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Team announcement! {Immersive music and performance residency Open-Call-2026}
We are honored about such a great interest about our DDA + Laidi Palace, Immersive music and performance residency open call 2026. All applications were similarly strong and it was super hard to decide whom to pick. I would love to host everybody, but unfortunately we needed to chose 7 teams.
The concept is the same as last year. Each team for two weeks will live in Laidi Palace artist residency and will create new fixed media and performance works at the DDA 17+2 speaker sound system. At the end of each residency period, the teams will share their work and discuss the process in a public presentation.
Everybody welcome to join us, presentations are tiny, cozy and friendly events in DDA studio (max 25 people, including artists and DDA staff). Selected fixed media works will be presented in future DDA touring dome events and published in DDA curated playlist in SoundingFuture 3D AudioSpace.
On arrival at residency each team will be provided with an instant thermal photo camera for capturing their creative process and personal impressions of DDA studio, Laidi Palace artist residency and its surroundings. As well, we are asking for each team to write text (short article) about their residency work process, challenges, expectation and reality, discoveries during the process, etc, etc. The text, together with scanned thermal photos, will be published in internet (blog, fediverse, etc) and, if everything goes as planed, there is a slight chance that we will use the texts and pictures, and put together a printed “Looking back at 2026“ zine. Yes, dreaming loud.
But now, lets get familiar with our 2026 Open Call participants:
> **Team 1**
> **residency time: 08.06. -- 21.06. (June)**
> **residency result presentation: 20.06 19:00**
>
> Team of composers, sound and visual artists united by diverse practices and perspectives, each bringing distinct interests and artistic approaches to the collaboration. During the residency, we will develop and present an immersive sound walk and a reflective spatial sound installation.
>
> Matīss Vikmanis (LV) — composer, sound artist;
> Justina Dvarionaitė (LT) — composer, vocalist;
> Marco Righetto (LT) — composer, performer;
> Katrīna Engelharta (LV) — visual, 3D artist;
> Titas Ignatavičius (LT) — visual artist, immersive experiences, installation.
>
> **Team 2**
> **residency time: 17.08. -- 30.08. (August)**
> **residency result presentation: 27.08 19:00**
>
> Microooooo is a collective of six. The team met during a residency at Out.fest Barreiro in October 2025, as part of the European Tekne program.
>
> Paola Avilés (DalidaCarnage) (FR) — harpist, electroacoustic composer;
> Daina Šteinerte (LV) — audiovisual artist, scenographer;
> Henrique Varanda (Portugal) — audiovisual artist;
> Billy Salima Moisseron (Belgium) — performance, sound, writing;
> Nischal Khadka (DE/Nepal) — artist, curator.
>
> **Team 3**
> **residency time: 31.08. -- 13.09. (Aug-Sept)**
> **residency result presentation: 12.09 19:00**
>
> Interdisciplinary team of three musicians and two performance artists. We are particularly interested in exploring how sonic intimacy can function as an extension of the performing body, and how spatial sound environments can amplify affective, tactile, and narrative dimensions within performance art.
>
> Jekaterina Viltšenko (EE/FI) — sound artist, composer, sound designer;
> Otso Kauniskangas (FI) — musician, composer, multimedia artist;
> Pološywa (Elisa Polov) (EE, AU) — ethereal alternative pop artist;
> Minea Lehtinen (FI) — artist, performer;
> Olga Rantalaiho (FI) — performance artist, writer.
>
> **Team 4**
> **residency time: 14.09. -- 27.09. (Sept)**
> **residency result presentation: 26.09 19:00**
>
> Collective of computer musicians, video artists and performers. We coalesced during our stay in Graz and gradually developed a collaborative practice rooted in an interdisciplinary approach. What began as informal collaboration has evolved into an artistic dialogue focused on immersive experiences and spatial storytelling.
>
> Mattia Benedetti (IT) — sound artist, composer;
> Justyna Tobera (PL) — composer, performer;
> Lauren Siess (US) — composer, violist, improviser;
> Pablo I. M. J. Knupfer (DE) — electroacoustic composer, experimental musician;
> Francesco Gulic (IT) — composer; improviser.
>
> **Team 5 »**
> **residency time: 02.11. -- 15.11. (Nov)**
> **residency result presentation: 14.11 19:00**
>
> We are a happy collision of five friends and interdisciplinary artists. Our motivation is to ‘compose this collective’. Together we want to move beyond individual practices to see how our five distinct artistic methodologies can mesh into a single, intentional sonic engaging organism.
>
> Sarah Frosh (UK/DK) — audio producer, background in anthropology;
> Ciara Reddy (UK) — sound, video, photography, performance;
> Serena Mirambeau Brey (ES/FR/UK) — multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker;
> Lorea Burge (ES/UK) — dance, experimental music, noise, installation;
> Lara Laeverenz (UK/DE) — audio visual artist.
>
> **Team 6**
> **residency time: 16.11. -- 29.11. (Nov)**
> **residency result presentation: 28.11 19:00**
>
> Haou Totaleee is a collective creation project resulting from the union of Haou Nebout (Biagio Cavallo, Andrea Fabris, and Riccardo Tesorini) and Totaleee (Giuseppe Pisano-Riise, Paolo Montella, Andrea Laudante). Both formations have developed a practice that articulates across composition and live performance, in the form of non-idiomatic electroacoustic improvisation and acousmatic music.
>
> Andrea Fabris (IT) — performer, composer, sound artist;
> Biagio Cavallo (IT) — musician, sound designer, composer;
> Riccardo Tesorini (IT) electroacoustic, spatial music composer;
> Andrea Laudante (IT)electroacoustic music composer, multi-instrumentalist;
> Giuseppe Pisano-Riise (IT/NO) — composer, laptop performer.
>
> **Team 7**
> **residency time: 30.11. -- 13.12. (Nov-Dec)**
> **residency result presentation: 12.12 19:00**
>
> Team works across experimental electronic music, dance, and digital video art, with a shared interest in the relationship between embodied movement, spatial media, and improvisation. During the residency, we aim to develop an audiovisual performance system in which human movement is translated into coordinated digital signals that shape both sound and video in real time.
>
> Saku Liimatainen, Ænie (FI) — experimental electronic music artist;
> Lauri Marjakangas (FI) — composer, musician, producer;
> Monika Hauck, Monautomaton (CA/PL) — new media artist, VJ, and musician;
> Sofia Keto-Tokoi (FI) — multidisciplinary artist, dance and music;
> Sakari Savola (FI) — dancer, musician, photographer.
More detailed info about teams and its members will be published in separate blog posts, shortly or at the beginning of each teams residency time.
In jury we were: Sofia Zaiceva, Jussi Tuohino, Evarts Melnalksnis and Kristaps Pukitis.
**The 2026 residency program is supported by**** _State Culture Capital Foundation_****(SCCF) and Kuldīga Municipality.**
written by Puk (no AI)
