These and other questions will be answered when sixteen eminent scientists, artists, musicians and filmmakers come to Bristol this autumn to explore the parallel creative landscapes of science and art in an exciting series of talks hosted by Bristol University.  The speakers include A.S. Byatt, Jonathan Miller, Robert Winston and Colin Blakemore.

The Creative Brain conversations – this year’s Bristol Art Lecture series – will examine the connection between art and science where hard work, creative approaches and the role of the human imagination are key. 

The Bristol Art Lecture series was established in 1905 prior to the foundation of the University of Bristol.  This year’s series – the 103rd – takes a new direction by engaging with science. 

The speakers have been chosen for their open attitudes to their own and others’ disciplines.  They are:

14 October 2008: Colin Blakemore and Daria Martin, ‘Art and perception: movement and stasis’

4 November 2008:  Jonathan Miller and Richard Gregory, ‘What is looking, exactly?’

10 November 2008: Robert Winston and John Harle, ‘The Saxophonist and the Scientist’

25 November 2008: Semir Zeki and Antonia S Byatt, ‘Neuroesthetics, love and literature’

2 December 2008: Lizzie Burns and Karen Ingham, ‘Art inspired by science’

9 December 2008: Mark Lythgoe and Richard Wentworth, ‘In two minds: Neuroscience of perception and creativity’

15 December 2008: Paul Nurse and Jason Brooks, ‘The power of art and science to understand the world’

17 March 2009: David Puttnam and speakers to be confirmed, ‘Leaning into the Light’.

The events will be variously chaired by Guy Claxton, Professor of the Learning Sciences and Co-Director of the Centre for Real-World Learning at the University of Winchester; Sian Ede, Arts Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and author of ‘Art and Science’; Daniel Glaser, neuroscientist working in public engagement at the Wellcome Trust; and Kathy Sykes, University of Bristol.

The series is co-ordinated by Stafford Lightman, a neuroscientist and Professor of Medicine and Kathy Sykes, Professor of Sciences and Society, both at University of Bristol.

All the lectures take place in the Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, Clifton, Bristol at 6 pm. The lectures are open to all and no prior booking is required.