ICFO Partners in Platform Dalí, a Programme Inspired by Dalí’s Vision of Art–Science Dialogue

The Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation announces the creation of Platform Dalí, an international programme aimed at promoting dialogue between artists and scientists. In the words of the president of the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, Jordi Mercader: “The foresight that led Salvador Dalí to explore the relationship between art and science has always sparked admiration for its search for a new humanism. This is the spirit that moves us today to create a programme such as this, ones that invites us to look anew at the opportunities of the present and the challenges of the future in a dierent way.”

Platform Dalí has been created to weave networks of artists and scientists in order to explore new ways of understanding the world through knowledge and imagination. It is directed by Mónica Bello, who led Arts at CERN, the prestigious arts programme of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in Geneva, for the last ten years. According to Bello: “The main aim of Platform Dalí is to establish a stable framework in which art and science can approach the complexity of the world together and invite us to observe it through multiple lenses. At Platform Dalí, dialogue, exchange and experiencing each other’s discipline will be central, as we seek for meaningful points of convergence and intersection. Salvador Dalí’s intense gaze —that unique way he had of contemplating the world— will remain a constant reference and the best ally."

Platform Dalí, based in Barcelona, will foster encounters between art and science in partnership with five of the city’s scientific centres of excellence: the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre–National Supercomputing Centre (BSC-CNS), the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), the Institute of High Energy Physics (IFAE) and the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB).

Starting its activities in 2026, Platform Dalí will promote research, creation and mediation between artists and scientists through an annual programme that will include artist fellowships, residencies, as well as encounters in the laboratories, and public programmes. The partner centres will host and actively participate in these activities, which will explore in a unique way the dialogue between artistic practices and key areas of contemporary science: life sciences, fundamental physics, supercomputing, marine research, and photonics. The resulting works will be presented in an exhibition in 2029 that will highlight the development of the programme and its relationship to Dalí’s vision of science.

These scientific centres, which combine cutting-edge research with a strong social commitment, bring together an international community of over 4,000 scientists engaged in global knowledge networks. Based on this, Platform Dalí will aim to progressively expand the scope of its activities to other cities and centres in Europe and the world, with the purpose of consolidating itself as a leading initiative and contributing to international networks of art and science.

In 2026, Platform Dalí will begin its activities with the first artist fellows and artists-in-residence, including the Mexican artist Tania Candiani, renowned for her work exploring visual, technological and sonic languages; the celebrated Andalusian dancer and choreographer Israel Galván; the Catalan collective Taller Estampa, a reference for their critical engagement with digital technologies and their research on more-than-human environments; and George Mahashe, an artist and academic who explores the relationships between art, science, and knowledge and transmission systems, particularly in the context of South Africa. The remaining three participating artists will be announced in the course of 2026, completing an annual cohort of five residents and two fellows.

The launch event of Platform Dalí took place at La Pedrera, Barcelona, on 2 December 2025. The event opened with remarks by Jordi Mercader, president of the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, followed by a presentation of the programme by Mónica Bello, director of Platform Dalí. Afterwards, Ignacio Cirac, director of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, and Tania Candiani, artist and recipient of the Platform Dalí artist fellowship, discussed the growing interest in programmes that bring together scientific and artistic disciplines, the role of institutions in fostering new models of dialogue and collaboration between science and art.

The event also unveiled the visual identity of Platform Dalí. Created by the Catalan designer Javier Jaén, renowned for his highly symbolic and distinctive visual language, the identity is inspired by the atomic vision of reality that Salvador Dalí explored throughout his career. It stems from the letter "D", which is decomposed into multiple moving spheres to evoke the processes of transformation and fragmentation of matter in an ambiguous, shifting space. The visual identity thus takes on a Dalinian methodology: looking at what is familiar from multiple perspectives, fragmenting it and recomposing it into an expansive symbol capable of generating new ways of seeing and possibilities, in tune with Platform Dalí’s mission.