Buy a sculpture – become a supporter!

The 10 brain sculptures are on sale! Half of the revenues will go to the artists, while the other half will support a research project in the field of neurodegenerative diseases.

Here below you will find more details about the sale, the sculpture and the research project that will be funded.

More details about the sale

  • Price per sculpture: 8,000 €
  • The sculptures will be on sale for the duration of the exhibition (15 September – 6 October)
  • Pre-sales are already possible by e-mail.
  • Photos of the finished brain sculptures will be available to interested buyers in the first week of September
  • The transportation to the buyer within Luxembourg is included

About the sculpture

Each sculpture is representing a giant human brain in a contemporary design.

  • Material of the brain: fire and weatherproof fiberglass
  • Dimensions of a concrete base: 2 x 1.5 meters
  • Total height of the sculpture: about 2 meters (base plus brain)
  • Total weight: about 1,600 kilogrammes
3d miniature brain with measurements

Fundraising for research

Half of the revenue from the sale will fund a research project in the field of neurodegenerative disease. The project, led by Prof. Enrico Glaab, is called “Systems-level investigation of early molecular changes in Parkinson’s disease using miniaturized three-dimensional human midbrain models” and focuses on studying early cellular changes in Parkinson’s disease. It aims to discover biomarkers that will help to diagnose the disease already in the early, pre-symptomatic stage and to find new candidate drugs targets.

Despite recent discoveries of causative mutations and genetic risk factors in Parkinson’s disease, the exact causes of the disease are still unknown and a cure has not been found yet. Current therapies only focus on alleviating some of the symptoms caused by the disease.

To better understand the changes that happen at the beginning of the disease, the researchers will develop miniaturised three-dimensional cell cultures that represent the human midbrain, the part of the brain that is affected in Parkinson’s disease. These cell cultures (also called organoids) will carry gene mutations known to cause familial forms of Parkinson’s disease and hence form a model for Parkinson’s disease. Using a combination of experiments in organoids and computational modelling, the scientists will study early cellular changes in the disease, focusing on the gene activity. Their work could lead to earlier diagnosis and new therapies.