MONTRÉAL, April 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Espace pour la vie is proud to present nobELLES, an exhibition by multidisciplinary artist MissMe and the Planétarium, honouring seven women scientists whom history has deleted. Their journeys calls us to reflect on various issues that women—especially women in science—are still facing today.
The work of these seven scientists has revolutionized their respective fields of expertise at a time when the mere fact of being a woman in these sectors was a revolution in and of itself. Yet their names, like their careers, have remained in the shadows.
This exhibition celebrates Lise Meitner, Jocelyn Bell, Katherine Johnson, Vera Rubin, Mary Jackson, Donna Strickland and Emmy Noether and their discoveries worthy of a Nobel Prize, which they never received (read more about their journeys). Above all, it invites visitors to reflect on the gender issues still present in science and technology today.
World-renowned Montréal artist MissMe puts her art and convictions at the service of these seven women. She uses pencil, charcoal, paint and cut-outs to create powerful portraits. For nobELLES, she also played with words: "When you considerer representing someone, the image you create virtually turns into an icon. I think it would be a disservice to these women to represent them only through their physicality. To add words to their faces is to give them a voice [...] I felt this produced a more accurate, respectful portrait."
MissMe's highly modern visual language brings these women of science to the forefront, where they rightfully belong.
Free exhibition | Starts today | For everyone | Planétarium
nobELLES is also an eight-episode podcast that profiles each of these scientists and explores some of the challenges they faced along the way. An eighth episode is dedicated to MissMe, her journey and her artistic approach.
Designed, produced and hosted by Lili Boisvert, nobELLES, the Podcast leads listeners to think about topics such as tokenism, controlling the emotions of women in the public space, the impostor syndrome, and resilience—themes explored with a range of specialists.
Listen for free on dedicated platforms and on espacepourlavie.ca (in french only)
Through her compelling and insubordinate urban art, multidisciplinary artist MissMe was thrust into the limelight. The large-scale pieces she deploys on urban furniture worldwide stir our deepest emotions. Dealing with feminism and other social issues, her work takes many forms, including giant posters adorning the cityscape. Her exclusively black and white visual language, with its particularly striking aesthetic, calls for solidarity between and empowerment of women.
Journalist, columnist, author and television host, Lili Boisvert has hosted the show Sexplora on Explora, co-hosted Les Brutes on Télé-Québec and has, among other things, written Le principe du cumshot, which deals with the social representation of female sexuality. She is the producer, director and host of the nobELLES podcast.
Making science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) accessible, raising awareness of the under-representation of girls and women in STEM, and offering effective solutions are among the Planétarium's goals. nobELLES demonstrates the Planétarium's focus on women, today and tomorrow.
Espace pour la vie is made up of five major attractions: the Biodôme, the Biosphère, the Insectarium, the Jardin botanique and the Planétarium. These prestigious municipal institutions form Canada's largest natural science museum complex. Together, they are launching a daring, creative urban movement, encouraging all of us to rethink the connection between humankind and nature and cultivate a new way of living.
SOURCE Espace pour la vie
Roy & Turner Communications: Junior Bombardier, 514 941-3794, [email protected]; Espace pour la vie: Anne Bourgoin, 438 346-0542, [email protected]
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