Students of Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (VCUQatar) and Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) presented their original artworks at a new exhibition exploring the intersection between art and medicine, which opened at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University Student Centre recently.
The month-long exhibition showcases a collection of works created by six students from each college, utilising a range of materials, methods and media, from laser-cut works based on medical scans, to photographs that examine the landscape as a metaphor for neurological conditions, and kinetic sculptures that question our perception of what is mental and what is physical.
The artworks and the exhibition are the result of a semester-long collaboration between VCUQatar and WCM-Q that sought to explore the many direct and abstract links that exist between art and medicine, as part of a research project conducted by Dr Alan Weber, associate professor of English at WCM-Q; Rhys Himsworth, director of Painting and Printmaking at VCUQatar; Amy Andres, interim director of Libraries and assistant professor at VCUQatar; and Dr Stephen Scott, associate dean for Student Affairs at WCM-Q. Himsworth curated the exhibition and an exhibition catalogue and a documentary film about the project will be published shortly.
Through an ‘Art and Medicine’ Learning Laboratory set up by the researchers, the project aimed to develop innovative, interdisciplinary pedagogies that will provide art students with new understandings, materials and tools to further develop their artistic practice.
The Learning Laboratory consisted of a series of workshops, seminars and lectures that investigated how each discipline solves problems, develops expertise and utilises creativity, analysis, synthesis and evaluation to create new knowledge.
Dr Weber said:  “Clearly, art and medicine are very different disciplines involving very different modes of learning, so the students have to move outside of their comfort zones and think creatively to develop ways to communicate and work productively with one another.”
The researchers have documented the interactions between the students through photography, videography and ethnographic-based research methodologies.
The research project is the product of collaboration and support from WCM-Q, VCUQatar, Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar Science and Technology Park, HBKU Student Centre, Qatar Robotics Institute of Development and the Qatar Robotic Surgery Centre.

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