PRESS RELEASE FOR INMEDIATE RELEASE KOSMICA is a 3-day galactic gathering, an off-the-planet mix of art, science, debate, music and film, exploring alternative and cultural uses of space. ● For the first time the London-popular series will bring a KOSMICA edition to Mexico City on the 27th, 28th and 29th September 2012 at Laboratorio Arte Alameda.. KOSMICA brings together earth-bound artists, astronomers, performers, space explorers and musicians from Mexico, the UK, France, Germany and the US, and is programmed by the artist Nahum Mantra and The Arts Catalyst (UK) in partnership with the Laboratorio Arte Alameda, INBA (Mexico). For its first edition in Mexico City on 27 September, KOSMICA will see over 15 participants actively working in cultural and artistic aspects of space exploration. Urban stargazing, cosmic music, zero gravity dance, armchair space exploration, science fiction and DIY rocket science collide in a unique and unmissable event. The ideas are fantastic but the stakes are real: reclaim space and space travel for all! KOSMICA Mexico will include the following participants: Roger Malina, astronomer, editor and Distinguished Professor of Art and Technology at the University of Texas, where he is developing Art-Science R and D and Experimental publishing research. Malina is the former Director of the Observatoire Astronomique de Marseille Provence and his specialty is in space instrumentation; he was the Principal Investigator for the NASA Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer Satellite at the University of California, Berkeley. He also has been involved for 25 years with the Leonardo organization whose mission is to promote and make visible work that explores the interaction of the arts and sciences and the arts and new technologies. Regina Peldszus asks - how will we actually live in space? Regina Peldszus’s work in space architecture and design explores the psychological challenges of isolation and monotony of space crew on extended exploration missions. She is also concerned with human-technology-nature interaction in extreme environments, off-duty and medical design aspects in space and their spin-offs. Peldszus is based at the Design Research Centre and the Astronautics & Space Systems Group, Kingston University, London, UK. Dr Jill Stuart is Fellow in Global Politics at the London School of Economics, and reviews editor for the journal Global Policy. She researches law, politics and theory of outer space exploration and exploitation. Her interests extend to the way terrestrial politics and conceptualisations such as how sovereignty is projected into outer space, and how outer space potentially plays a role in reconstituting how those politics and conceptualisations are understood in terrestrial politics. Antígona Segura wanted to be a rumba dancer but she was born too late. Her fascination with the skies and for the living world took her to pursue a career in astrobiology, the science that studies extraterrestrial life. She was hired by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to work at the Virtual Planetary Laboratory, an astrobiology project by NASA. Currently she is a researcher at the National Institute of Astrobiology and at the Institiute of Nuclear Sciences in Mexico City. She is the President of the Mexican Society of Astrobiology. We Colonised The Moon, the artist duo Hagen Betzwieser (Germany) and Sue Corke (UK), explore an idiosyncratic world view based on popular science, flexible wikipedia knowledge, graphical illustrations and various display formats. Ariel Guzik designs and produces mechanisms and instruments to enquire into the various languages of nature. His output as a musician, draftsman and illustrator has been presented in Mexico and internationally. Guzik is Director of the Laboratorio Plasmaht de Investigación en Resonancia y Expresión de la Naturaleza, Asociación Civil. Nicola Triscott is a cultural producer and writer, specializing in the intersections between art, science, technology and society. She is the founder and Director of The Arts Catalyst, one of the UK’s most distinctive arts organizations, distinguished by ambitious artists’ commissions that experimentally and critically engage with science. Rob La Frenais is the curator of The Arts Catalyst since 1997. Rob La Frenais is a curator and critic who has curated and produced interdisciplinary and visual art projects since 1987. Before joining The Arts Catalyst, he was a freelance curator and organiser working in a European context in various countries. Ale de la Puente is an artist, industrial designer, with MA in Naval Construction she deals with notions of time, memory and space by combining conceptualism with multimedia supports. Ale de la Puente has been actively working and collaborating with scientists from the National Insitute of Astronomy in Mexico where she is developing new work. She is a member of the National System of Art Makers in Mexico. Nelly Ben Hayoun considers ‘Surreal Interactions’ and proposes how we could embed creativity in our daily lives. With creations like The Soyuz Chair, Royal College of Art Design Interactions MA graduate, Nelly explores the possibilities of space tourism, weightlessness and the thrill of the unknown. Dr Julieta Fierro is Fellow at the Astronomy Institute at UNAM in Mexico. Dr Fierro has been awarded numerous prizes for her outstanding work in space outreach and public engagement of science in Mexico. She has written more than 40 books and texts about astronomy and her research with a focus on interstellar matter and the Solar System. Ulrike Kubatta will introduce her film She Should Have Gone To The Moon and will talk about the process of making it. The film documents Jerri Truhill's remarkable story of as a wife, mother and aviator, and her part in Mercury 13 to become one of the first women to be trained by NASA to go into space. The film is about Jerri Truhill's ambition to conquer the unknown and the Kubatta's fascination with a woman who dared to break down all barriers in aviation. Set against the historical background of the Space Race, the documentary both constructs an intimate portrait of Truhill and explores a unique chapter in American culture and society. Juan José Díaz Infante's Ulises is a nanosatellite being launched next year, conceptualised and developed by a Mexican group of artists called The Mexican Space Collective. Ulises is born out of the necessity of creation of parallel and alternate reality, explores the need of any citizen on Earth to be able to shape any future he wants not being dependant on the system. Lyn Hagan is an artist and founding director of LifeInSpace. Her work principally tries to negotiate and transcend established ideas of theatricality and aesthetics. Hagan is currently developing a project with the European Space Agency for the next ExoMars Rover mission. Her suggestion is to choreograph a dance for the robot on Mars for when the scientific mission is over using its autonomous navigation system. KOSMICA in Mexico has been made possible thanks to the support of the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA), Mexico through Laboratorio Arte Alameda. KOSMICA is endorsed by ITACCUS, the International Astronautical Federation's Committee on the Cultural Utilisation of Space. PRESS CONTACTS UK Jo Fells [email protected] Head of Marketing, The Arts Catalyst 50-54 Clerkenwell Road London EC1M 5PS www.artscatalyst.org +44 (0) 20 7251 8567 MEXICO Gabriela Romero [email protected] Head of Marketing, Laboratorio Arte Alameda Colón 5, Centro Histórico Mexico City, Mexico C.P. 06050 www.artealameda.bellasartes.gob.mx +52 55102793 / +52 55122079 NOTES TO EDITORS 1. 27th – 29th September Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico City. For more information visit www.kosmicamx.com 2. The Arts Catalyst commissions contemporary art that experimentally and critically engages with science. It produces provocative, playful, risk- taking artists' projects to spark dynamic conversations about our changing world and seeks new ways to involve artists, scientists and the wider public in a discourse about the impact of science in society. The Arts Catalyst, 50-54 Clerkenwell Road, London EC1M 5PS, UK www.artscatalyst.org 3. Laboratorio Arte Alameda promotes reflection and exchange of ideas between the different audiences and the electronic media art community in Mexico and worldwide, reinforcing cooperation links between learning institutions (both public and private), ministries of culture, governmental institutions in charge of science and technology, local and international cultural associations, and films and video festivals, among others. www.artealameda.bellasartes.gob.mx .