Dublin/Bengaluru, 27th November 2017— Science Gallery International (SGI) today announced the appointment of Dr Jahnavi Phalkey as the Founding Director of Science Gallery Bengaluru.
Science Gallery is the world’s first university-linked network dedicated to public engagement with science and art. The galleries, pop-up programmes and touring exhibitions of the Science Gallery Network are founded on the belief that young people hold the creative potential to tackle the world’s biggest challenges. The pioneering Science Gallery is based at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland.
Jahnavi Phalkey is a historian of science and technology, and a filmmaker formerly based at King’s College London. Talking about her appointment as Director of Science Gallery Bengaluru Jahnavi Phalkey said: “I am delighted to be appointed the Founding Director of Science Gallery Bengaluru. Science Gallery will play the unique role of bringing together artists, and scholars from the human and natural sciences through research and conversation on questions of global concern. Such a linking across disciplines and social issues in novel ways will not only change how we view these often-disparate areas but also how we might work together. I am particularly keen on students learning alongside scholars through tinkering and experiments. Collectively, we will produce events and exhibitions to nurture a creative and critical appreciation of science – and its relationship to nature and culture – in Indian public life. Towards these goals, I very much look forward to working with the Government of Karnataka, the Indian Institute of Science, the National Centre for Biological Sciences, and Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology.”
Executive Director of Science Gallery International Andrea Bandelli spoke of the importance of the new appointment: “The appointment of Jahnavi Phalkey as inaugural director of Science Gallery Bengaluru is a fantastic development for the Science Gallery Network. We are thrilled to be working with such a recognised leader whose career spans across countries, disciplines and institutions, and who truly embodies the interdisciplinary and boundary-breaking nature of our work. Jahnavi brings a wealth of experience developed at King’s College London, Imperial College London, Georgia Tech, Science Museum London, Deutsches Museum, and other cardinal institutions. It is truly a great honour to be working with such a visionary woman, who now joins Lynn Scarff, Rose Hiscock, Daniel Glaser, Ariane Koek and Troy Livingston at the helm of the Science Gallery Network.”
Dr Phalkey will head the establishment of Science Gallery Bengaluru with the Indian Institute of Science as lead partner, alongside the National Centre for Biological Sciences and Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology as collaborative partners. Lead-in activity has already commenced, with Science Gallery Bengaluru winning their first award for Creativity at the BengaluruITE.biz fair in December of 2016. The gallery space will open in 2021.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, IMAGES, OR INTERVIEW REQUESTS: Contact Lucy Whitaker, Global Communications Manager at Science Gallery International at lucy.whitaker@sciencegallery.com or +353877485404. Jahnavi Phalkey can be reached at jahnavi.phalkey@bengaluru.sciencegallery.com.
ABOUT JAHNAVI PHALKEY
Dr Jahnavi Phalkey is a historian of science and technology, and a filmmaker. She is the author of Atomic State: Big Science in Twentieth Century India (2013), and has co-edited Science of Giants: China and India in the Twentieth Century. Jahnavi is the director of Cyclotron, a documentary film about the world’s oldest functional particle accelerator.
Jahnavi’s academic distinctions include an invitation to Fellowship at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin), and her recent election as President of the Science and Empires Commission of the International Union for the History of Science and Technology. She is on the editorial board for two leading journals History and Technology, and British Journal for the History of Science.
She has worked closely with prominent museums in Europe and was Scholar-in-Residence at the Deutsches Museum, Munich, following which she was External Curator to the Science Museum in London. Jahnavi has also appeared in various panels and programmes on the BBC.
ABOUT SCIENCE GALLERY
At the vanguard of the STEM to STEAM movement, Science Gallery International is leading the creation of the world’s first university-linked network dedicated to public engagement with science and art, igniting the creative potential of young people globally to tackle the world’s biggest challenges.
Through its galleries, pop-up programmes and touring exhibitions, the Global Science Gallery Network has reached millions of 15-25 year olds with inspiring and participative transdisciplinary programmes featuring emerging research and ideas from the worlds of art, science, design and technology.
The pioneering Science Gallery is based at Trinity College Dublin, with galleries currently in development at King’s College London, University of Melbourne, the Indian Institute of Science, and Ca' Foscari University of Venice, an SG Lab at Michigan State University (Detroit) and the expansion of SG Labs into Latin America and Africa planned by 2020. To learn more about Science Gallery, visit international.sciencegallery.com.
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