GENOA WG5 will co-curate an art exhibition during the 7th European Conservation Genetics Meeting in Antwerp, Belgium, bringing together artists and scientists to explore how genetic diversity can be communicated beyond scientific language.
The exhibition, Evolving Narratives, curated by Xiatong Cai, Siyu Gao, and Ivan Vander Biesen, unfolds as a journey from genetic data to public imagination. Artist Simon Martin’s visualization of population structure introduces genetic diversity as a pattern and scientific evidence, while Yi Zhao’s DNA-based practice expands it into questions of identity, society, and human connection. Ivan Vander Biesen’s Basil reflects on growth, transformation, and the timing of conservation across a species’ life cycle.
The exhibition continues with Filipe Martinho, Milene Alexandra Guerreiro, and Ana Ligia Primo’s photographs of fish larvae, revealing the fragile beauty of early life and phylogenetic diversity. Yifei Cheng’s Pseudomorpho explores butterfly co-evolution under human disturbance, while Bowen Wu’s Astrofin connects animal behaviour, sound, technology, and multispecies futures.
The narrative then turns to loss and responsibility. Christine Fitzgerald’s Requiem reflects on extinction and natural history collections, while Zihang Qi’s Pentimento questions whether storing DNA as data can ever replace protecting living species. Finally, Adi Habul’s comics translate conservation genetics into accessible visual storytelling.
Through video works, artist talks, and digital displays, GENOA aims to strengthen dialogue between conservation genetics, contemporary art, and public engagement, highlighting genetic diversity as both a scientific concept and a living cultural reality.
