The artistic residency “Listening to Rural Youth” took place between June 30 and July 12 in Várzea de Calde, promoted by Binaural Nodar with the support of the Municipality of Viseu, the Parish Council of Calde, and the Italian artistic space Studio Florìda. This initiative was part of the European Tramontana project, a network of cultural structures operating in a mountain context, co-financed by the Creative Europe program.

For two weeks, artists Adriana Lopes (Portugal), Leele Jürjen (Estonia), Luís Costa (Portugal), and Sanae Mazouz (Morocco/Italy) developed artistic projects that reflected on the relationships between youth and rural contexts. The proposals were based on themes such as child and youth sociability in rural areas, the impact of social transformations in villages, and the regenerative potential of contact with nature and traditions.

The residency ended on July 12 with a public presentation of the artistic processes developed, in a moment of sharing between the artists, the local community, and partner entities.

Her academic training in Anthropology allowed Adriana Lopes to experiment with the ethnographic method in multimodality, articulating it with artistic practices. The artist adopts encounter as a premise for knowledge and maps her body-archive in motion and in relation to found objects, in order to think, handle, and reflect on the world. Delving deeper into the ontology of theater praxis, she reflects on the problematic nature of representation in vehicles of expression. Specializing in Visual Anthropology, the 26-year-old artist used ethnographic methods in conjunction with photography, drawing, and installation, transforming the encounter with the community into a way of reflecting on the world. The final result provided a sensitive reading of the relationships between memory, creativity, and youth in rural areas.

Leele Jürjen, born in 2006 in Tartu, Estonia, is a pioneering cellist and vocalist who combines classical training with traditional Estonian music. Beginning her musical journey with the kannel and cello under the guidance of renowned teachers such as Leho Karin and Reet Mets, Leele became the first cellist in the Traditional Music Department at Heino Eller Music College, where she explored folk music through her instrument in innovative ways. Deeply rooted in the cultural heritage of the Võro and Setu peoples, which was passed down to her by her mother, Anna Hints, Leele has brought these sounds to life as a founding member of the folk trio Nova Lyre, blending ancient languages and contemporary arrangements.

Luís Costa is a PhD researcher in artistic creation at the University of Aveiro and the School of Arts and Design (Caldas da Rainha). Since 2004, he has worked as a curator and programmer of contemporary artistic practices and as a sound and media artist. He is the founder and coordinator of Binaural Nodar since 2006. He is the author/editor of twelve books dedicated to sound/media artistic research and rural ethnography. Since 2007, he has been intensely involved in sound and audiovisual creation in rural contexts, through which he reflects on the specificities and landscape, social, and cultural changes of places.

Sanae Mazouz (born in 1999, in El Brouj, Morocco) is a multidisciplinary artist who works mainly with painting, photography, and video performance. Born in the Chaouia region of Morocco, where she lived until the age of nine, Sanae migrated to Italy to reunite with her father. With a high school degree in Industrial Chemistry, she is currently in her final year of a Fine Arts degree, specializing in Painting, at the Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti di Genova, and regularly collaborates with the artistic organization Studio Florìda, located in the heart of Genoa’s old town.