Art-Science Exhibition "Moving with the Times"

The REA Art-Science competition ‘Moving with the times’ was organised as part of REA’s 10-year anniversary celebrations. The competition concluded with an award ceremony on 29 April at REA premises, in Brussels.

The objective of the competition was to make secondary school students, aged 10 to 18, explore the connections between art and science to produce mixed-media artworks.

Out of the 100 artworks proposed by the students, 28 were selected. They all demonstrated an impressively wide range of techniques and materials, capturing the beauty, creativity and diverse world-views and solutions for our common future.

Jean-Eric Paquet, Director-General of DG research and Innovation and chairperson of the competition jury, described that choosing the winners was one of the most difficult tasks he has ever had to perform as Director-General. He also underlined the importance of bringing science closer to citizens. 

The students had as diverse motives as methods for creating their artwork.

Hugo Kogler and Claris Roselmard, winners of the MSCA Seniors category said respectively: I wanted to raise awareness about the current opioid crisis because it affects our society. If we do not tackle the current challenges, we cannot move towards the future. We need to break the cycle to move with the times." Claris explained: "I wanted to talk about our fear of artificial intelligence (AI). Although AI may seem human on the outside, inside it is still electronic. We cannot develop a real human mind through AI.

Emmeline Kjellgren, winner of the REA Staff Awards Middles category, said of her work: Bionic limbs inspired me to create my work of art. Many people throughout the centuries have suffered traumatic events that have left them impaired. Before, limbs were made of wood and were not as versatile as today's bionic limbs. It is fascinating to see how this has evolved.

Maria-Catalina Stefanescu, winner of the Covent Garden Community Award thanked the audience for their vote, stating: This recognition has inspired me to continue doing art for the rest of my life!

View the 28 artworks in the photo gallery.