Mónica Bello

Director of Platform Dalí. Art Historian | Curator | Bridging Art and Science

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

About

Mónica Bello is an art historian and curator based in Barcelona. She is Director of Platform Dalí, a new programme by Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, created to weave networks between art and science. Throughout her career, she has developed unique global expertise at the intersection of art, science, and technology, fostering innovative collaborations across disciplines. Until March 2025, she served as Head of Arts at CERN. Under her tenure, the Arts at CERN team received the 2024 STARTS Grand Prize for Collaborative Innovation. Her notable curatorial projects include Quantum Visions (2025), Exploring the Unknown, opening exhibition of CERN Science Gateway (2024), Dark Matters (2023), the Icelandic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2022), the Audemars Piguet Art Commission for Art Basel (2018), and Broken Symmetries (2018–2021). She is a strategy and policy advisor, serving on boards and as a jury for various programs, including the Triennale of Architecture of Lisboa, the British Council, the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in Geneva, S+TARTS Grand Prize and S+TARTS Africa, Kunsthaus Zürich, Science Gallery Bangalore, Cavendish Arts Science, SODA at Manchester University, the PAX Awards at HEK Basel, Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council, EPFL Pavilions in Lausanne, Creative Capital in New York, and many others. As a public speaker, she has recently participated in conferences and seminars at the Kunsthalle Zürich; Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm; SXSW in Austin; Cercle d'Economia in Barcelona; the India Art Fair in Delhi; MASSI Lugano; the European Forum Alpbach; Centro Cultural de España Buenos Aires and CC Copenhagen Contemporary. Previously, she has spoken at Medicinsk Museium, Copenhagen; Swissnex, San Francisco; Frieze London; Art Basel Conversations; Reykjavík Art Museum; Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan; White Cube Bermondsay, London; the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou; ECAL Lausanne; CCCB, Barcelona; ZKM Karlsruhe; Creative Capital, New York; Tulane University, New Orleans; the West Bund Art Centre, Shanghai; ECAL, Lausanne; Tsinghua University, Beijing; Sonar+D, Barcelona; MUAC-UNAM, Mexico; Ars Electronica, Linz; Museo Nacional Reina Sofia, Madrid; MAMM, Medellin; and many others. She participates regularly in education and mentorship programs, supporting both emerging and established artists—most recently with Silbersalz Institute; Barcelona Producció, the Istituto Marangoni in Milan, Umanesimo Artificiale in Fano, and Presente Continuo in Buenos Aires.

Experience

  • Advisory Board of the ArtScience Program at Niels Bohr Institutet at Niels Bohr Institutet
    Jan 2026 - Present · 6 mos

    Advising on strategic development at the intersection of art and science Supporting program direction, partnerships, and selection processes

  • Member of the Social Council of ICM, Barcelona at Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC)
    Jan 2026 - Present · 6 mos

    Providing strategic advice on societal impact, and cultural alignment and policies.

  • Director of Platform Dalí at Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí
    Dec 2025 - Present · 7 mos

    Director of Platform Dalí, a new art and science programme I’ve designed and developed at the invitation of the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, exploring Dalí’s profound engagement with scientific advances. Dalí was a pioneer in the idea that there are no boundaries between imagination and knowledge, and throughout his life he explored how science shapes our perception of reality. Platform Dalí is born from this vision, embracing the understanding that there is no limit between art and scientific thinking.

  • Advisory Board Member for the exhibition Quantum at Science Gallery Bengaluru
    Feb 2024 - Present · 2 yrs 5 mos

    Quantum — Science Gallery Bangalore Support to the curatorial team in the selection of projects and in shaping the conceptual framework and scope of the exhibition.

  • Advisory Board Member of UPCArts, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya at UPCArts, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
    Jul 2021 - Present · 5 yrs

    https://www.upc.edu/ca/upcarts