Italian artist Silvia Rosani started her artistic residency at the New Synagogue on 16th October and you can see her artistic output in the form of a sound performance this Friday. The two-week residency is also supported by Žilina Beskydy 2026, the New Synagogue and EMAP – The European Media Art Platform.

Žilina > centre of artistic residences 

Among artists, Žilina is often perceived as an ideal place to create new works of art, both by actors and artists. The Municipal Theatre, the Puppet Theatre, as well as the cultural centres Stanica and Nová synagóga have long been dedicated to co-producing new works and providing space for artists in residence. 

EU mobility is not only about physical mobility, but also about the free movement of ideas and knowledge. One of the ambitions of the Žilina Beskydy 2026 project is to support the production of new works and the international transfer of skills and knowledge through the expansion of the offer of mobility tools and artist in residence programmes (AiR).

The residency is based on an intercultural and interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge between selected artists, host organisations and various professionals from the fields of science, art and technology who are involved in consulting, supporting or training artists. 

Meet Silvia Rosani 

Silvia studied composition first at the Conservatory in Italy, then at the Mozarteum Universität (Austria) and at the same time studied electronic engineering. She has a PhD from the University of London, where she is also a lecturer. Her music is presented internationally, played by ensembles and soloists. She is also involved in performance with electro-acoustic instruments, which she designs and produces herself.

Amotlon

Amotlon combines visitor’s voices with acoustic and hybrid electro-acoustic instruments and transforms them into a unified composition based on emotion detection, realized by a live neutral network model. The hybrid AI instruments mimic, contrast or ignore the emotions detected in the sounds. Just as live performers remember their strategies during improvisation, the algorithm-generated sound is conditioned by prior learned experience. As part of the artist residency at the New Synagogue, the AmotIon system will be adapted to the conditions of Sphere, resulting in a sound performance exploring the relationship between the two ecosystems.

This project was created during an artist residency at the RIXC New Media Centre (Riga, Latvia), presented as a work-in-progress at the Werkleitz Festival (Halle, Germany) and its documentation exhibited at Ars Electronica Gardens 2021. Its adapted version will be presented not only here, but also at the Museum of Transitory Art (MoTA) during the SONICA Festival in Ljubljana. The final version of the installation will travel back to the RIXC New Media Centre (Riga, Latvia).  

Learn more about EMAP 

The European Media Art Platform (EMAP) is a consortium of eleven leading European media art organisations specialising in digital and media art, bio art and robotic art. The consortium includes a number of renowned festivals dealing with these interdisciplinary art forms. Through an open call, EMAP members offer two-month residencies to practitioners, building on the legacy of the European Media Artist in Residence Exchange (EMARE), which has been in existence since 1995. 

We recommend the sound performance Amotlon and we want to invite you to a unique listening experience at the monumental Sphere in the New Synagogue on 29th October.