Arts at CERN and Nobel Prize Museum Announce the Collide Stockholm International Residency Award Recipient and Two Honorary Mentions

Why It Matters

The award highlights how leading scientific institutions are using art to interpret complex research, expanding public engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Key Takeaways

• 908 applications from 89 countries for Collide Stockholm residency.
• Emilija Škarnulytė to create “Memory of the Unseen” at CERN.
• Residency bridges particle physics infrastructure with cultural storytelling.
• Honorary mentions recognize tech‑history and transcultural digital art.
• Partnership deepens CERN’s outreach through immersive artistic practice.

Pulse Analysis

Arts at CERN’s Collide program, launched in 2025, pairs the world’s premier particle‑physics laboratory with cultural institutions to explore how fundamental science shapes society. The latest edition, Collide Stockholm, was co‑curated with the Nobel Prize Museum and drew an unprecedented 908 proposals from artists in 89 nations, reflecting a global appetite for interdisciplinary dialogue. By inviting creators into the laboratory and museum spaces, the residency aims to translate abstract concepts—such as particle decay and quantum uncertainty—into tangible cultural experiences that resonate beyond academic circles.

The award‑winning artist, Emilija Škarnulytė, will develop a project titled “Memory of the Unseen.” Her practice interrogates the thresholds between the visible and invisible, employing 3D scans, speculative visuals, and immersive sound to render detector caverns, magnetic tunnels, and data‑processing systems perceptible. During her month at CERN, she will collaborate with physicists to explore event reconstruction and detector sensitivity, then shift to the Nobel Prize Museum to investigate how scientific narratives are archived and exhibited. This two‑phase approach fuses technical inquiry with artistic speculation, offering audiences a sensory entry point into the complexities of high‑energy research.

Beyond the individual artwork, the residency signals a broader shift in science communication strategy. By embedding artists within research environments, CERN and the Nobel Museum are cultivating new storytelling tools that can demystify cutting‑edge physics for the public and policymakers alike. The honorary mentions awarded to Morehshin Allahyari and Wendi Yan further illustrate the program’s commitment to diverse perspectives on technology, history, and digital culture. As more institutions adopt similar models, the convergence of art and science is poised to become a cornerstone of cultural policy, funding decisions, and educational outreach worldwide.