Art married science

In 2020 as cultural institutions shut their doors and the collective appreciation for art slowly dried up with restrictions imposed on public gatherings people sought comfort in solitary creative pursuits One of the important and continuing conversations of the year on social media and elsewhere has centred around how art has come to our rescue in a moment of extreme distressThis year in 2021 the dominant conversation veered towards the COVID19 vaccine All its attendant complications and shortages notwithstanding the idea of artrsquos enduring importance seems to have been literalised in the way spaces traditionally associated with artistry entertainment and popular culture have been transformed into mass vaccination centresHerersquos our pick of three centres of culture and creativity finding new purpose in a global crisis so beautifully it makes you want to say poke me right nowThe 1200seater Audi for inoculation The Helix DublinThe Helix Dublin PicWikipediaOwned by and situated on the Dublin City University campus the Helix is a multipurpose space hosting addresses by Nobel Laureates stage productions art exhibitions and TV filming and recordings The Health Service Executive in Ireland approached the university about using the venue and one of its theatres a 1200seater was turned into a vaccination hub with its adjoining foyer areas allocated as the 15minute postvaccination recovery area Inoculations began midFebruary and the venue is presently in use every day with close to 2500 vaccinations taking place with immediate plans to increase inoculations to 4500 per day ldquoThe overwhelming response and reaction from patrons university staff and the wider general public has been incredibly positiverdquo says Michael Brady general manager of The HelixInoculations taking place at its 1200seater auditorium which was turned into a mass vaccination centre Pic courtesyJulien BehalShots at dracula castle Bran Castle TransylvaniaBran Castle TransylvaniaPopularly known as Dracularsquos Castle this fortress is a landmark in Transylvania with guided tours taking visitors through its museum which houses traditional agricultural machinery as well as art and furniture collected by Queen Marie of Romania About a month ago the Medieval Customs House located just beneath the castle was offered up as a vaccination site ldquoWe saw our prime minister in the news expressing the intention of opening vaccination marathons and centres in private venues and that was the clickrdquo says Alexandru Priscu from the castlersquos marketing team Operating on the weekends until the end of June the centre has eight dedicated rooms which includes spaces for waiting vaccination medical observation and emergencies and administers up to 120 shots per day ldquoThe main idea was not to cover thousands of vaccines daily but to raise awareness and willingness in the public and to set a trend into opening such projects in other locations such as cinemas shopping centres and football stadiumsrdquo says PriscuCitizens are being given their shots at the Medieval Customs House just beneath the castle Pics courtesyBran CastleUnder a towering installation The Pirelli HangarBicocca MilanThe vaccination hub inside the Pirelli HangarBicocca gallery in Milan where the monumental artwork The Seven Heavenly Palaces 20042015 is exhibited Pic courtesy Pirelli Hangarbicocca Milan Photo Lorenzo PalmieriFormerly an industrial plant in the Italian fashion hub of Milan the Pirelli HangarBicocca established in 2004 is one of the largest contiguous exhibition spaces in Europe It presents major solo shows by Italian and other international artists conceived specifically to work in tandem with its architecture It has three exhibition spaces whose original 20thcentury architectural features are still visible and also includes an area for public services and educational activities Currently on view at the Pirelli HangarBicocca are the exhibitions Shortcircuits devoted to Chen Zhen one of the leading figures of contemporary art and Digital Mourning devoted to FrenchAlgerian artist Neil BeloufaThe Pirelli also permanently houses one of German artist Anselm Kieferrsquos most important sitespecific works The Seven Heavenly Palaces 20042015 commissioned for its opening Drawing its name from the palaces described in the ancient Hebrew treatise Sefer Hechalot the installation consists of seven towers of varying heights created from reinforced concrete using the angular construction modules of shipping containersFrom April 26 it is the area around this artwork that has been made available to carry out vaccinations It is open daily and signage guides people to the vaccination boxes even as wall panels inform them about the permanent installation In comparison to the centres in Mumbai the numbers are tiny The centre is administering close to 14000 injections per week and will soon operate at full capacity vaccinating more than 28000 people each week ldquoWe are happy to put the spaces of Pirelli HangarBicocca at the service of the Regional Government of Lombardy and the community to support the COVID19 vaccine campaignrdquo says Marco Tronchetti Provera chairman of Pirelli HangarBicocca ldquoAt this crucial moment in the fight against the pandemic we wanted to contribute making one of our symbolic spaces available to allrdquoMore vax centres worthy of envyWestminster Abbey London In March the NHS opened a vaccination clinic in the south transept of the Abbey which is home to the worldfamous Poetsrsquo Corner where more than 100 poets and writers are buried or have memorials including Geoffrey Chaucer and Edmund SpenserAmerican Museum of Natural History New York City Starting in April people have received their jabs under the famous blue whale sculpture at the museum The whale has a bandage to signify that she too has been ldquovaccinatedrdquoSalisbury Cathedral England Operating till recently as a vaccination hub the 800yearold Anglican cathedral houses the worldrsquos oldest clock tower Organists played hymns and classical pieces by Bach Mozart and Handel to help people relax as they received their jabs