Infusoria

26 September – 6 November 2026
Artlink Corridor Gallery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford

From hospital sinks to BioArt: our microbiology research inspires new exhibition Infusoria

What does the microbial world of a hospital sink look like when viewed not only through the lens of microbiology, but through art?

Research from Modernising Medical Microbiology (MMM) at the University of Oxford is taking an unusual journey out of the laboratory this autumn, becoming the inspiration and even the material for a new art exhibition at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

From 26 September to 6 November 2026, internationally acclaimed BioArtist Anna Dumitriu, MMM’s Artist-in-Residence, will present Infusoria: an exhibition featuring new artworks developed through her collaboration with our researchers.

The exhibition takes place during the Oxford Science + Ideas Festival and brings together microbiology, antimicrobial resistance, healthcare environments and art.

An artist in our microbiology labs

Anna Dumitriu is a pioneer of the BioArt movement whose work explores our relationship with infectious disease, microbiology and biotechnology.

Her practice is particularly unusual because she doesn’t simply make art about science. She works directly with scientists, laboratory techniques and biomaterials – including bacteria and DNA – to develop her work.

As Artist-in-Residence with Modernising Medical Microbiology, Anna has been working alongside our researchers to explore some of the questions being investigated across MMM and to find new ways of engaging people with the microbial world.

The resulting artworks provide a very different perspective on research that would normally be encountered through scientific papers, laboratory experiments and data.

The hidden microbiology of hospital sinks

A major strand of the new work in Infusoria has grown from research by MMM team members Nicole Stoesser, Kev Chau and Aoife Kearney into sinks and wastewater environments in healthcare.

A hospital sink might seem an unlikely starting point for an artwork – but microbiologically, it is a fascinating environment.

Sinks, drains and wastewater systems contain complex microbial communities and can provide environments in which antimicrobial-resistant organisms survive and interact.

Through her residency, Anna has explored this research both in the laboratory and in her studio, developing new works concerned with the health and fragility of water microbiomes and the microorganisms living within these environments.

Some of the resulting artworks even incorporate sterilised antibiotic-resistant bacteria, transforming materials associated with microbiological research into part of the artwork itself.

Greening the lab

Infusoria also explores another increasingly important question for science: how can laboratory research become more sustainable?

Some of the works were co-created during “Greening the Lab” workshops involving researchers from the University of Oxford, University of Leeds and Brighton and Sussex Medical School, in the framework of the EU VOICE Project.

Using sustainable and recycled biomaterials, participants explored how the materials and processes of scientific research themselves might be reconsidered through creative practice.

Art, science and our microbial world

Dumitriu’s work often moves between past, present and possible futures.

Her intricate artworks can resemble scientific specimens or historical relics, yet they emerge from contemporary laboratory processes and biotechnology. Through them, stories of contagion and medical history become interwoven with antimicrobial resistance, synthetic biology, genomics and artificial intelligence.

Infusoria offers a different way to encounter microbiology and the microbial worlds that surround us but usually remain unseen. Drawing on current MMM research, the exhibition connects the science taking place in our laboratories with wider questions about antimicrobial resistance, water ecosystems and our changing relationship with microorganisms.

Infusoria: Artworks by Anna Dumitriu
Modernising Medical Microbiology Artist-in-Residence, University of Oxford

📅 26 September – 6 November 2026
📍 Artlink Corridor Gallery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford

Find out more about Anna Dumitriu at annadumitriu.co.uk.

Learn more about Modernising Medical Microbiology and our research here at bashthebug.net.

See all the events on at the Oxford Science + Ideas Festival 2026 here! https://if-oxford.com/events/