SPARK: Creative processes in the arts and sciences | Opening of the photo exhibition Discoverers

Improvisation is a skill most often associated with music or theater, but it also plays a significant role in our daily lives, from minor moments to major challenges! In this special edition of SPARK – a regular series at the Max Delbrück Center – for Berlin Science Week 2024, researchers and artists explore common ground and share how improvisation helps them navigate unforeseen obstacles, tackle creative problems, and generate fresh ideas that might lead to surprising discoveries. 

In the first half of the evening, master jazz vibraphonist David Friedman demonstrates the art of musical improvisation, joined by SPARK co-director SooJin Anjou at the piano in music by Händel, Gershwin, Monk, as well as Friedman himself. 

In the second half of the evening, the panel discussion will include the musicians, photographer Pablo Castagnola as well as two scientists from the Max Delbrück Center whose portraits are featured in the exhibition “Discoverers”: SPARK co-director Nikolaus Rajewsky and Michela Di Virgilio. 

The get-together will double as a vernissage: a first chance to see the entire exhibition and to be intrigued by Castagnola’s craftsmanship that captures the different personalities behind the discoveries for tomorrow’s medicine.