Exploring the Unknown

Arts at CERN presents Exploring the Unknown in the arts space of the CERN Science Gateway in Meyrin, in the Geneva area. The exhibition brings together commissions by Ryoji Ikeda, Yunchul Kim, Chloé Delarue, Julius von Bismarck and Benjamin Maus, curated by Mónica Bello and Iliana Tatsi. It opened on 7 October 2023 and runs until 7 October 2026.

At its centre are the open questions of fundamental physics: space and time, dark matter and the quantum vacuum. The setting is unusual in itself: a dedicated arts space inside the CERN Science Gateway, where contemporary art and the research of the particle physics laboratory stand under one roof.

Each of the five commissions starts from a question of fundamental physics: the nature of space and time, dark matter, the quantum vacuum. Moving from work to work, you follow five different attempts to make the invisible perceptible, each in its own artistic language.

The subjects are abstract, the works are not: they have a physical presence that no screen can convey. Since admission is free and only registration is required, the visit combines easily with the rest of the Science Gateway; the exhibition runs until 7 October 2026.