Back in 2014, the Center for the Promotion of Science began to initiate, develop and support various activities bringing together art and science through its participation in the global European Digital Art and Science Network project (http: //eu.cpn.rs/realized_projects/artscience/). As a member of the network, the Center has contributed to the creation of the first sustainable, vibrant network, which can bring together and support the collaboration of creative minds coming from seemingly conflicting disciplines – art and science. This project brought together 8 cultural institutions across Europe and had 3 prestigious European scientific institutions as partners: CERN, the European Space Agency and the European Southern Observatory. art+science activities have proven to be important for the achievement of the Center’s main mission – bringing science closer to the general public and increasing general scientific literacy.

Find out more at:  www.cpn.rs/artandscience

The first major one-month event was held at Belgrade Cultural Centre in 2016. During the same period, the Center embarked on another interesting European project based on the combination of science and art called Quantum Music (http://eu.cpn.rs/realized_projects/quantum-music/), which connects the world of quantum physics with contemporary classical music. As of 2017, all related activities of the Center have been branded jointly as art + science. A major event, art+science 2017 (http://arhiva.artandscience.cpn.rs/), consisting of several exhibitions and many other parallel activities, was organized in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Ritopek and Kragujevac bringing together 25 local and international artists. An important part of the programme included a variety of educational content specifically developed for the occasion, such as workshops for primary school pupils and students of arts academies.

The 3rd and most ambitious edition of the art+science programme so far was held during November and December 2018. The purpose of first two events was to establish the art+science concept in Serbia, map the artists and institutions interested in these types of collaboration and creation, and launch educational activities which would further develop this concept locally. In 2018, the programme was focused and linked to the Center’s programme activities dedicated to the maker culture. Art+science+makers programme (http://www.cpn.rs/artandscience/en/) was launched at several locations in Belgrade, including exhibitions at the Museum of Applied Arts and the Instituto Cervantes. The centrepiece of the programme was reserved for a two-day international conference (http://eu.cpn.rs/artsciencemakers-conference/), held at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts and Science Club Belgrade. The conference was particularly important because of a deeper insight into the concept and the potential for linking art and science, and its impact and importance for society as a whole. Under the auspices of maker concept, the relations between different actors in the field of art and science, and their activation in the function of constant dialogue with formal and non-formal education were analysed.

In parallel with the opening of the art+science+makers event, a brand new initiative was launched in Belgrade: European ARTificial Intelligence Lab (http://eu.cpn.rs/active_projects/european-artificial-intelligence-lab/). It is a three-year project which brings together 13 partner organizations coordinated by Linz-based Ars Electronica and supported by the largest scientific institutions and companies working in the field of artificial intelligence. Future activities of the Center in the field of art+science will be centred around artificial intelligence as the most significant technology of our time and at the same time the greatest social challenge ahead.