“Creativity and the power of the imagination are the essence of what it is to be human. Making powerful, creative and imaginative projects happen is what I do."
One of my landmark projects is initiating, devising, curating, fundraising for and directing for 5 years the Arts at Cern programme, in Geneva, Switzerland — the Collide (International and Swiss) residencies, Accelerate research and Visiting Artists now called Guest Artists programmes.
Read how Arts at Cern happened here.
Creating, producing and curating new international projects and exhibitions is still an important part of my work. It involves thinking creatively, brokering partnerships and funding to make them happen. I also work with individual artists to help them take their careers to the next level.
Below are some latest projects.
Witness - First Art Commission of the Earth Water Sky residency programme
'Witness' by the artist Emma Critchley is the first production from the envionrmental art and science residency programme I created, curate and produce at Science Gallery Venice, Ca' Foscari,University of Venice, Italy.
Emma won the first open call, coming to Venice in 2019 to work with the scientific partner I selected for the open call, Professor Carlo Barbante and his team working on the Ice Memory project.
Emma's resulting piece from her two months research was the result of collaboration with partnerships which I brokered - Y 40 - at that time the world's deepst diving pool outside Padua; Centro per la Scena Contemporanea di Bassano del Grappa (CSC) and Operaestate Festival; Keldan Lights; Esprit Film Productios; Make Move Think and Lukas Timulak.
The piece achieved its world premiere at the official Italian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale July 24th 2021 when I was invited to be one of the Creative Directors of CityXVenice - the virtual Italian Pavilion.
Invited Venice Bienale 2021 Creative Director to the Official Italian Pavilion,
CityX Venice May-November 2021
I have been invited to be one of the Creative Directors of the Official Italian Virtual Pavilion. City X, curated by Tom Kovac, RMIT University and @Alessandro Melis Portsmouth University titled CITYX Venice responds to ‘How will we live together’ curated by Hashim Sarkis MIT, organized by La Biennale di Venezia. The exhibition opens Saturday 22 May at 10.00 am CET. @CityXVenice #italianvirtualpavillion #ivp2021
Developing the Hybrid Residency in the COVID era in Venice
Second Year of the Earth Water Sky Environmental Arts and Science Programme
2020
In the Covid era, place has become virtual and immediately local. So I have made and adapted Science Gallery Venice's Earth Water Sky environmental arts and science two month residency as a hybrid. It is both a virtual and physical residency, with one month digital, one month physical (when conditions allow) with the public being able to track and contribute to the process of artistic research by the second artist in residence, Haseeb Ahmed, who's investigating the wind, on his special website which is updated weekly.
Earth Water Sky at Science Gallery Venice is fully funded by Didier and Martine Primat Foundation
Invited Curator
Nordic Photography Triennale 2020
Related Realities
The Nordic Photography Triennale, Backlight2020 went ahead despite COVID September 4 – November 8, 2020 in Tampere, Finland. In addition to exhibitions, screenings and installations, the festival features lectures and seminars on photography, science and new technologies, as well as portfolio reviews.
I am one of the curators, together with the Finnish artist Maija Tammi, photography curator Lars Willumeit, and Director of Backlight Hannu Vanhane.
We have sifted through thousands of photographs in the past 8 months and selected 23 international artists on the theme of Related Realities. We also published a catalogue too. Go to Writing for my essay about Physics, Photography, Einstein and Light
Related Realities exhibition opened at the Gallery Himmelblau, Tampere, Finland on 5.9. – 31.10.2020
Real Feelings: Emotion and Technology HeK, Basel, Switzerland
August 26 2020-November 15 2020 and MU Eindhoven May-September 2021
Emotions are the core of human experience. The international group exhibition Real Feelings opening at HeK, Basel, Switzerland August 26th 2020 explores the rapidly changing relationship between technology and emotions. For over a year, I have been working with Sabine Himmelsbach Director of HeK and Angelique Spaninks, Director of MU, to create this exhibition and the accompanying catalogue. The works of the 20 artists presented in the exhibition enquire and
show how technology today represents, manipulates and changes our emotions.
