A new project celebrating the history of robots starts on 15 May. The Cambridge Robot Project, which has been organised by members of the University of Cambridge, will combine film, art and theatre to explore both the technology of robots and what they can tell us about what it means to be human.
The robot has become a symbol of modern culture and celebrates its 88th birthday this year. The idea of the ‘man machine’ was invented in 1921 in the play ‘Rossum’s Universal Robots’ by Karel Capek, which featured biological androids created without emotions to serve humans.
The familiar image of the metallic android sprang from other artists and film-makers in the 1920s and 1930s. The Cambridge Robot Project will be re-screening ‘Metropolis’ and more recent classic films about machines, including ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, ‘The Matrix’ and ‘The Terminator’.
One of the highlights of the project’s photographic exhibition will be the chance to see images of Eva, the lifelike bodiless robot head created by a University of Texas student.
Cambridge Robot Project organiser Kathleen Richardson, an anthropologist at the University of Cambridge, says her aim was to explore what humanity means.
The Cambridge Robot Project film festival and art exhibition are on from 15 to 18 May. Performances of ‘Rossum’s Universal Robots’ run from 23 to 26 May. All events will take place at Michaelhouse on Trinity Street, Cambridge. Tickets can be purchased for individual events, but a special two-week festival ticket (£20, £15 concessions) is also available until 15 May.