I am going through a process of deconstruction and unlearning of the musical world and practice I grew inside, questioning its verticality, self-referentiality, narcissism, and power structures: I acknowledge cultural variations through radical active listening, and my instrument serves to promote inclusivity and embrace communities and sites. I see performance as only one of the steps to encourage mutual understanding.
I developed a completely new instrument setup, the Poliarmonica, which helps me to re- position as a performer. It is made of (1) my accordion, which I hug since 30 years, (2) a set of analogue pedals and electronics tools which expands the sound and position it within a more current and vibrant sonic realm, all this in dialogue with (3) the field recordings from the community and the site I am living in.
With this set-up I started several residencies and collaborations, and media will be published soon:
– Mulino Nicli: residency in July 2024 on a water mill in Italy, with collective recordings, workshops for teenagers and artistic restitutions,
– Residency at Pigini accordion factory and Pneuma Festival (end July 2024) with a collective sound art piece, in which I will involve the factory workers in a shared field recording adventure of their favourite sounds of the factory, and will play with it,
This short video might give a glimpse on the sound possibilities of this setup.
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Cities and memories – Migration sounds (2024)
Migration Sounds is a collection of the sounds of human migration, in partnership with Oxford University’s Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS).
The database contains 120 sounds from 51 countries – and the personal stories behind them – and we (a group of sound artists) used sound to help reframe the conversation around human migration and present valuable new perspectives on the issue.
For each field recording you can listen to the original version and the one reimagined by the sound artist.
My personal contribution is “Natasha’s borscht”, in a sort of “Kitchen remix”, where I am imagining the kitchen as a universal meeting and sharing space, inspired by the intimate recording of Natasha and Maria.
Shared cooking is when distant worlds become close, when family trees and traditions remix and meet in front of a sink and a pan: recipes become a space for stories.
I decided to use only some relevant spoken exchanges, a lot of noises and textures of the cooking process, and Natasha’s contagious laughter.
I only used cut and paste, a lot of layering, panning, and a bit of reverb, to remix this kitchen story and immerse the listener into this space of possibilities.
Feel free to scroll through the database, be inspired by it, and reflect upon its theme!
Here an article on Wired Italia about the project for the Italian speakers.
The collection has also become an immersive installation at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford.
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Forêt nom féminin (2021) is a piece in six movements inspired by the homonymous book by Jérôme de Vienne, published by ISTI MIRANT STELLA in 2021 and the website foretnomfeminin.hotglue.me, an ongoing conversation between Diana Duta and Jérôme de Vienne about translation, the infinite permutations of language, a less-than-human word, an errant narrative of many voices, above all a labyrinthine and obscure research method.
The process, following the six scores found on the website, is based on the collection of different elements and fragments (through field recording) and their recombination (through editing and mixing) in order to build a sense of landscape and a narrative which traverses it from within.
(click on the image below to go to the playlist)
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Leaving (2020)
I recorded the sound of my last night tram trip to Venice, after seven years of living in that city, and was fascinated by its singing melody, which slowly inspired some accordion work on top of it.
“Leaving”, as my departure from Venice, but also as “letting go”.
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al-te-ri-ta (2020)
Field recording and mixing real life sounds have been central also for the project al-te-ri-ta developed with Bruna Esperi (cultural manager and community mediator) for the collection “Ti do la mia parola” curated by Butik Collective.
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Secco Sistemi (2019)
Image is a very helpful inspiration. I have been commissioned by Secco Sistemi, a leading Italian brand in the production of integrated systems for doors, windows and shutters, to compose the soundtrack for three videos, giving me absolute artistic freedom.
The musical idea, produced with my trusted friend Maarten Stragier and our duo Promenade Sauvage, has been to depict the machine as a living entity, from its sleeping night, to the dawn, until the end of the day.