The Embassy of Foreign Artists Open Call 2024-25

The Embassy of Foreign Artists (EOFA) residency programme is partnering with Foundation Campus Biotech Geneva (FCBG) to offer the opportunity to apply for research and production residencies for a project linked with the work of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Evolving Language.

The purpose of the call is to offer residencies to professional artists from all fields (visual arts, dance, theatre, music, writing, comic books, film, etc.), whose project would take inspiration from the cutting-edge research conducted by the partner laboratories active within Campus Biotech.

The goal of these residencies is to promote exchanges and intersections between scientific practices and artistic practices. They are intended to encourage the emergence of new ways of formulating, perceiving and using both scientific and artistic research. Through connections between the fields, a better understanding of each respective fields of research will be fostered.

The reflections and exchanges will lead to the creation of new works, or the adaptation of pre-existing works that could be integrated with, or adapted to, the experiments conducted in the laboratories, and/or complement them. The results of each residency will be presented at a public event within Campus Biotech or at a partner institution. They could be the subject of a publication in specialized scientific journals.

Project Short Description: The relationship between speech rhythmicity and neural oscillations is an important component of speech perception, and especially of comprehension. However, even though the presence of the same rhythm has been described in non-human primates, and neural oscillations are a basic property of animals’ brains, we still do not know how the brain of animals is processing rhythmic information. Therefore, by identifying similarities and differences in rhythm, as well as its connection with brain oscillations in animal species, we hope to uncover the common rules that govern the rhythmic production and processing of vocal signals in animals. These results will help us understand how speech fits or detached itself from these basic rules, giving us new insight into the evolution of language complex hierarchical structure and a better understanding of brains’ perception mechanisms of vocal signals.

Lab Work Description: The scientific part of the residency will be supervised by researcher Théophane Piette, who is currently doing his PhD at the NCCR and whose thesis is entitled Animal brains can follow the beat: a cross-species eeg project on the link between brain oscillations and vocalizations rhythm.

This PHD is done in the speech and language group, led by Anne-Lise Giraud at Campus Biotech in Geneva. This lab studies the neural bases of language and vocal communication in animals using experimental neurophysiology (PET, fMRI, EEG, MEG, SEEG, ECoG, single spike recordings), computational neuroscience (artificial neural networks, neural signal decoding, dynamical systems modeling), and neurointervention (transcranial electrical stimulation, neurofeedback). Their goal is to uncover the key information processing mechanisms of speech, language as well as animal communication, and use this knowledge to propose targeted treatments in language disorders and better understand the of brains’ perception mechanisms of vocal and rhythmic signals.

The residency includes:

• 3 months accommodation in a private room as well as a working space and access to common areas shared with other residents (to be scheduled between October 1st 2024 and February 28th 2025)
• CHF 1400.- /month as per diem
• Artistic support provided by EOFA
• Scientific support provided by NCCR
• Platform access provided by FCBG

Candidates must respond to the following criteria:

• The open call is addressed to all professional artists coming from following artistic fields: performing arts, visual arts and applied arts (fine arts, music, literature, comics, cinema, dance, theatre, design).
• The candidate must be in possession of a wide range of creations, publications and performances at a professional level;
• Not be currently registered in a basic artistic training course;
• Be over 28 at the time of application;
• Speak French or English;
• Accept and agree to pay costs related to their travel and possible artistic production.

Application content:

Document 1: Application Questionnaire fully completed with Adobe Acrobat.

Document 2: Application File in PDF format, maximum 15 pages (FR or ENG) including:

• A cover letter
• Description of the project to be developed in Geneva
• Portfolio of recent work
• Recent CV

The completed questionnaire, fully completed with Adobe Acrobat, and your application file must be sent separately in the same email ([email protected]) in PDF format before the 15th of September 2024, at midnight, local time (UTC+2).

Applications exceeding the page limit or incomplete will not be presented to the jury.