Mendel is... a Meteorologist and Beekeeper!

Although Johann Gregor Mendel is world-famous for his crossbreeding of plants (especially different varieties of peas) and his discovery of the laws of heredity, his natural science research activities also involved meteorology and beekeeping. Mendel was an enthusiastic beekeeper who, among other things, experimented with crossbreeding different breeds of bees. He also made careful meteorological observations. He observed the windstorm that swept through Brno in 1870 with scientific interest and described it physically. He was also instrumental in issuing weather forecasts by means of the telegraph service in Moravia and Silesia. The discussion on meteorology and beekeeping will be complemented by Jiří Y. Suchánek, who is the author of one of the art projects of this year's BAO.

DISCUSSANTS

JAROSLAV ROŽNOVSKÝ

He presents the results of his scientific activities as a research and development worker at the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute to the public and in lectures on bioclimatology and earth sciences at Mendel University in Brno. He is the President of the Czech Society of Bioclimatology. He is interested in long-term climate, its changes and impacts, risks of weather extremes and definition of environmental security. He considers weather and climate to be manifestations of complex physical processes that are influenced by human activities.

JIŘÍ Y. SUCHÁNEK

Jiří Y. Suchánek is a visual artist and also works as a teacher at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Brno. A prominent representative of multimedia art with an emphasis on sound and sound-art experiments. Suchánek likes to use alternative (non-gallery) exhibition opportunities and installs his interactive works in the open air, often in a natural environment, sometimes in publicly accessible caves and the like. Biological facts or meteorological phenomena can be the starting points for sound-art compositions. Suchánek’s other field (related to the exhibition theme) is bonsai cultivation and breeding.

ABOUT BRNO ART OPEN 2022

gGeEnn
Mendel Is… an Artist!
8. 6. - 28. 8. 2022

Artists: Tomas Gabzdil Libertiny (SK/NL), Anna Hulačová (CZ), Kuai Shen (EC/DE), Saša Spačal (SI), Jiří Y. Suchánek (CZ), Uli Westphal (DE)

Curators: Milan Kreuzzieger, Milan Mikuláštík

In 2022, the periodical exhibition of art projects in the public space Brno Art Open (BAO) will be dedicated to the memory of Johann Gregor Mendel, the world-famous Brno scientist, considered to be one of the founders of genetics.

It is a strange, yet in a certain sense typical paradox that in Czech society, Mendel’s fame comes nowhere near a level corresponding to his international significance. The next edition of the BAO festival with an exhibition of artworks in the public space called gGeEnn, with the subtitle Mendel Is… an Artist! wishes to commemorate Johann Gregor Mendel as a complex personality and cover, at least in part, the breadth of his multidisciplinary scientific research including, in addition to plant breeding and crossbreeding, for example beekeeping or meteorological activities, as well as other natural sciences.

The locations for the individual realizations will be selected with regard to the places where Mendel’s historical discoveries took place or were presented (Old Brno Monastery, school in Jánská Street), where small everyday events and activities occurred (Lužánky Park, his parental house in Hynčice), or places pointing out the ambitions of Brno as an active scientific, research and educational centre of international importance.

Two heterogeneous concepts– bio-art and art in public space – will meet in the gGeEnn project to create a distinctive synthesis enabling the visualization of the selected topics attractively and objectively. Bio-art is an artistic direction that radically combines scientific and artistic approaches, manipulates biological (often unstable and dynamically changing) materials and living organisms, leaving much room for experimentation. The connection of artistic and scientific imagination brings a new enriching view of important social phenomena and opens a discussion on the major ethical issues and problems of the present.

The BAO project will include a series of accompanying programmes, events and activities that will include professional and popular lectures, discussions and workshops, guided tours and happenings. Experts in the field of evolutionary biology and genetics, medicine, as well as representatives of philosophy, social sciences and humanities will be addressed.

The gGeEnn exhibition will introduce Gregor Mendel not only as a scientist, but also as a man who, even two hundred years after his birth, can inspire contemporary artists. Young creators respond to the mental turn caused by the global ecological awakening, which makes them think about the power that tends to organize life both at the macro-level of the environment, human communities, and at the micro-level of cells.

The event will be held under the auspices of Mr Martin Baxa, Minister of Culture, and Ms Markéta Vaňková, Mayor of the City of Brno.