Mojca Zupančič

During the residency, Mojca will observe her experience of arriving in Mijakovići, a village reminiscent of her Slovenian home, seeking to discover the stories, legends, songs and traditions that might allow her to begin developing a sense of belonging to the place. Through encounters with local residents, she hopes to create opportunities for communal experiences that transcend everyday life, nurturing a sense of connection through music. Using familiar source material, such as traditional songs as a starting point, she will use collective music-making tools like gesture conducting to invite others to explore creativity and improvisation. The entire journey, from the beginning of the residency to the eventual presentation months later, will be reflected in a musical composition tracing the shift from a raw first encounter to growing familiarity and, upon returning home, to a memory that gradually fades and erodes over time and distance. Beginning as an impressionistic sonic landscape, the piece will develop towards increasingly intimate and fragile material drawn from encounters with local residents, gradually leaving behind recognisable sounds, voices and songs as they dissolve into prepared piano and electronics. Its final abstract form will reflect its destination: an urban, almost laboratory-like setting where the material becomes a subject for listening, reflection and dissection.