THROUGH THE TIMES

Founded in 2002 in Portugal, Artshare’s core vision has ever since been that innovation and breakthrough discoveries happen when diverse topics, experiences and people come together. Through its initial research and projects, the main focus of our activities has been on putting forward a transdisciplinary approach toward innovation through artistic processes and practices.

In 2009, the SkilledArt project was the first R&D EU funded project to be coordinated by an artist and driven by artistic principles. This project led to the European Commission’s interest in Artshare within the context of the Digital Agenda for Europe round. Artshare continued its work based in Brussels, Belgium.

Then in 2013, ICT Art Connect Study, executed by Artshare and iMinds, demonstrated how synergies of ICT and art can enhance creativity in both society and technology. Within this study, the S+T+ARTS – Science, technology and the Arts brand was created and launched as an initiative by the European Commission. S+T+ARTS has the goal of addressing social, environmental and economic challenges through a closer link between scientific and technological research and artistic processes and practices.

In 2015, Artshare was selected as the art advisor for the New NATO Headquarters in Belgium. The company collaborated with NATO to co-design the NATO Arts Framework. Artshare designed and created Article 5, 9/11 Monument, which was a donation from the US to the Organization, commemorating the first time in History that Article 5 of the transatlantic treaty was called – the article that binds together the Organization’s collective security clause.

The EU funded projects that followed – Brainhack, Vertigo and Create-IoT – aimed to promote the participation of artists in ICT research activities and for promoting synergies between creative arts, businesses, research organizations and the society in general. Vertigo hosted 45 artistic residences in total showing successful integration of artistic practices in the creation and development cycles of information and telecommunication technologies (ICT).

In its current work, Artshare is accumulating all best practices and generated knowledge, into activities that open valuable perspectives for research, business and society in an experimental and cross-disciplinary way. We aim to facilitate collaboration between industry, engineers, science, researchers and artists for achieving the high innovation potential, generate new ideas, build sustainable solutions and be open to new markets.