Platform Dalí constitutes a new infrastructure for intellectual production where the legacies of surrealism meet contemporary scientific inquiry. The initiative centres its attention on four pillars that occupied Salvador Dalí throughout his career: matter, time, life, and light. These concepts act as the gravitational pull for a series of fellowships and residencies designed to provoke dialogue between creative minds and research institutions.

The programme distinguishes between two modes of engagement. Fellowships persist for eighteen months and allow artists to maintain their practice elsewhere while engaging in intermittent periods of work in Barcelona. This rhythm supports the long-term gestation of ideas. Conversely, research residencies offer a condensed, thirty-day placement within specific scientific centres. This format forces a direct confrontation with the daily realities of laboratory research and results in new output following a year of development.

The structure of DNA. Stereoscopic work. c.1972. Location: Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí © Salvador Dalí, Figueres, 2025

Platform Dalí positions its programme in Barcelona to engage directly with leading scientific thought. The initiative establishes dialogue by partnering with five centers of excellence: BSC, ICFO, ICM-CSIC, IFAE, and PRBB. Starting in 2026, the annual structure features fellowships, residencies, encounters, and public events, all mandated to promote advanced research and creation between artists and scientists. This ambitious schedule culminates with a major exhibition in 2029. The initial cohort sets an international standard, featuring figures across various disciplines, including Tania Candiani, Israel Galván, George Mahashe, and Taller Estampa. The official launch commences on 2 December at La Pedrera, Barcelona. The event will feature remarks from Jordi Mercader, president of the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, Mónica Bello, Platform Dalí director, Max Planck Institute director Ignacio Cirac, and artist fellow Tania Candiani.

For its inaugural year in 2026, the platform selected a cohort of artists known for their rigorous methodological approaches. Mexican artist Tania Candiani investigates the intersection of sound and technology, while Israel Galván brings the physical language of dance into conversation with scientific rigour. The collective Taller Estampa interrogates digital environments, and George Mahashe examines systems of knowledge transmission. These figures possess the intellectual agility required to navigate complex scientific terrains.

Beyond the studio and the laboratory, the initiative mandates public interaction. A schedule of events will distribute the findings of these collaborations to a wider audience, ensuring that the knowledge generated circulates beyond the walls of the institution. While this first edition relies on direct invitations to establish a high standard of practice, the future of Platform Dalí lies in democratization. By mid-2026, the organization will publish open calls for the 2027 cycle, inviting a broader range of practitioners to propose how they might inhabit this fertile ground where art and science meet.

(left to right.) Ignacio Cirac, Mónica Bello and Tania Candiani at the Platform Dalí Launch. Credit: Alexandra Cepeda

Mónica Bello, the appointed Director of Platform Dalí, is an esteemed curator and art historian. She joins the initiative following ten years leading Arts at CERN, the official arts program of the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva. During her substantial tenure, which concluded in March 2025, Bello supported the work of over 200 artists. She provided strategic leadership, designing residencies, commissions, and exhibitions that secured meaningful engagement with physicists and laboratory staff. This rigorous administration resulted in substantial recognition, including the team’s 2024 S+T+ARTS Grand Prize for Innovative Collaboration.

Gala Placidia, 1952. | Leda atómica c. 1947-1949. Location: Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí © Salvador Dalí, Figueres, 2025

For two decades, Bello dedicated her career to establishing initiatives at the intersection of art, science, and technology. She possesses established acumen in creating collaboration models for artists working across varied scientific environments, including global observatories and research facilities. Bello’s proven capacity to connect artistic creation with scientific research, a competence consolidated through programmes of initial development, directly informs the intellectual foundation of Platform Dalí. She will now lead the critical dialogue between creativity, knowledge, and cultural innovation.

“Salvador Dalí viewed the scientific world as a vital source of poetic and structural inspiration rather than a separate magistracy. Platform Dalí operationalizes this perspective by embedding artists within the machinery of scientific production.”

““Scientific phenomena are the only ones constantly guiding my imagination.””

— Salvador Dalí

IFAE_Ordenador-cuantico

House-Museum Salvador Dalí in Portlligat, Cadaqués

The Salvador Dalí House-Museum in Portlligat, near Cadaqués, offered us the privilege to access the painter's core existence. This was his singular, stable residence, the structural antithesis of his anarchic art. To stand within these walls provides a front-row seat to the artist's definitive persona. It allows for an intimate confrontation with the architecture that anchored one of the 20th century's most complex minds, separating the domestic man from the public figure.

Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueras

Our gratitude extend for the holistic institutional perspective it was provided. We value the rigour applied to this sequence of events. The Platform Dalí launch was strategically paired with visits to both the Portlligat House od Dalí and the main Dalí Museum, establishing a narrative that links current scientific dialogue to Dalí’s personal, architectural history.

It was a truly inspiring experience. We look forward to seeing the experimentation, curation and research of this upcoming year come to life through this significant program.

Platform Dalí

@platformdali

Words by DONALD GJOKA

@donaldgjoka