“Mind the STEM Gap - Together” (30 June - 29 October 2023 at CDI-Centro Diagnostico Italiano, No 20 Via Sant Bon, Milan) is an exhibition of works produced by 150 students of both sexes participating in the “Mind the STEM Gap” Manifesto, an initiative run by Fondazione Bracco to encourage girls and women to transcend sexist stereotypes by entering and prospering in the world of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Conceived and curated by Fondazione Bracco with the collaboration of Politecnico di Milano [university] and its non-profit arm, Fondazione Politecnico di Milano, the initiative has received support from the Government of the Region of Lombardy, which issued a call for projects under the title “Together” with the aim of engaging schoolchildren from the region in the important issue of gender equality and promoting an project that could capture the interest of the general public. The participating high schools and technical colleges were Liceo Artistico Nanni Valentini (Monza), Istituto Tecnico F. Viganò (Merate), ITSOS Albe Steiner (Milan), and Istituto Einstein (Vimercate).
The main themes touched upon by the students in their collaborative projects were gender stereotypes, role models and good practices.
Students from three of the four participating schools designed and produced more than 130 posters dedicated to the theme, some of which have been included in the exhibition.
DIGITAL EXHIBITION: Meanwhile, students from the fourth high school, Istituto Einstein of Vimercate, designed virtual spaces to host a digital version of the entire exhibition, which goes online in September 2023.
This eclectic, colourful and thought-provoking gallery of works presents original interpretations of gender discrimination and its social repercussions, and reminds us that building a fair society and inculcating a sense of collective responsibility requires us to make a great leap forward (minding the gap as we do so!)
This is part of a cycle of exhibitions dreamt up and made real by Fondazione Bracco in collaboration with Centro Diagnostico Italiano (CDI), a diagnostics centre belonging to the Bracco Group that hosts the exhibitions at its headquarters on Via Saint Bon in Milan. Fondazione Bracco began staging exhibitions of this sort in 2010 with a twofold purpose: First, to present a straightforward visual narrative to accompany and exalt Fondazione Bracco’s major cultural and educational initiatives; second, to give the medical and paramedical staff of CDI, as well as the more than 2,000 daily visitors to the centre, the opportunity to enjoy a new cultural experience, not just for its own sake but also because, as has been scientifically demonstrated, the presence of art and culture significantly improves life quality and the sense of well-being.
