Andrea Mancini & Every Island

Comparative Dialogue Act, a project by the Luxembourgish artist Andrea Mancini and the multidisciplinary collective Every Island has been conceived as an infrastructure for the transmission of sound – a shared production space challenging the entrenched notion of individual artistic authorship.

Throughout the duration of the Biennale, the pavilion is hosting four guest artists who will produce and present new sound performances, thereby expanding the definition of a collective artwork. In this context, the notion of openness is not bound to the absence of limits, but rather to the appropriation of ‘the other’ and its contribution to collective and openended scenarios. Sound and space are tuned: the spatial elements – floor and walls – are turned into sound devices, progressively shaping an immersive experience. Technology is used to develop this localised experiment through which artists and audience consider the conditions under which knowledge is transmitted and shared. The title, A Comparative Dialogue Act, encapsulates the nature of this experimental project – an exploration of diverse sonic languages and a contemplation of dialogue, into the immersive world of sound as a tool for negotiation. The pavilion is at once the space where the soundscape is produced, and where it is played – the studio and the stage – in a gesture of radical transparency.

An unprecedented collaboration between four emerging artists from diverse backgrounds, the programme brings together Spanish musician and performer Bella Báguena, French transdisciplinary artist Célin Jiang, Ankara-born performance artist Selin Davasse and Swedish artist Stina Fors to present four intersecting approaches to the multiple ways identity, performance and sound can meet. The defining link between their artistic practices is the choice of sound as their medium. The artists will never physically cross paths during their respective residencies: they shared a collection of their sounds before the opening of the pavilion as a basis for their work and will each leave one after their passage. Thus, at once tapping into an existing sound library and in turn forming a new one, each artist produces a soundscape – a synthesis of their own work and the traces left by their peers.

Navigating the realms of gender identity, Báguena weaves sounds inspired by intuition, motivation and a tableau of influences from pop culture to personal experiences. Jiang adopts a decolonial cyberfeminist approach, intertwining arts, technology and digital humanities to provoke contemplation of identity within the context of transcultural aesthetics. Davasse makes research-based performances, repurposing literary and performative techniques to envision alternative pasts, presents and speculative futures. And Fors, who works with choreography, performance, drums and vocals, explores the depths of a ‘sounding body’, unleashing a powerful voice that alternates between lethal force and seductive allure, showcasing the complexities of the self. A Comparative Dialogue Act brings these works together and provides the stage for a rich composition of these singular voices, converging in one sound artwork that aims to push the boundaries of collective art production.

The residency and production cycles of each artist are scheduled to run for the thirty-week duration of the Biennale. The space remains continuously accessible to the public.

Commissioner: Kultur | lx - Arts Council Luxembourg on behalf of the Ministry of Culture

Curator: Joel Valabrega, Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean