schreiber's methods of drawing animals. The artist will give further insights about the animals behind the motifs, such as the Pinta giant tortoise or the Yangtze dolphin, both of which were directly driven to extinction by humans.

Location: Booth N02, Learning Space, NSIC Grounds at India Art Fair.

June 2024 - April 2025, Ontario, Canada

We are thrilled that the installation SPOT THE SPOTS will be on display at the THEMUSEUM in Ontario, Canada, as part of the exhibition GIRAFFE: A HEIGHTENED EXPERIENCE, opening this Saturday, June 8th!

SPOT THE SPOTS is a large-format memory game installation that aims to draw attention to the protection of giraffe species and the conservation of their habitat, as they are threatened with extinction due to human activities. The game invites you to learn about pattern recognition software used in wildlife research to recognize giraffes in photographs based on their unique fur patterns. The Installation thus interactively shows how artificial intelligence can be used in nature and species preservation - and why this is so important.

SPOT THE SPOTS is a collaboration with Monica L. Bond, wildlife biologist and biodiversity activist (UZH), scenographer Sonja Koch and graphic designer Meltem Kalayci. 

Location: THEMUSEUM in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. 

23 November 2024, 6 pm / Zurich, Switzerland

It is the moment just before — that electric pause — when desire intensifies into craving, and we hover on the edge of indulgence. The kiss comes before the bite, but what does it mean to devour a body?

Eating engages all five senses, drawing us into a world where food becomes more than nourishment — a gateway to memory, emotion, and sensation. Each bite triggers a flood of associations, as we balance between consuming and being consumed, between merging and rejecting.

The Art x Science Office and Blanka Dominika Major, in collaboration with ZFV-Unternehmungen, invite you to a collective «devouring» — an art x science dinner centered on touch, smell, and taste. Taking place at the Green Kitchen Lab with Mischa Heil and Cassandra Hänggi as part of the culinary team, this evening is a reflection on bodies — how they desire, repel, and consume. Ethical and scientific insights into the consumption of breast milk and the world of gut bacteria from Prof. Dr. med. Dr. phil. Nikola Biller-Andorno and Prof. Dr. med. Michael Scharl, along with an artistic intervention by Johanna Hullár and a reading by Tatjana Blaser, will transform this dinner into a truly holistic experience.

This event is free of charge, a contribution towards expenses is welcome.

23 November 2024, 6pm Green Kitchen Lab, University of Zurich Campus Irchel register here

Credits: Photography © Johanna Hullár, Melting Stories, New York 2024. Set Design Jeffrey Marcus, Molly Cox.

12 - 29 September 2024 / Zurich, Switzerland

The Art x Science Office will present the transdisciplinary project Design for all Species at the Zurich Design Weeks 2024. The exhibition will not only showcase results but also documents a successful international and transdisciplinary collaboration between veterinary research at the University of Zurich and product and fashion design at Hongik University, Seoul. From September 12 to 29, 2024, at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich.

7 - 10 November 2024 / Basel, Bern, Lugano, Zurich und online

The Art x Science Office warmly invites you to this year’sGlobal Science Film Festival, which serves as the first platform in Switzerland to showcase international science films from all disciplines. From November 7 to 10, 2024, you can enjoy screenings in Basel, Bern, Lugano, and Zurich, as well as simultaneously around the world through Swissnex, with showings in cities such as Canberra, Vancouver, New Delhi, Shanghai, and many more.

The festival brings together professional filmmakers and scientists, bridging art and science, and thus opening up new perspectives on our world. It will feature short films and feature films across a variety of formats – from documentaries and fiction to animations. The Global Science Film Festival is organized by the Swiss Science Film Academy in collaboration with the University of Zurich and other leading Swiss universities and research centers.

When: November 7 to 10, 2024

Where: Filmpodium (Zürich), Stadtkino (Basel), CineClub (Bern), Nielsen Auditorium (Lugano)

Tickets

12 September 2024, 2-3 pm / Zurich, Switzerland

Curator Katharina Weikl will guide visitors through the "Design for all Species" exhibition at the Museum für Gestaltung during Zurich Design Weeks 2024. Insights into the development process as well as the results of the international and transdisciplinary collaboration between the University of Zurich and Hongik University in Seoul will be shown.

Limited number of participants, registration required:Register Here

Museum für Gestaltung, Ausstellungsstrasse 60, 8005 Zurich

18 September 2024, 6 pm / Zurich, Switzerland

The Art x Science Office invited Chinese artist Long Pan to introduce her artistic and scientific engagement with the world of fungi during a dinner event. She was accompanied by chef Mischa Heil, who enhanced the sensory experience with a meticulously crafted three-course mushroom-based menu. Together with Long Pan and Mischa Heil, the participating guests immersed themselves in the intricate network of mycelium.

