The Interplay of Water, Art, Science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems

Il progetto

Fluid Boundaries è un progetto di collaborazione tra il programma Artists-in-Labs dell'Università delle Arti di Zurigo (CH), IBSA Foundation (CH), il MASI Lugano (CH), il VIAD dell'Università di Johannesburg (SA), l'AiRSA (SA) e la Galeria Portas Vilaseca (BR).
Fluid Boundaries riunisce artisti, scienziati, curatori e esperti di conoscenze indigene per capire come si crea, si condivide e si valorizza la conoscenza sull'acqua.

Il progetto mette in discussione le dinamiche di potere radicate nella società che determinano chi ha voce in capitolo, chi viene ascoltato e dove si ritiene che abbia origine la conoscenza, soprattutto tra quelli che spesso vengono visti come i “centri” e le “periferie” del nostro pianeta, in termini di geografia, scena artistica, istituzioni scientifiche e conoscenze ancestrali.

Fluid Boundaries: what is it?

Fluid Boundaries is a collaboration project between artists-in-labs program at Zurich University of the Arts (CH), IBSA Foundation (CH), MASI Lugano (CH), VIAD at the University of Johannesburg (SA), AiRSA (SA) and Galeria Portas Vilaseca (BR).
Fluid Boundaries brings together artists, scientists, curators and indigenous knowledge conveners to explore how knowledge around water is created, shared, and valued.
At its core, the project questions the entrenched power dynamics that shape who gets to speak, who is heard, and where knowledge is believed to originate - especially between what are often seen as the "centres" and the "margins" of our planet, in terms of geography, the art scene, science institutions and ancestral knowledge.

IBSA Foundation, together with MASI Lugano, is contributing as a Swiss partner by including the programme in SciArt SwitzerlAnd

IBSA Foundation, insieme al MASI Lugano, contribuisce come partner svizzero inserendo il programma all’interno di SciArt SwitzerlAnd.

Che cos'è SciArt SwitzerlAnd?

SciArt SwitzerlAnd è un progetto di IBSA Foundation per la ricerca scientifica in collaborazione con LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura e MASI Lugano, Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana.

Attraverso diversi formati di eventi e prodotti digitali, SciArt SwitzerlAnd intende puntare lo sguardo su quelle creazioni artistiche che si sono trasformate grazie all’interazione con scienziati, scoperte e istituti di ricerca.

Il pubblico potrà avvicinarsi ad affascinanti proposte nate dall’incontro tra più dimensioni, e ascoltare dalla viva voce degli artisti e degli scienziati quanto realtà molto diverse si influenzano vicendevolmente.

The call and selection of artists

In summer 2024, a public call was launched for artists to participate in a three-month residency at local scientific institutions in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro and Zurich. Below are the three selected artists:

Kamil Hassim

Transdisciplinary artist, musician, filmmaker, based in Cape Town (South Africa).

Carla Maldonado

Multimedia artist working primarily in experimental cinema, installations, and multi-channel projections, based in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).

Michael Azkoul

Rapper, poet, author, martial arts instructor and massage therapist, based in Geneva (Swtizerland).

Special event

Closing session

Walter Longo

18:30 - 19:30
USI Auditorium

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scopri l'evento

Speakers’ interviews (Placeholder)

Bio

Caspar Kaiser is an Assistant Professor with the Behavioural Science Group at Warwick Business School. He is also a research fellow at Oxford University's Wellbeing Research Centre, a research affiliate at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, and chair of the board of the Happier Lives Institute. He holds a DPhil in Social Policy from Nuffield College, University of Oxford. His research focuses on the measurement and determinants of wellbeing. Regarding measurement, he works on improving the comparability of survey data on people’s feelings. Concerning determinants, he is particularly interested in how social comparisons and inequalities, particularly with respect to household incomes, shape people’s wellbeing. Most recently, his interests are moving towards leveraging machine learning methods and natural language processing for interpreting feelings data.

