Residency — approach and process

Pedro visited L’Art Rue in February for a study stay in the heart of the medina. During this first visit he met many residents and local artists, conversations that fed his reflection and creative process around the embodied power of language. He also met Oussama Menchaoui, the Tunisian artist participating in the same program and in residence at Mutant Radio (Georgia).

During the May residency, Pedro worked with language, voice, rhythm and the medina’s sound archives. His practice combined field recordings, collective sessions with residents and musicians, and performative experiments.

Key moments of the residency

10 May — “Art and Education” workshop  

A hands-on session in the medina exploring listening, rhythm and sound-making with local young people and education professionals.

11 May — Masterclass — Higher Institute of Music (University of Tunis)  

An introduction to creative coding and digital sound experimentation with Pedro Incenso Latas. Aimed at beginners, the class offered practical exercises in Max/MSP covering digital sound processing, synthesis and computer-assisted composition, followed by exchanges with students and musicians.

12 May — Conference and reading-performance — L’Art Rue  

A conference and panel (moderated by Lilia Ben Romdhane) on language, identity and sound, featuring Amen Nciri, Aicha Kallel, Dhia Bousselmi and Hager Ben Driss, with simultaneous translation in Arabic, French and English. The evening continued with a musical reading and improvisation by Pedro, texts performed by Amen Nciri and Mazen Alsafadi, and a convivial discussion.

15–16 May — Workshop & round table “Co‑designing music in the medina”  

A workshop bringing together musicians, cultural practitioners and residents to experiment with collaborative creative forms and map local resources and challenges. The public round table (16/05, 16:00–18:00), moderated by Raouia Kheder, gathered Alia Sellami, Aziz Mbarek, Lilia Ben Romdhane and Yafa Saidi to discuss sustainable models for musicians, local partnerships and social and environmental considerations.

Residency close — 23/05: اسكت (Askot) — performance and talk

The residency culminated in Askot, an immersive sound performance by Pedro Incenso Latas exploring language as memory, resistance and embodied experience. Developed in Tunis, Askot moves through the medina’s acoustic landscape — from the adhan to street vendors’ calls, Sufi breathing practices, sermons, whispers and fragmented conversations — creating a living archive of voices and resonances.

The performance transforms the space into a sonic archive and concludes with a conversation between sound artist Emna Maaref, Pedro, and the audience, alongside a presentation of materials and workshop outcomes from the residency. The aims were to present the findings of the sound inquiry, share collected archives and open a dialogue with residents about language, memory and public space. The event offeres a moment of encounter, transmission and debate, and propose an immersive experience that invited new ways of listening and relating to architecture and community fabric.

Conclusion

Pedro Incenso Latas’s residency at L’Art Rue strengthened connections between sound practice and local dynamics, produced a sonic archive of the territory and sparked in-depth conversations about language and memory amid transition. The final presentation Askot demonstrates how sound work can surface stories, voices and practices of a changing place, while creating spaces for co‑creation, attentive listening and shared remembrance within the Slash Transition framework.

Pedro Incenso Latas’s artist residency is a project by L'Art Rue as part of the Slash Transition programme, supported by Creative Europe and made possible with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.