Wo: Green Kitchen Lab, Campus Irchel, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich

12 September 2024 & 13 September 2024, 2 - 4 pm / Zurich, Switzerland

The designers from Hongik University are present at the exhibition and open for dialogue (English).

Designers & Artists:
Seungha Baek, Sooin Cho, Joon Han, Nayeon Jeon, Yunseo Jeung, Heena Kim, Jiho Kim, Nayoung Kim, Zyoo Kim, Nyeongwoo Kwon, Chaewon Lee, Hanuk Lee, Jungmin Park

Museum für Gestaltung, Ausstellungsstrasse 60, 8005 Zurich

12 September 2024, 5 pm / Zurich, Schweiz

We invite you to celebrate the opening of our exhibition "Design for all Species" and the Zurich Design Weeks 2024 with us!

Museum für Gestaltung, Ausstellungsstrasse 60, 8005 Zurich

19 September 2024, 12:30 - 1:30 pm / Zurich, Switzerland

We invite you an exclusive exhibition tour for UZH employees. Curator Katharina Weikl will give insights into the development process as well as the results of the international and transdisciplinary collaboration between the University of Zurich and Hongik University in Seoul.

Limited number of participants, registration required:Register Here

Museum für Gestaltung, Ausstellungsstrasse 60, 8005 Zurich

Art in the Age of AI by Refik Anadol

3 May 2024, 5:30 - 6:30 pm, online (Microsoft Teams)

Since 2016, Refik Anadol Studio has been conducting interdisciplinary research on the relation between the human mind, aesthetics, machine learning technologies, and architecture. Coining the terms “AI Data Painting,” “AI Data Sculpture,” and “latent city,” Anadol has been reflecting on new multi-sensory forms of narrating collective memory in physical and virtual spaces and inviting his audience to imagine alternative, AI-imagined realities. 

In this talk, Anadol shared the research and production journeys of his Los Angeles-based Studio's internationally renowned artworks, which collectively offer a dramatic rethinking of our many environments. The artist also shed light on his most recent interdisciplinary collaborations with various scientists and communities around the world to build a bridge between beautiful data and meaningful aesthetics.

The talk and subsequent Q&A session took place online.

Watch the Recording

13 September 2024, 4 - 5 pm / Zurich, Switzerland

What happens when veterinary medicine meets design? The University of Zurich and Hongik University warmly invite you to a talk about the collaborative project “Design for all Species”. The project initiators and participants also talk about the collaboration between the Vetsuisse Faculty UZH and the Design Department at Hongik University, Seoul.

With:
· Dr. Katharina Weikl, Head of Art x Science Office, University of Zurich
· Prof. Dr. Antonio Pozzi & Dr. Brian Park, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich
· Prof. Yeori Bae & Prof. Gilock Lee, Fashion and Product Design, Hongik University
· Emerging designers from Hongik University

The talk will be held in English.

Limited number of participants, registration required:Register Here

Museum für Gestaltung, Ausstellungsstrasse 60, 8005 Zurich

10 April 2024, 6 - 7 pm / Zurich, Schwitzerland

The University of Zurich: Art and Architecture, New Forms of Art (Part III)
The university building was repeatedly rebuilt and adapted to the growing number of students. Rooms were extended and redesigned, often with massive interventions in the fabric of the building. In the course of these changes, new works of art were acquired through competitions or direct commissions. In this guided tour, we will discuss questions of art and architecture, focusing on works by Carlo Vivarelli, Adrian Schiess, Pipilotti Rist and Santiago Calatrava. 

Meeting Point: Main Building Universität Zentrum, Main Entrance Rämistrasse

16 May 2024 / Zurich, Switzerland

On 16 May 2024, world-renowned artist SAYPE unveiled his monumental artwork at the University of Zurich in support of SOS MEDITERRANEE's mission. SAYPE's eco-friendly artworks highlight contemporary societal challenges through everyday depictions and immense scale.

25 January 2024, 5 - 6 pm / Zurich, Switzerland

The University of Zurich: Art on the Irchel Campus (Part II)
For the design of the new university campus, a nationwide public competition was announced in the 1970s to promote artistic design. Out of the 500 submitted projects, 21 were realized. Who were these artists, and how did the art concepts on the campus evolve during the various construction stages? We will be looking at works by artists such as Florin Granwehr, Gottfried Honegger, Marguerite Hersberger, and Thomas Hirschhorn.

Meeting Point: Irchelpark, in front of the entrance of the State Archives of the Canton of Zurich

19 January 2024 / Bengaluru, India

The international network of Science Galleries opened a new science museum in the heart of Bengaluru, India on November 28th 2023. At the grand inaugural exhibition CARBON, the University of Zurich is represented with two Art x Science projects. Visitors can experience a music-video installation by Swiss musician Nicolas Buzzi in collaboration with Prof. Kathelijne Koops, as well as the Travel Edition of Triggered by Motion.