The exhibition opens at MY Hybrid Space, Eindhoven May-September 2021
Artists: Antoine Catala (FR), Stine Deja & Marie Munk (DK), Heather Dewey-Hagborg (US), Justine Emard (FR), Cécile B. Evans (UK), Ed Fornieles (UK), Maria Guta & Adrian Ganea (CH/RO), Esther Hunziker (CH), Seokyung Kim (KR), Clément Lambelet (CH), Lorem (IT), Kyle McDonald & Lauren McCarthy (US), Simone C. Niquille (CH), Dani Ploeger (NL), Lucy McRae (AU), Shinseungback Kimyonghun (KR), Maija Tammi (FI), Troika (UK), Coralie Vogelaar (NL), Liam Young (AU)
Curators: Sabine Himmelsbach, Ariane Koek und Angelique Spaninks
Entangle — Physics and the Artistic Imagination
Curator: Ariane Koek
Black holes, dark matter, gravity, space, time and motion - these are phenomena that fascinate scientists and artists alike. The exhibition Entangle — Physics and the Artistic Imagination at Bildmuseet, Umea Sweden features 14 international artists who use physics as jumping off points of their imaginations.
The artists include Iris van Herpen, Julius von Bismarck, Goshka Macuga, Ryoji Ikeda, Sarah Sze, Davide Quayola, Julien Charriere and Keith Tyson, with two new commissions.
The exhibition presents painting, installation, fashion, architecture, sculpture, film, digital artwork and photography that are inspired by the science which reveals the fundamental forces that shape our world.
Primal Sonic Visions — Bill Fontana
Venice Architecture Biennale 2018
I initiated Primal Sonic Visions by the internationally acclaimed artist Bill Fontana coming to the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018. To do this, I brokered the new relationships, including the funding, exhibition space, and production between IRENA (the International Renewable Energy Agency who originally commissioned the work) Ca Foscari University of Venice, Science Gallery Venice, the Italian production company Arthemisia and the artist.
The exhibition shows the beauty and power of nature and renewable energy sources through sound and vision captured by Bill Fontana. It was first shown in Abu Dhabi, UAE January 2018.
Shadow Soundings — Bill Fontana
MAAT (Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology) Lisbon, Portugal.
Initiating Creative & Producer: Ariane Koek
The moment I heard the sounds under the iconic Ponte 25 d'Abril bridge in Lisbon, I rang up the international artist Bill Fontana and said he had to make a piece based on it. I then made it happen — working on the budget and pitch, introducing him to MAAT director Pedro Gadhano.
Bill Fontana considers this his masterwork.
I wrote about Primal Sonic Visions for the exhibition here
Bill Fontana considers Shadow Soundings his masterwork.
My career has involved working directly with over 500 inspiring artists, designers, thinkers, musicians, scientists and choreographers at different stages of their careers and creative journeys. This was done in a career spanning the BBC, the Arvon Foundation and Arts at Cern.
These include include creatives and thinkers such as — Anselm Kiefer, Iris van Herpen, Pipilotti Rist, Frank Stella, Anthony Minghella, Esa Pekka Salonen, Goshka Macuga, William Forsythe, Daniel Libeskind, Mitsuko Kaku and Wolfgang Tillmans.
Arts at Cern alone involved working with over 78 different artists, curating their encounters with scientists. These curated encounters at Cern led to the creation of many projects including the ones below.
This won the Grand Jury prize for the European Commissions’ the first STARTS award in 2016 for art and technology.
The dance/installation collaboration between choreographer Gilles Jobin and Julius von Bismarck which world premiered at CERN 2013, won the Hermes International Award which included premieres in New York and Paris and has been touring internationally ever since.
The multi award winning opera-dance film directed by Ruben Van Leer with choreography by Lukacs Timulak
A series of public talks and transmissions between artists and CERN scientists on the subject of Movement, Time and Matter
