Short-Term Residency Programme
Bridges to the Unknown hosts a programme of short-term Art-Science Residencies, inviting artists to work for a short period of time (1-2 months) on a specific project or idea to develop in collaboration with researchers and/or health professionals at the Champalimaud Center for the Unknown.
Nuno Cera - Dezembro 2024/Janeiro 2025
Nuno Cera is a Lisbon-based photographer and video artist.
Nuno Cera's work operates at the intersection of art and documentary and addresses three fundamental forms of change: natural, spatial and temporal. His long-term research projects involve different agents and collaborators, including scientists, writers and critics. His work has been exhibited and published internationally in various cultural institutions.
Cera has been a resident artist in Berlin (Künstlerhaus Bethanien), New York (ISCP International Studios and Curatorial Program), Paris (Recollet) and Macau (Fundação Oriente). In 2003, together with the architect Diogo Seixas Lopes, he published the book Cimêncio, a survey of suburban landscapes. He was nominated for the BESPhoto prize in 2004. Between 2007 and 2010 he carried out the Futureland project, an artistic investigation into urban growth in nine suburbs. In 2012 he received a grant from the XX edition of the Fundación Marcelino Botín, Santander, with the project Sinfonia do Desconhecido (Symphony of the Unknown I). In 2019 he received support from the Dgartes – Ministério da Cultura / República Portuguesa for the video installation Sinfonia do Desconhecido II and in 2023 for the video installation Cérebros Distantes (Distant Brains). He received support from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in 2023 for the Acid Flamingo project.
Nuno Cera was one of the artists invited to represent Portugal at the Venice Architecture Biennale Public without rhetoric (2018) and Metaflux (2004).
About the Art-Science Residency:
This residency forms part of the ongoing artistic investigation Cérebros Distantes / Distant Brains (2023–2025). The project explores the evolving interplay between robots, humans, and plants, envisioning an archaeology of the present. Developed in collaboration with curator Julia Albani and architect researcher Joana Rafael, the work unfolds as a series of episodes, where robots engage with other intelligent species in diverse settings such as factories, universities, and laboratories. The project culminates in a video installation and a photographic series, offering a lens on the intersections of technology, intelligence, and our shared environments.
This project is supported by the Portuguese Republic - Ministry of Culture / DGArtes, and also includes collaborations with the Systems and Robotics Laboratory of the Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon; 1825 - Research Studio for Architectural Visualization, Lisbon; the Berlin Botanical Garden, Germany; and Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Wolfsburg.
"As an artist, I strive to create experiences that encourage the public to reflect on pressing contemporary issues, based on the belief that artistic expression contributes meaningfully to our intellectual and social growth." – Nuno Cera
Instagram: @nunocera; Website: nunocera.com
Opiyo Okach - February/March 2024
Opiyo Okach is a performer, choreographer and media designer. He is artistic director of GaaraProjects. He divides his time & develops work between France and Kenya.
His work explores and interrogates the ways we perceive and relate to each other across our differences of body, culture, geography & conviction. He is renowned for his work with improvisation and instant composition. In recent times he has been developing a multidisciplinary process at the intersections of live performance and digital creation.
His work has toured in Africa, Brazil, Europe & the US and been presented at a wide range of venues and festivals including Panorama de Dança in Rio, Dancespace New York, Festival Avignon, Rencontres chorégraphiques de Seine-Saint-Denis, Dance Umbrella, Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts in San Francisco, Theater der Welt, Pact Zollverein in Germany.
Through numerous initiatives he has acted as a catalyst for the development of dance in East Africa and continues to support the emergence of a new generation of dance artists. He recently initiated ‘Performance Lab Nairobi’ - a collaborative platform for contemporary creation process at the GoDown Arts Centre in Nairobi.
He has received numerous awards including the ‘Rencontres chorégraphiques de l’Afrique et de l’océan Indien’, the ‘prix du Nouveau Talent Chorégraphiques SACD’ as well as a ‘Prince Claus Award for Culture and Development’.
About the Art-Science Residency:
This residency is a creative collaboration between Opiyo Okach, Nicklas Fricke and the Immersive AI Systems group at Champalimaud Foundation. During the residency we will research and develop a new choreographic language and process integrating dance and artificial intelligence. Working with dance improvisation, motion tracking and generative AI we will explore relationships and develop interactions between the body and the sonic, spatial and visual environments.
Mobility for this residency is supported by the European Union and implemented by Goethe Institut.
Instagram: @okachopiyo; Website: gaaraprojects.com
