Arts at CERN, in collaboration with the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, announced today the Swiss artist, Lou Masduraud and the Indian artist, Shailesh BR as the artists selected for the Connect India dual residency.
Connect is an art residency programme launched by Arts at CERN and Pro Helvetia in 2021, serving as a platform to foster experimentation in art and science by integrating CERN's cutting-edge research with international scientific organisations.
The two artists, Lou Masduraud and Shailesh BR, selected through a board of cultural experts, are invited to a three-week residency at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS) in Bengaluru, followed by a three-week stay at CERN, in Geneva. They will receive support from the curatorial teams from Arts at CERN and ICTS to explore new forms of artistic expression and transform these explorations into art productions.
Shailesh BR is a visual artist based in Delhi NCR, India. His practice explores fundamental aspects of our world by examining existing knowledge, systems, traditions, and philosophical thoughts. Utilising a diverse visual vocabulary, he incorporates methods from science and technology into his artistic interventions, creating drawings, object modifications, and machines.
Lou Masduraud lives and works in Geneva. Through sculpture and installation, Masduraud proposes alternative narratives to dominant realities. Her body of work explores the intricate network of human activities through formal and material investigations of everyday elements such as fountains, basement windows and pipes, both in public and private spaces.
Connect India offers these artists a unique opportunity to engage with cutting-edge fundamental science research in Geneva and Bengaluru. At CERN, physicists and engineers design and use a wide array of experiments in particle physics, while ICTS focuses on theoretical sciences, encompassing fields like physics, mathematics, astronomy, and computational biology.
Connect India marks the second collaboration with ICTS, following successful dual residencies at scientific organisations in Chile and South Africa. Since its launch in 2021, the Connect collaboration between Pro Helvetia and Arts at CERN has hosted seven editions and established itself as a key platform for exchange between artist and scientist communities around the world.
