Arts at CERN

In a series of interviews, Ian Purnell and Kamil Hassim share their experience during their Connect South Africa dual residency at CERN and in the array of astronomy observatories across South Africa

Connect South Africa marked the first dual residency of Connect, the collaboration framework between CERN and the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, aimed at fostering experimentation in the arts in connection with fundamental science. For the 2021–2024 period, the programme invites two artists to complete dual residencies between CERN and partner scientific organisations.

South African artist Kamil Hassim and Swiss artist Ian Purnell delved into the worlds of particle physics and astronomy across two continents. Their shared residency encompassed CERN and the diverse astronomical sites spread across South Africa, concentrated in the vast semidesert expanses of the Northern Cape. These included SARAO’s MeerKAT radio telescope and SAAO’s Southern African Large Telescope (SALT).

In this interview, the artists describe their joint experience during the residency, their thought-provoking encounters with physicists and engineers, and how fundamental physics informs and inspires their practices.

Kamil Hassim

Kamil Hassim is a transdisciplinary artist and musician whose work spans instrument making, video, sculpture, digital art, sound, music, and painting. His practice probes how cultural paradigms shape our understanding of the universe, particularly through the lenses of art, science, and indigenous knowledge systems. During his residency, Hassim sought to forge connections between South African diasporic cosmologies and the cutting-edge scientific research conducted at CERN, SARAO, and SAAO by creating resonant instruments.

In this interview, Hassim reflects on his practice, the valuable spaces created when artists and scientists share common interests, and how the residency at CERN has informed his work.

Ian Purnell

Purnell works across visual arts, documentary filmmaking, and performance. With his residency project, he aims to explore the visual concept of black holes and reflect on alternative imaging of the universe.

In this interview, Purnell shares his interest in how scientific imagery influences our perception of the universe and how the encounters with astronomers and physicists informed and inspired his practice.