Art at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute

Let the Eye be Substituted for the Sun by Victoria Morton

The Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre (JCBC) was opened in 2019 as a purpose-built facility, housing the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases (CITIID), and the Milner Therapeutics Institute. During the JCBC’s inception, public art was commissioned within the building and in the surrounding area, and is still viewable by the public.

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Victoria Morton

Let the Eye be Substituted for the Sun, 2019

In September 2018, Victoria Morton visited CSCI researchers to gain insight into their research and working environment, and was inspired to create a series of paintings that now hang in the building.

One of these paintings is displayed on the ground level exhibition area, and its design was inspired by her visit. She said of her paintings: "I was fascinated by the technology used to cultivate and visualise cells at the microscopic level in the laboratory. The layering and staining methods I observed have influenced this painting. I noticed the scientists spending long amounts of time on colour-coded images, mostly using fluorescent colours on a black background. Whilst fluorescent research images are often very beautiful, I wanted this painting to offer a different experience that reflects these processes but allows the mind to wander and focus at the same time."

The title of the work above derives from a quote from Goethe’s Theory of Colours (1810). 

Dalziel + Scullion

Corpus Stones, 2019

These interactive sculptural pieces by Dalziel + Scullion are designed to evoke vertebrae, appearing on the grassy oval area outside the JCBC and welcoming visitors to recline on their cool stony surface. Their arrangement recalls the stone circles of Britain’s ancestors, and are designed to signify inner strength, persistence, and determination.

Past exhibits and commissions

Harold Offeh

A Pattern for Progress, 2019

As part of his work on the Cambridge Betterment Society, British multimedia artist Harold Offeh visited and met with people living with Multiple Sclerosis, their carers, and scientists researching the disease at the JCBC.   

On working with the scientists, Harold said: 

"In developing this project I was interested in what might happen when patients and researchers were brought together to reflect on their relationship to MS. Over six weeks, the group were able to spend time with each other, learning and sharing. The resulting tiles document this process of dialogue and exchange and convey the complex mix of experiences and knowledge invested in improving the situation of people living with MS."               

Kelly Briggs

Rebuilding Connections, 2019

This temporary interactive sculpture by Kelly Briggs illustrated the breakdown of neural connections in Multiple Sclerosis. Visitors were invited to take apart and rebuild the sculpture, intending to signify the ‘demyelination’ that happens to the nerve cells of MS patients (in the taking apart) and the ‘remyelination’ that researchers at JCBC are studying (in the rebuilding). Each shape and colour represented a different cell type with a specific function: neurons, oligodendrocytes and neural stem cells. Dates engraved onto each of the yellow pieces reflected the age and year of diagnosis of the participants diagnosed with MS.

Anna Brownsted

The Night the Mountains Moved, 2020

In 2020, multimedia artist Anna Brownsted brought together ambassadors for Blood Cancer UK and stem cell researchers at JCBC. Anna installed a collage mural that remained in the building until 2025.

Futuramic Unknown, 2020

Through a series of stop-motion animation workshops held via Zoom during the Covid-19 lockdowns, participants developed hand-cut animation sequences exploring their experiences of ‘the unknown’ in relation to living with blood cancer, the challenges of research and the global uncertainties of Covid-19.

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/embed/fhDf3-m_0Og