Fans of Dutch designer Iris Van Herpen will remember how she got inspired for her S/S 2015 collection by her visit at CERN, the Switzerland-based European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva.
Since 2011 CERN has been organising a series of projects under the Arts at CERN umbrella. This science programme that we often mentioned in previous posts is dedicated to the promotion of a dialogue between artists and scientists. At present the organisation is offering a fully funded 3-months residency at CERN for its Collide project (you can find further info here; deadline to apply: Friday 15th December).
The project allows artists to discover the world of particle physics. The residency is open to artists born or residing in Geneva, working in the field of performance, engaging in an innovative discourse and inspired by scientific ideas, technology and new knowledge as expressed by CERN.
A while back CERN also launched the Collide International Award: started as a partnership with Ars Electronica, last year it was relaunched in collaboration with The Foundation for Arts and Creative Technology (FACT) in Liverpool, UK. The winner of the Collide International Award 2017 was hrm199, a studio platform founded in 2004 by artist Haroon Mirza, for a collaborative project with London-based visual and sound artist Jack Jelfs.
There are further projects organised by CERN including Accelerate a one-month artists residency award (funded by two countries; the awards are made following open calls in each country) for artists who have never spent time in a science laboratory before.
Besides, it is still possible to visit CERN as Guest Artists thanks to a dedicated programme initiated in 2016 that only allows a short period visit, but guarantees an interdisciplinary approach combining arty disciplines with physics, chemistry and science. Creatives from different countries visited CERN thanks to this programme, including artist Julieta Aranda, writer James Bridle, musician and composer Pascal Dusapin and digital songwriter, electronic musician, sound artist, composer, poet and curator Antye Greie-Ripatti, the Collide Honorary Mention for 2015.
Hopefully CERN will launch more programmes dedicated to international artists in future or start a parallel project dedicated to other creative minds including fashion designers and textile artists. If science is an endless frontier for scientists, it will also be an endless source of inspiration for creatives.
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