There has been an extraordinary participation for the conference “Mathematics as an artistic experience” held on 11 July 2025 in Paris at the Hermite Amphitheatre of the Henri Poincaré Institute, and organised by the Grothendieck Institute in collaboration with the IHP and the MICS Laboratory of Centrale Supélec (Paris-Saclay University).
Speakers at the conference included Charles Alunni, Coordinator of the Centre for Grothendieckian Studies (CSG) of the Grothendieck Institute, Olivia Caramello, President of the Institute, Mateo Carmona, Archivist of the CSG, and Francesco La Mantia, philosopher of language at the University of Palermo.
The presentations were followed by a round-table discussion, which offered a brilliant exchange of ideas on the deep links between mathematics and art. The debate generated a fertile ground for reflection, in which diverse themes were harmoniously interwoven, from the role of arrows in Saunders Mac Lane’s thinking to Paul Klee’s conception of the point, from Godfrey Hardy’s aesthetic vision to the diagrams and drawings in Alexander Grothendieck’s manuscripts.
The centrality of visual representations — diagrammatic, symbolic and schematic — stood out with particular intensity, not only for the construction and development of mathematical thought, but also as privileged tools for stimulating dialogue between different disciplines.
The day was enhanced by the opening of an exhibition by artist Dominique Lepetz, a former student of Alexander Grothendieck, who was present at the event with a selection of works inspired by mathematical thought.
The artist also took part in the round table discussion, sharing his own path and the role of mathematics in his artistic production. The exhibition will be open until 25 July 2025, during the opening hours of the Henri Poincaré Institute, with free entrance.
The event ended with a cocktail reception, which encouraged the exchange of ideas among participants and provided an opportunity to continue the discussion in an informal setting.
Videos of the conference are available on the Grothendieck Institute’s YouTube channel and in the Henri Poincaré Institute’s audiovisual library Carmin.tv.
The slides used in the conference are available here:
Charles Alunni: “Ars diagrammaticae. De la mathématique à l’esthétique et retour”
Francesco La Mantia: “Métamorphoses du point – Klee avec Châtelet“
Mateo Carmona: “The Grothendieckian Approach: Between Unity, Expression and Form”
Presentation of the round table
We would like to thank all the people and institutions that contributed to the organisation of this event, in particular the heirs of Alexander Grothendieck and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France for kindly allowing us to reproduce manuscripts from the Fonds Grothendieck of the BnF during the conference.
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