International Astronomical Union Communicating Astronomy with the Public Oral Presenter

 

Hey stargazers!

I'm happy to announce that I am selected as one of the presenter for IAU's Communicating Astronomy with the Public as the oral presenter. I have been working on the abstract entitled "Interpreting and Popularizing Astronomy to the Public through Arts in Social Media" throughout March and was very surprised to receive this news.

I am proud to share the knowledge that I have about incorporating astronomy in form of arts, especially visual arts among other ASTRONOMICAL presenters across the globe! I have been actively involved in communicating astronomy through arts with local and international public throughout 2021 and proud to finally make an appearance in IAU. This is truly a huge milestone for me after being announced as IAAA's Malaysian artist member and I will definitely do my best for this presentation.

This is the abstract I have submitted for the presentation.

Interpreting and Popularizing Astronomy to the Public through Arts in Social Media

Connecting Astronomy to the individuals who are not involved professionally with the field is truly a challenge, especially adults. Nowadays astronomy is perceived to be an exclusive field of knowledge which only studied by professional astronomers and enjoyed by amateur astronomers. As Astronomy progresses, so does its distance with the society. To bridge astronomy with the public, we must present astronomy in an eye-catching and approachable way. The method is to interpret and popularize Astronomy through work of arts in social media. Based on what I have accomplished as a space artist and a science communicator, I express the astronomical subject through work of arts and explain the science behind my artworks. In communicating Astronomy through artistic works and making it comprehensible for the public, it is important for the artist to produce arts that are meaningful and contain scientific explanation behind them. Astronomy provide a deeper meaning to the artistic work and help the viewer to relate themselves with the universe in a more “human” way.

The existence of social media enhances our opportunity to share the information and news about astronomy. During the pandemic outbreak, humanity has been keeping in touch with each other through the virtual social platform. Art and social media have one thing in common that will assist public engagement with Astronomy; it connects people with the information. Art carries the knowledge in a creative, conspicuous, and stimulating way meanwhile social media platforms spread the knowledge and making it reachable to the public. By utilizing the social media in communicating Astronomy through artistic works, the work of cosmic arts can be spread across the globe and thus popularizing Astronomy in different field.

By popularizing astronomy through arts in social media, I received a lot of respond in interest, especially among adults who wanted to know more about the message and science behind the artworks. They were curious about an artist’s perspective in Astronomy. This also proved that they could pursue their passion in astronomy through any forms and fields. I was invited for talks and live painting sessions while explaining the science behind my arts virtually through social medias, which gained attention from local to international audiences.

Through this effort, the astronomers and artists can work side-by-side to deliver knowledge in such a way which enticed the public to get to know more about our universe. With the world within our fingertips, Astronomy can be ubiquitous in its most attractive form and significant to the public. Through arts, we are humanizing astronomy by interpreting it in humanly perspective to make it relevant to others and social media became the platform to connect and popularize these artistic interpretations of our universe, making it reachable across the globe.