Ariane Koek leads International Arts at CERN, the world's largest particle physics laboratory, based outside Geneva, Switzerland. She created and initiated the laboratory's first arts policy, Great Arts for Great Science, as well as the policy's flagship program, the annual Collide@CERN artists' residency program.
Prix Ars Electronica Collide@CERN is the new international competition for digital artists to win a residency at CERN. It is the first prize to be announced as part of the new Collide@CERN artists' residency program initiated by the laboratory. This new prize marks a three-year science/arts cultural partnership and creative collaboration between CERN and Ars Electronica, which began with CERN's cooperation with Origin, the Ars Electronica Festival, in 2011.
Prior to CERN, Koek was CEO of the Arvon Foundation for Creative Writing, which ran 120 writers' residencies per year in four different locations. She has had an award-winning career as a BBC producer and director in both radio and television, working across arts, science, and politics. In 2009 she was award the Clore Fellowship. As part of the award she initiated coming to CERN, and has been there ever since.
