Geneva– Arts at CERN has announced a new edition of the Collide International award, in partnership with the UK’s leading media arts center, Foundation for Art and Creative Technology(FACT) today. The competition is open to artists of any age and from anywhere in the world whose work reflects on the cultural and social understanding of science and advanced knowledge.

Collide International was created to challenge and transform the way in which encounters between art and science are understood and the influence of science on new methods of artistic expression. The winning artist will benefit from a fully funded residency, the first two months of which will be spent at CERN, Geneva, followed by a one-month stay at FACT in Liverpool.

“Collide has become an influential platform that enriches the cultural dynamics of the Laboratory; it brings together science and art to inspire each other in new creative forms that help to enhance our understanding of the world around us”, says Charlotte Lindberg Warakaulle, CERN Director for International Relations.

Collide offers the winning artist an exclusive opportunity to spend time among scientists and engineers in CERN’s groundbreaking research environment, providing an inspirational place to explore and expand their research in order to find new means of artistic expression. After the CERN residency, FACT, with its collaborative spirit and wide-ranging programme of exhibitions and participant-led art projects, will offer the artist an excellent setting in which to reflect on and contextualise his or her work.

“For the third year running, we are coming together with CERN to give one artist a once-in-a-lifetime chance to explore, research, question and create. We bring art, technology and people together in a think-can-do-tank of immense possibilities between CERN and FACT Liverpool”, says Professor Mike Stubbs, Director of FACT.

“The primary objective of Collide is to open up exceptional opportunities for dialogue and exchange between artists and scientists and to encourage significant connections between both types of creative mind”, affirms Mónica Bello, Head of Arts at CERN.

Guidelines for the international open call have now been released and applications will be accepted here from today until 15 February 2018.