16 - 21 June 2024, Davos, Switzerland

At the 3rd installment of the World Biodiversity Forum in Davos, held from June 16-21, 2024, we showcase "Wiping Out" by Karoline Schreiber and "Mirror of Nature", a mesmerizing video installation created in collaboration with artists and researchers around the globe. Both works explore the ghostly illustrations of extinct or nearly extinct species, reminding us of them and inspiring us to act. Only if we work together can we find solutions to conserve our planet's biodiversity and set us on a path toward greater sustainability. 

The World Biodiversity Forum was organised by the Universität Zürich.

15 December 2023 - 15 January 2024 / Shanghai, China

The Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai (MoCA) presented the exhibition Mirror of Nature from 15 December 2023 to 15 January 2024. In this multifaceted art and science project, the Swiss artists and illustrators Karoline Schreiber, Sophie Hengartner, Ida Künzle, Alexandra Kaufmann, Helena Klein und Kerstin Zemp collaborated with Chinese scenographer Zhu Yunyan.

4 June 2023 - 9 March 2024 / Zernez, Switzerland

With the first special exhibition at the newly reimagined National Park Center in Zernez, the University of Zurich showcases the use of modern technologies in ecology. The exhibition will be on display from June 4th 2023, to March 9th 2024

11 May - 22 June 2023 / Seoul, South Korea

In celebration of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and South Korea, the Art x Science video installation Triggered by Motion is traveling to Seoul. It will be on display starting May 11, 2023, as part of the exhibition TRAVEL ACROSS BOUNDARIES, in cooperation with the Science & Technology Office Seoul at the Swiss-Korean Innovation Week held at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP).

2 November 2023, 4:30 - 5:30 pm / Zurich, Switzerland

The UZH campus is full of art, but it is so easy to overlook it in the semester rush! artflirt is a fun way to engage with it. Join in, meet other students, and together, discover your relationship with art while taking pictures. With subsequent get-together.

Where: Lichthof, City Campus, University of Zurich

30 November 2023, 6 - 7 pm / Zurich, Switzerland

The University of Zurich: Art and Its Stories
How does the university acquire its art? At the beginning of the 20th century, the architectural firm Curjel & Moser aimed not only to construct a university building but also pursued the concept of a total work of art. This idea convinced the client. During the tour of the university's main building, we will not only view works by artists such as Carl Burckhardt, Augusto Giacometti, or Paul Bodmer, but we will also hear the fascinating stories that led to their creation.

Meeting Point: Main Building University Center, Entrance Künstlergasse

Lynn Hershman Leeson, Artist

27 September 2022, online

Over the past five decades, artist and filmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson has gained international recognition through her art and films. Hershman Leeson is regarded as one of the most influential media artists, widely known for her innovative work addressing themes that are considered core social issues today: the relationship between humans and technology, issues of identity and surveillance, and the use of media as a means of empowerment against censorship and political oppression. Over the past fifty years, she has made groundbreaking contributions in photography, video, film, performance, artificial intelligence, bioart, installations, and interactive and web-based media art.

Gerfried Stocker, Managing and Artistic Director of Ars Electronica 

20 September 2022, online

Gerfried Stocker is a media artist and a communications engineer, and since 1995, he has been the Artistic Director and Co-Managing Director of Ars Electronica. In 1995/96, he developed exhibition strategies for the Ars Electronica Center with a small team of artists and technicians and was responsible for the establishment and development of the Ars Electronica's own R&D department, the Ars Electronica Futurelab. He has developed the program of international Ars Electronica exhibitions, planned and content-wise redesigned the Ars Electronica Center, expanded the Ars Electronica Festival, and thoroughly revised the content and design of the Ars Electronica Center. In 2019, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Aalto University in Finland.

William L. Fox, Founding Director Center for Art + Environment, Nevada Museum of Art

13 September 2022, online

William L. Fox is the Founding Director of the Center for Art + Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art and has been described as an art critic, science writer, and cultural geographer. Fox's numerous non-fiction books are based on fieldwork with artists and scientists in extreme environments, forming the basis of his investigations. He has published hundreds of essays in art and photography magazines and fifteen poetry collections. As an artist, Fox has been featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers Club and has received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Science Foundation.

Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator for Architecture and Design / Director for Research and Development at the MoMA

19 October 2021, online

Aparna Rao, Artist in Residence at the Wyss-Institut, UZH and ETHZ 

12 October 2021, online

Julia Buntaine Hoel, Conceptual Artist and Founding Director of the SciArt Initiative

05. October 2021, online

Prof. Dr. Michael John Gorman, Founding Director of Biotopia, Founding Director of the Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin

28 September 2021, online