Fasting Mimicking Diets Longevity and Disease

Abstract

Fasting mimicking diets (FMDs) are low calorie and protein and high fat compositions lasting 4-7 days emerging as periodic dietary interventions with the potential to improve healthspan and decrease the incidence of cancer and other age-related diseases. FMDs increase protection in healthy cells while sensitizing cancer cells to a variety of therapies, in part by generating complex environments which result in protection of normal and sensitization of cancer cells. More recent data indicates that FMDs enhances the efficacy of many drugs targeting different cancer mouse models by stimulating anti-tumor immunity. FMD cycles also reverse insulin resistance and promote multi-system regeneration by both increasing stem cells number and by inducing cellular reprogramming. In humans, these effects contribute to reducing risk factors for age-related diseases, promote diabetes regression, and reduce biological age

Biography

Valter Longo, PhD, is the Edna Jones Professor in Biological Sciences and Gerontology, the Director of the Longevity Institute at the USC School of Gerontology, one of the oldest and leading centers for aging research. His laboratory studies the fundamental mechanisms of aging in yeast, rodents and humans by using genetics and biochemistry techniques with focus on the nutrient-response signal transduction pathways that regulate disease and longevity. This work led to the identification of the role of the Tor-S6K pathway in longevity extension. His laboratory also has developed and tested the effect of periodic fasting and fasting mimicking diets on multi-system reprogramming and stem cell activation and regeneration in mice, later translated into clinical trials to prevent and treat a range of age-related diseases.

The program continued in October 2025 with a week-long Third Space Residency at Casa Carlo Cattaneo, the headquarters of IBSA Foundation in Lugano.

During this phase, artists, scientists, and curators came together to share the experiences and discoveries they had gained during the three regional residencies, explore collaborative practices, and work beyond the disciplinary, cultural, and geographical boundaries that had initially defined the project.

The public event at MASI

The project was presented to the public during the closing event on October 30 at MASI Lugano, organised by the artists-in-labs program of the Zurich University of the Arts, the IBSA Foundation, and MASI.
The evening took the form of a walkabout, with various stations for meeting and discussion. Through performances, readings, installations, and videos, artists, scientists, and curators shared their reflections on the work carried out, offering a multidisciplinary overview of the project and highlighting the dialogue between different approaches and systems of knowledge.

Audience seated on blue cushions and on the floor during an evening event in a museum space in Lugano; participants listen attentively to a voiceover presentation, surrounded by glass windows and contemporary décor.

Dialogue and perspectives after the project

Following the public event on October 30, Carlo Cattaneo House hosted an in-depth meeting on February 17 to reflect on the results of the project and strengthen the dialogue between the partners involved. It was an opportunity to take stock and look ahead, continuing the work carried out during the Third Space Residency and the presentation at MASI.

Read the full article

Participants seated in a circle on cushions during a meeting in a historic space with red walls, a fireplace, and a plaster bust; in the background, a quote about science, while some people check their phones during a break or preparation time

SciArt SwitzerlAnd is a project of IBSA Foundation for scientific research in collaboration with LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura and MASI Lugano, Museo d'arte della Svizzera italiana.
Through different event formats and digital products, SciArt SwitzerlAnd intends to cast its gaze on those artistic creations that have been transformed through interaction with scientists, discoveries and research institutions.

The public will be able to get up close to fascinating proposals born out of the encounter between multiple dimensions, and hear from the living voices of artists and scientists how very different realities influence each other.

Discover SciArt SwitzerlAnd

Senotherapeutics Revolution:
Transforming Aging and Cancer Therapy

30 June 2025
USI Auditorium

SciArt SwitzerlAnd x Fluid Boundaries

Il progetto

Fluid Boundaries: what is it?

How is the project carried out?

IBSA Foundation, insieme al MASI Lugano, contribuisce come partner svizzero inserendo il programma all’interno di SciArt SwitzerlAnd.