What’s On: The Science Gallery London presents GENDERS: Shaping and Breaking the Binary

A playful exhibition and events programme exploring personal perspectives on gender today through the lenses of art and science will open in the spring of 2020.

The Science Gallery London will present GENDERS: Shaping and Breaking the Binary which will bring a kaleidoscopic view of gender and its relationship with science as well as factors such as class, culture, race, age and sexuality.

The free season will bring together artists, social scientists, biologists, neuroscientists and activists, drawing on interdisciplinary research from King’s College London and reflecting the understanding of many scientists that gender is both biological and cultural.

“The season draws on growing scientific consensus that the fixed categories of female and male and the separation between the natural and social sciences are simultaneously becoming less distinct,” said curator, Helen Kaplinsky.

“We invite visitors to question the inequalities and adaptations emerging in relation to gender, identity and society in this moment of flux.”

Clemens Kiecker, senior lecturer in developmental neurobiology at King’s said: “Neuroscience has shown that our brains are not static – they are plastic and change in response to environmental influences.

“There is therefore an ongoing connection between culture, which is shaped by behaviour, and brain biology.

“Drawing on these ideas, GENDERS will unravel some of the complex interactions that shape how we experience gender.”

Artworks in the exhibition will immerse visitors in individual and collective stories, considering themes such as the role of technology in gender expression, how gaming and role play can help us consider different perspectives, and how changing social norms are demanding more fluid understandings of gender.

“As the discussion around gender has become increasingly polarised, this season at Science Gallery London aims to create a space where greater nuance and complexity can play out,” said John O’Shea, associate director at Science Gallery London.

“By bringing together the voices of artists, activists, researchers, clinicians and young people, we hope to form better questions about the experience of gender today.”

The exhibition features artworks and installations co-designed by artists working with local LGBTQ young people and Science Gallery London’s Young Leaders – a group of 15-25-year olds who study at King’s or who live, work, or study in Southwark and Lambeth.

Victoria Sin, artist and GENDERS season advisor said: “In my work as an artist, I am interested in the intersections of scientific and personal narratives around gender.

“By bringing together many voices from science and art this exhibition encourages a creative and open approach to the multitude of experiences of gender.”