The Founders and Background
The origin of the Rrosa Institute lies in the architectural, cultural, historic and geographic idiosyncrasies of Sicily and of the city of Palermo that Dr phil. Silvia Wyder (in 2016), and later Dr phil. Michael Doser discovered and the impact it had on them. The island is characterized by an extremely rich history, manifested through a wide spectrum of cultural and ethnic ancestries that came through Sicily, leaving their multi-layered traces, be it in the arts, architecture, the people themselves, or the food, spanning far beyond the Mediterranean Sea.
This richness could, in the founders’ vision, be mirrored also within academic, scientific and artistic approaches, which calls for an approach to embrace the notion of complexity and multi-disciplinarity as a fundamental stance. The motivation for creating this centre is thus grounded in the conviction that an inter-, trans-disciplinary and intercultural discourse is of crucial importance, especially in current times. Under 'discourse' we understand various artistic, philosophical, ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ scientific research and practices, which are carried out and fostered by persons coming from various countries, cultures, ethnicities, and professional backgrounds who share a curiosity and willingness to interact, express and share their research and practice within a wider community.
This approach mirrors that of the founders, who have given public presentations in Alanus Hochschule, Bauhaus or for the AVL cultural foundation on a shared topic (e.g. 'the role of drawing in art and science' or 'invisibility') in form of a dialogue of complementary views based on their respective backgrounds, the inspiration for the interdisciplinary conference format of Rrosa Institute.
Cultural studies, art therapy, contemporary art and architecture constitute major parts of Dr phil. Silvia Wyder's expertise, while Dr phil. Michael Doser has a background in experimental particle physics, antimatter and quantum sensing. Both are driven by a common passion for curiosity, science and contemporary art.
