Artists' impressions

The recent fuss over one man's ambition to 'make Man in his own image' lends poignancy to Multiplicity, the current exhibition at the Wellcome Trust in London. Timed to coincide with the first anniversary of the arrival of Dolly the cloned sheep, the exhibition presents the reactions of 24 artists to cloning and genetic engineering. Some of the pictures, like Dave Roberts' mixed media 'Blueprint' (right) and Heidi Gray's 'Heidi × ϱ' (above), succeed nicely in translating the issues into images. And Edmund Palao's light-hearted canvas (below) depicts the idea that: " … cloning will result in the eradication of genetic diversity, meaning that everybody in the future will be required to wear the same size shoes. " Dolly's contribution to the display is a collection of droppings that would not look out of place in a Damien Hirst installation, but she does not share her thoughts on cloning. Multiplicity is at the Two10 Gallery in London until 21 March. It continues a series exploring the relationship between medical science and art. For more details, contact the Wellcome Trust (Tel: + 44 (0)171 611 7211). What is it famous for? It's well known in Japan as the second oldest national university (the first being Tokyo). You might expect that this would make it several hundred years old, but in fact it has only just celebrated its centenary; it was founded on 18 June 1897. (At that time its official name was Kyoto Imperial University, reflecting the primacy of the emperor in the Meiji period.) The Japanese only began to adopt the 'western' model of higher education towards the end of the nineteenth century, when their rulers became less isolationist. So are the old ones always the best? Despite a relatively short history in comparison with other universities around the world, Kyoto is no struggling beginner. Both Kenichi Fukui (Chemistry) and Hideki Yukawa (Physics) are Nobel laureates who worked at the university, and current students seem rightly proud of their predecessors' successes. How is the centenary being celebrated? There is a special seminar series to mark the occasion, but the university has eschewed the grandiose building enterprises of its 'big brother' Tokyo, which built an impressive meeting hall called the Sanjo Kaikan for its centenary in 1977. Kyoto has gone for the low-key approach, and has instead decided to compose a new 'Kyoto University Anthem'. Quite how big a hit this …