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11 gozotoday | FRIDAY • 18 OCTOBER 2024 CULTURE Surprising art exhibition of anatomical works by medical students in Gozo's Citadel ANATOART, curated by Abi McLeod, is a new exhibition in the Cultural Centre in Victoria's citadel that runs until 31 Octo- ber. It's an artistic exploration of anatomy by future doctors stud- ying at Queen Mary University of London in Gozo, on the Gozo Hospital campus. It offers a fas- cinating insight into both our own bodies and the hearts and minds of first- and second-year medical students as they set out to be come clinical practitioners, the lifeblood of our medical sys- tem. The exhibition comprises a se- ries of 38 works in many media - from pencil, biro, pastel and paint to collage, fabric, and even Play-Doh (although in many cas- es you'd think it was ceramics), all of which were created during a two-week 'Anatomy through Art and Mindfulness' course with Abi. There's a wide range of body parts, with a preponder- ance of hearts, spines and hands, underlying their importance, perhaps, to our physical form and our emotional lives. Whilst designed to strengthen students' knowledge of human anatomy and remind them of the miracle of life and healing, the course al- so encouraged students to apply mindfulness in everyday life. The art is presented in an array of different styles, with some cre- ated on brown or rough-hewn paper evoking the roughness of real life. They hint perhaps at the 'unavoidable mess' of delv- ing into the human body. The medical school students at QMU are very fortunate to have body dissection as part of their curric- ulum. It's a time-honoured way to explore the human body, with respect, as if working with a first patient. Many works are framed, some in white, some in black, which subliminally emphasizes that while people globally, in Malta and on the QMU course have widely different appearances, our bodily systems and struc- tures as portrayed are all basical- ly the same wherever we come from. One wall has a line-up of mus- culature and skeletal forms in 3D relief on the page. They're visceral and athletic as if they might leap from the dissecting table with youth and vigour. Opposite, an open medicine cabinet with an array of organs as if you've looked inside a body and found them laid out inside. These stitched textile pieces include an eye, kidneys, a liver and a spleen -their simplicity of form belying their metabolic complexity. Above it hang two rather surreal pieces, a set of ribs is reminiscent of a ten-legged arachnid, reminding us of our direct links to the animal king- dom whilst the other, a blossom- ing heart, celebrates the amazing surprise of life and the incredible things we can do. "It's great to see this show in a community space, a reflection of the active participation of the medical school and its students in Gozo society," Professor An- drew Warrens, Dean for Educa- tion, said. "The exhibition also illustrates how medical education has de- veloped over the last four dec- ades, with an increased focus on the interface between science and humanities." There's a long history of stud- ying anatomy through drawing, and two pieces that hang togeth- er in one corner bring Leonardo Da Vinci and his Vitruvian Man to mind. Da Vinci made signif- icant contributions to medicine through his detailed precise sketches of bones, muscles, or- gans, and the vascular system and influenced the development of medical illustration, combin- ing art and science. The first, a mixed media piece of collaged vertebrae on black, references algebra and geometry, a remind- er of the science at the root of medical learning, research and practice. The second, a pencil drawing is drawn with anatom- ical precision, delicate shading, and an eerily deadened expres- sion. Alongside, hangs a mixed media collage Consciousness by Hamidah Kolawole. On a cut-through of a head, a head is shown in profile, the brain is subdivided into lobes in differ- ent hues. "This, for me, is the star of the show," art and culture journalist Esther Lafferty said. "Step closer, and you'll see text on the lips, a phrase on truth. This is an im- plicit comment that it was as hominids brains enlarged that we developed our advanced fa- cility for deception. The words pasted into the vertebrae suggest deeper meanings too, a remind- er that these students are learn- ing far more than anatomy as they study here." "I was also taken by a pair of velvet lungs, the opulent rich red fabric a reminder that ox- ygen absorption is a precious process which we should treas- ure. And keep your eyes peeled for two wine glasses clinking in a colourful stylised 'x-ray' of the abdomen. It's a fun piece, almost anthropomorphic: I almost ex- pected to burst into song! And as some of the works focus on soft tissues, whilst others depict bones, I'd love to know wheth- er the students who created the former go on to specialise in internal medicine and the bone brigade opt for orthopaedics!" Although an exhibition on body parts might seem perfect- ly-timed for Halloween – and it is a family-friendly selection of art that will delight and intrigue children of all ages – this show is full of heart, warmth and hu- manity. "The display represents the classroom," Abi said. "It's friendly rather than clini- cal; colourful and quirky. We're welcoming individuality and celebrating people's individual strengths, our similarities and our differences." AnatoArt is an artistic exploration of human anatomy by future doctors studying at Queen Mary University of London in Gozo, is curated by Abi McLeod (above). The exhibition is open for viewing at the Citadel in Gozo up to 31 October.