Writing on Music
International call open to young under-30 graduates from all over the world with an excellent knowledge of spoken and written Italian language, researchers in Music, to write critical texts that will be collected in a publication of La Biennale di Venezia.
Research will be on the ground: the selected candidates will be invite to participate to the 69th International Festival of Contemporary Music and the conversations with artists.
On the basis of the theme proposed by the Director of the Music Department, Caterina Barbieri, the selected candidates will carry out in the Archives, guided by tutor, a search for sources and historical references, to write a text in Italian of a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 15 pages, from its first draft to the printed version.
A maximum of 4 candidates will be selected.
Three phases of research and activities are planned in Venice in the Biennale venues (Ca’ Giustinian, Arsenale, Giardini, Biennale Library at Giardini, Historical Archives at Vega)
Thanks to the Swiss Seaside Foundation.
TITLE
Music as a metaphor of the cosmos at Biennale Musica 2025 “The Star Within”.
THEME
The 69th International Festival of Contemporary Music is titled “The Star Within”: a poetic and symbolic image that in the words of the director Caterina Barbieri evokes “the desire for great things and for vastness. A vibration that permeates the cosmos and pierces through us with awe, from molecule to planetary motion, sound escapes the boundaries of the ego and opens us up to the encounter with the Other — the unknown.”
The Festival seeks to explore the theme of cosmic music, concentrating on the idea of sound as a portal to the experience of the infinite, through the phenomenon of bodily resonance and deep listening.
Through the choice of live performance, outdoor locations and immersive listening formats that start from the direct experience of the listener, the programme for Biennale Musica highlights the generative and autopoietic nature of music, understood as a cosmogony and a living organism able to self-evolve.
In a programme replete with commissions and world and European premieres that embrace electro-acoustic experimentation, participatory listening formats and non-Western epistemologies, the Festival wishes to offer the most vivid and fluid possible view of the contemporary, representing the richness, diversity, and inclusivity of present-day music.
At the curatorial level, the Festival is rooted in electronic music and minimalism, branching out in multiple directions that explore the connections between past and present, juxtaposing musical traditions that seem distant from one another in terms of style, era, geography and community expression: there are forays into ancient music, contemporary sounds, drone music, techno and afrofuturism.
“In sound the interconnectedness animating all living things is laid bare: in this intimate resonance with the universe, there is deep listening, which is itself the primary root of empathy”, writes Caterina Barbieri. “It is in this listening of the other, that music today can once again find its strong social-political value, helping us overcome anthropocentric ways of thinking and experiment with more ecological ways to coexist that respect the complex constellations of human and non-human forces that traverse our universe.”
A true exercise in empathy, more necessary than ever today to navigate the challenges and uncertainties regarding the future of our survival as a human species, within the scenario of continuous crisis and global collapse that we must face on a daily basis.
Tutor: Federico Sardo
Cultural journalist, he contributes to publications such as Esquire, Rivista Studio, and GQ. He teaches at the Civica Scuola di Cinema Luchino Visconti and serves as editorial director of the monthly magazine Quants-Tempi Moderni. He is also the author of documentaries including BEAT, dedicated to the JAZZMI festival.
Over the years, he has covered electronic music and festivals such as Atonal and Terraforma for international outlets like Resident Advisor, and has written monographic essays on avant-garde artists including, among others, Giacinto Scelsi, Luigi Nono, Fausto Romitelli, Alice Coltrane, Rhys Chatham, John Fahey, Moondog, Midori Takada and Muslimgauze.
Other collaborations include Vice, Zero, Il Tascabile, Rumore, Il Mucchio Selvaggio, Link-Idee per la tv, Rockit, Rolling Stone, SentireAscoltare, NOT, Lucy-Sulla cultura, Oltreoceano, Limina, and Radio Raheem.
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
First phase - from 11 Oct. 2025 to 26 Oct. 2025
Participation in the activities scheduled within the 69th International Festival of Contemporary Music (15 days) and beginning of research activities at the Historical Archive and Library guided by the tutor.
Second phase - from 24 Nov. 2025 to 28 Nov. 2025
specific research activities at the Historical Archive and Library guided by the tutor;
Deadline for sending the first draft of the text 12 Dec. 2025
Third phase - from 15 Dec. 2025 to 18 Dec. 2025
Analysis and in-depth study of the first draft of the text with the tutor at the Historical Archive and the Library.
The deadline for sending the final text is 30 Jan. 2026.
Conditions and rules of participation
The international call is open to young under-30 graduates from all over the world with an excellent knowledge of spoken and written Italian language.
Attendance for the whole programme is mandatory for participation in the project.
A maximum of 4 candidates will be selected.
The selected participants will be hosted in shared apartments provided by la Biennale di Venezia.
La Biennale di Venezia will also provide participants with tickets for local public transport and meals (lunches).
Selected participants will be required to pay a registration fee in the amount of € 80.00 (VAT included, non-refundable), to be paid exclusively by credit card.
Note: Applications will not be accepted from candidates selected in previous Biennale College ASAC - Writing in Residency editions.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Documentation
The documentation - which must be sent in Italian exclusively via the online form - consists of:
a) Curriculum vitae - please also specify:
a.1) Bachelor's/Master's degree or equivalent degree
a.2) thesis degree title, course of study
a.3) knowledge of spoken and written Italian - minimum required level C1
a.4) other languages known and level
b) submission of 2 texts
1 - cover letter (maximum length 2 pages)
2 - an essay, including bibliographical references, on the theme of the call (maximum length 2 pages)
Two selection phases are envisaged, the first on the basis of the requested documentation and the second by interview.
La Biennale di Venezia reserves the right in any case to modify, cancel or interrupt the initiative described above, in that the announcement or the selection do not constitute a binding contract for the same, nor do they entail the right to the reimbursement of any expense other than those specified above.
The full acceptance of the conditions of the Biennale College ASAC – Writing in residency - Music call makes the application eligible.
Applications open on August 12th 2025.
Applications deadline: September 10th 2025.