The International Rare Disease Day this year is highlighting the power of people coming together, the importance of social care and of kinship when faced with rare disease diagnosis. In the last week of our Black Box cinema we’re exploring the power of kinship.

What connects us? How do we relate to the world around us? Is kinship more than family?

The 5th edition of our flagship Genetics Matters event took place in our Institute on the 23rd of February. The event was very well attended, the presentations sparked lively and interesting discussions and we had a special reel showing in our Black Box.

Thank you all for coming on a sunny Saturday afternoon (and a match day!) to celebrate genetic research in Newcastle and to raise awareness of rare disease and the need for rare disease research.

Thank you very much for the wonderful afternoon, it helped me a lot with deciding academic science and researches’ role in the practice of Medicine – participant

The format was very good and the cakes very moreish!! The Pop Up cinema was an excellent idea. – participant

The 2 talks I heard [..] were both absolutely outstanding and interesting for me to hear as a researcher and clinician. – presenter

For the Genetics Matters reel, please click here: https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/blackbox/2019/02/23/genetics-matters-special-black-box-reel/

Does identity begin with the body? What role does science play in understanding who we are? ​It’s IDENTITY week in our Black Box pop-up cinema, with films about relationships between mind, body and society in exploring who we are.

Limbs that grow back. Bacteria that eat plastic. Robot pills. Ceramics in our bones. It’s LIFE week (11-15th February) in our pop-up Black Box cinema and we explore how life emerges from raw materials and how artists and scientists work with life as a material.

Full programme here: https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/blackbox/futures-4th-8th-february-2019-10am-530pm/ and here https://cnos.org.uk/blackbox

After a weekend of building and painting, our cinema is finally in at the IGM foyer. Please bear with us today as we sort out last glitches, we should be ready to start this afternoon!

Full programme here: cnos.org.uk/blackbox and here: blogs.ncl.ac.uk/blackbox

What do advances in genetics mean for the future of humanity and other species? How is genetics changing medicine? What do we mean by biotechnology? What possible genetic futures can we imagine?

Black Box is a joint project by The Cultural Negotiation of Science (CNoS) at Northumbria University and the Institute of Genetic Medicine (IGM) at Newcastle University. Opening the door on the inner workings of genetic research, Black Box is a FREE pop-up cinema located in the IGM West Wing foyer showing a programme of creative film works inspired by and expanding upon genetic themes.

The Black Box  pop-up cinema will feature 4 themed weeks, each screening a short (60-90min) reel of 5-10min movies. The themes have been inspired by the issues and topics in genetic research and are: FUTURE/IDENTITY/LIFE and KINSHIP

[for more informaiton and detailed programme, please click here]