About the commission

This project repositions science as a culturally embedded process shaped by social history, power, and omission. Through creative engagement with historical objects and narratives, the selected artist will engage with the history of scientific canon and explore alternative voices and contributions through an artistic response.

This commission invites an artist to create a large-scale installation for the Grand Gallery at the National Museum of Scotland as part of the Edinburgh Science Festival 2026, reaching up to 60,000 visitors. The artist will have further opportunities to talk about their work at the Wellcome Collection (London), the El Aleph Festival (Mexico City) and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival.

The artist will receive research support, curatorial mentorship, and production funding to realise new works for public display during Edinburgh Science Festival 2026. The artist will have support to spend up to 10 days undertaking research at Wellcome Collection, with support from the Research & Enquiry team, and sharing their work with an invited internal audience.

Project themes

Rethinking Scientific Histories is an artistic commission that brings together contemporary sculpture with critical reflections on science’s cultural legacy. This project invites artists to explore how science has been communicated, preserved and politicised – and to give physical form to the stories that shape our understanding of knowledge and discovery.

By engaging with scientific artefacts such as historical instruments and archival documents, the selected artist will reinterpret and respond to how science has been shaped by power, exclusion, innovation, and culture. This is a call to rethink science’s stories and reframe who gets to be remembered.

Commissioned by Edinburgh Science, Edinburgh Art Festival and Scottish International Storytelling Festival, and developed with support from Creative Scotland through the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund