Presentation of the ICI/Iméra chair – Research-Creation in Cancerology and Immunology
The Research & Creation Chair: Cancerology and Immunology aims to foster innovative and interdisciplinary artistic and scientific research on the issues outlined below, highlighting the synergies between scientific research in the field of cancer and immunology and research-creation. This initiative seeks to provide significant national and international visibility to this research at the crossroads of disciplines and knowledge systems, thus contributing to the outreach of cancer and immunology research through art-science collaborations and research-creation in this domain.
Integration into the local ecosystem and interactions with the chair holder’s contacts, as well as a broader audience if relevant to the selected project, can be achieved through various formats such as:
- Monthly meetings with the entire ICI institute board (mandatory)
- Cycles of conferences or participation in workshops intersecting the “Arts & Sciences: Indisciplined Knowledge” and “Interdisciplinary Explorations” programs
- Transversal working groups across various scientific programs of Iméra
- Activities and events specifically targeted at a broad audience, including students (master’s and doctoral)
This chair will also promote long-term collaborations with researchers from Aix-Marseille University (AMU).
Rejecting an instrumental approach to art, this chair is based on the premise that art produces knowledge. Focusing on creation, transmission, and impact, the chair’s residents are expected to develop their research around 1 or more of these 3 fundamental axes:
- Reflection on the therapeutic use of artistic practices by clinicians in managing cancer and its therapies (primarily immunotherapy). Since patient access is not guaranteed, this chair cannot host art therapy projects as such
- Reflection on social representations of cancer and its therapy for producing illustrated books, films, etc.
- Reflection on the relationships between artistic practices and clinical and/or scientific practices from a more epistemological perspective
Regarding researchers working on art as a subject of study and with art as creators or academic researchers engaged in alternative writing practices, they can come from all humanities and social sciences, including art theory, art history, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, geography, etc. Additionally, this chair is also open to exact and life sciences, provided the research project has a close link with art and/or artists.
Regarding artists, the chair can accommodate multiple phases of their project, provided these phases require sustained dialogue with researchers from academic disciplines during the conception of a work, thought, or writing (whether theoretical, poetic, or otherwise), early in the process or later in the development phase but before production.
Iméra does not offer production facilities but provides a shared, unequipped studio, possibly shared with other artists (on average, two artists share this space), allowing for a variety of knowledge configurations that can also be spatialized and materialized in different formats. This can include semi-public or private exhibitions to share research moments and preliminary outcomes. The development phase is understood as a phase of constructive back-and-forth between “formal” experiments (written, visual, sound, montage, etc.) and theoretical research, informed by artistic practice, the experience of this practice, and the sensory, as practice-based research
About the Chair’s Partner
The Aix Marseille University Institute, the Institute for Cancer and Immunology (ICI), brings together research teams, hospitals, and industries in Marseille working in cancer and immunology research. The institute aims to strengthen bridges between research and teaching teams from the faculties of sciences, medical and paramedical sciences, and pharmacy to establish an integrated international program for training, research, and valorization of research results.
