A Mathematical ‘Fever Dream’ Hits the Road

Dr. Daubechies plans to bake pi cookies to celebrate Pi Day, which is this Friday, March 14 — 3/14. That day is also the International Day of Mathematics; the theme in 2025 is mathematics, art and creativity. For the occasion, this year Dr. Daubechies is visiting the University of Quebec in Montreal, where she will offer special tours of “Mathemalchemy,” a traveling multimedia math-meets-art installation that has been her constant passion (some might say obsession) for the last five years. She will also give a public talk on “Mathematics to the Rescue of Art Curators.” The exhibition — a 360-degree diorama of sorts, 20 feet long, 10 feet wide and nine and a half feet high — was created in collaboration with Dominique Ehrmann, a fiber sculptor from Quebec, and a team of 24 artistic mathematicians and mathematical artists. It debuted in 2022 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., and has made several stops since.