The project has been commissioned by the Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charité and funded by the Schering Stiftung, Berlin. Running simultaneously to this exhibition the Schering Stiftung is showing the exhibition Hand Held Lava at their own Project Room, featuring IlanaHalperin’s exploration of volcanic phenomena. Additional support has been provided by Creative Scotland, British Council and Blue Lagoon, Iceland.

Halperin’s creative output focuses upon geological activity and phenomena in an engagement with our understanding of time. Her approach combines fieldwork in diverse locations: Hawaii, Iceland, France, China, in museums, archives and laboratories. Her art practice also develops in collaboration with geological specialists such as The Global Volcanism Program, British Geological Survey and Earthwatch Institute.

Her work has featured in many significant exhibitions including Volcano at Compton Verney, 2010; Estratos curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, 2008; Sharjah Biennial 8, 2007 and Experimental Geography curated by Nato Thompson, 2008 – 2011. She has been the recipient of numerous awards including a Creative Scotland Artist Award; a British Council Darwin Now Award and an Alchemy Fellowship, Manchester Museum. She has recently been appointed the first Artist Fellow at the National Museum of Scotland, culminating in a solo exhibition at N.M.S. in the Edinburgh Art Festival summer 2013. She has also been appointed as the Artist-Curator of the geology collection of The Music Hall (the new Shrewsbury Museum) in the town of Charles Darwin’s birth.

Curators:
Sara Barnes (Independent Curator, Berlin), Andrew Patrizio (Professor of Scottish Visual Culture, University of Edinburgh)