RETHINK BACTERIA

The Rethink Bacteria initiative aims to visualise the invisible microbial world we live in, to emphasize the importance of bacteria for a livable future.


Art is important to us humans, just like bacteria - we need them both for our existence. Art serves as a kind of intellectual and emotional itching powder to reflect, feel and create relationships.

We need the vital ecosystem of bacteria, around us that keep us all connected and within us. We actually consist of more bacteria than human cells and they are the prerequisite for life. As Sten Niklasson, former Director General of PRV, put it in SvD. "We exist because they let us". We must therefore reconsider the old paradigm and the 'truth' that bacteria are only dangerous. We know today that we need bacteria and other microorganisms for both human and planetary health. The new paradigm is based on the importance of bacteria for a liveable future.

Bacteria are a type of micro-organism, so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. This makes them even more difficult to accept and relate to. But with the help of art, we can visualise and experience bacteria, how they look and sound.

The Rethink Bacteria project is led by RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, with inspiration from the Micropia museum in Amsterdam and initiated from an idea by Pure Effect in 2019. The project is developed by an international interdisciplinary team of scientists, entrepreneurs, and artists.

The core team consists of Linda Nordin, Pure Effect; Mikael Lundblad; Ulla Elofsson and Sofie Alvér, RISE; Lieke Mandemakers and Jasper Buikx, ARTIS- Micropia, Dr. Per Wessman and Maria Pita. Artists involved are Gabriela Torres Ruiz, Mexican/German visual artist based in Berlin, and Jana Winderen, who lives and works in Norway and pays special attention to audio environments.

The interdisciplinary perspectives of, environmental, microbiological, pharmaceutical and health science, ecocentric solutions and innovative product development that can nurture sustainable consumer habits and use, are amalgamated with the visions of artists who use their senses in the production of their work.

With the project "Rethink Bacteria” we aim to plant a seed, raise awareness of the role that each organism and microorganism play in the circle of life, in which the lack of one lead to the imbalance of a whole immense chain. That is, the importance to take care of each small fragment that makes up this planet.