Monday, December 8 — First encounters
Monday, December 8 — First encounters
The Slash Transition training program officially kicked off in Nantes. Artists and partners were about to meet for the very first time: shy at first, a little hesitant, but clearly excited. This new cohort was composed of the artists Conny Frischauf (Austria), Louis Naudin aka Überkeine (France), Oussama Menchaoui aka O-Samā‘ – أسامة (Tunisia), Pedro Latas (Portugal), and Tiko Gogoberidze aka TINA (Georgia), alongside the project partners represented by Cyrine (L’Art Rue), Ben (Mutant Radio), Danijela (Openspace), Catarina (Casa Capitão), and Coralie and Chloé (Trempo). The atmosphere was soft and expectant—that fragile moment when a group is still forming, sensing what might emerge in the days to come.
Tuesday, December 9 — Listening, looking, sharing
This new chapter began at Trempo with a visit and a deep dive into the Slash transition’s framework helping everyone ease into the project and the ten days ahead. Over the first lunch of the week at Fair.e, discussions drifted between passion and concern. Louis (Überkeine) introduced his work as a foley artist, sparking curiosity across the table. At the same time, worries of very different kinds surfaced: a tangible stress around the upcoming video interviews, which would be a first for most of the artists, but also deeper concerns about the state of cultural funding and the progressive, all-too-certain rise of far-right movements across Europe. Fortunately the food was unanimously celebrated and brought joy to the table.
In the afternoon, the group headed to the School of Fine Arts and the Beaux-Arts, where two exhibitions resonated unexpectedly with the lunch conversations. The first, by Nantes-based artist Anna Pico, explored the Spanish social revolution of 1936 through large black-and-white drawings, focusing on women’s crucial yet often overlooked roles in the anti-Franco struggle. The second, Les Vagabondes, offered an interesting contrast: colorful posters carrying messages of justice, desire, and dreams. Together, they echoed two recurring themes of the day: how to face the rise of the far right, and how joy can still be a form of resistance.
Back at Trempo, the evening opened with a listening session in the studio. Each artist shared fragments of their sonic universe. From textured, layered compositions to narrative-driven sound worlds, the moment revealed a group of singular and talented voices.
The night concluded at Askip with a powerful reading by Leïla Chaix from her book Haïr le monde. Open to the public, her words blurred the line between prose and poetry. The emotional intensity of her reading resonated strongly, sparking thoughtful exchanges and leaving a lasting impression on the audience.
Wednesday, December 10 — Creating together
Another full day began with a workshop led by Tamaya Sapey-Triomphe, taking participants out across the Île de Nantes. The artists were invited to meet residents, collect stories, and transform these encounters into creative material. A challenging exercise but deeply fruitful. The results were strikingly diverse, each piece capturing a different fragment of the city’s pulse.
In the afternoon, the group gathered at the architecture school for the roundtable “Joyful Inhabiting: Create, Live and Share”, with Tamaya Sapey-Triomphe, Pacôme Soissons, and Leïla Haghighat. The discussion offered perspectives about space, community, and how joy can be cultivated through collective practices.
The day closed with a communal banquet at Trempo. Cooked by La Plaisir and framed by a joyful, protest-inspired scenography designed by Gregg Bréhin and Vincent Boucier, the dinner became a celebration in itself: a moment of togetherness where food, conversation, and laughter blended effortlessly.
This warm dinner was also the perfect opportunity to reconnect with different parts of the Slash community: we welcomed Fanch Dodeur, the French artist from the first round, and shared the evening with members of the Nantes local hub. It also brought together partners from the European project Ecomusiq, as the week was conceived as a cross-program moment between Ecomusiq and Slash.
Thursday, December 11 — Sound, ecology, territory
The morning was dedicated to a workshop with architect and artist Pacôme Soissons, who proposed a fascinating question: what if the Bureau des Hypothèses became an open-source protocol, adaptable even to non-visual or non-material artistic practices? Guided by the experimental methodology of Le Bureau des Hypothèses, participants spent the day rethinking how territories can be described, shared, and imagined differently.
In the evening, the artist Pierre Lucas presented L’Écho des Ruisseaux. Open to the public, the performance drew a curious and attentive audience, who discovered an immersive soundscape shaped by slowed-down samples, field recordings, and synthesizers, where electronic music met ecological awareness. The piece invited listeners into a contemplative space, attentive to the fragility of ecosystems and the power of sound to reveal and protect them.
This experience flowed naturally into the roundtable “Sound Landscapes: Listen, Highlight, and Raise Awareness”, moderated by Thomas Cochini, with Pierre Lucas, Adèle de Baudouin (researcher in ecoacoustics and electroacoustics), and Laurent Bigarella (Silkke newsletter). Among the many striking insights shared, the idea that damaged coral reefs can recover when exposed to recordings of healthy reefs stood out: a powerful reminder that sound is not just aesthetic, but deeply transformative.
Friday, December 12 — Engagement, celebration, letting go
The final day was perhaps the most dense of all. It unfolded through a series of keynotes and discussions focusing on the eco-responsibility of the live music sector and the role artists can play within it, in partnership with Ecomusiq, a Trempo-led research project dedicated to mapping the obstacles artists face when engaging in more sustainable practices. Two keynotes in particular addressed the promotion of local touring and the support of small and medium-sized venues, through the projects Courts Circuits (from a club perspective) and Better Live (focusing on live venues).
The day closed with the workshop “Being an Artist and an Activist: How to Feel Legitimate in Speaking Out”, led by Courts Circuits and facilitated by Jean-Paul Deniaux. Artists and partners reflected collectively on commitment and activism, splitting into five groups to explore themes ranging from art and industrialization to capitalism, legitimacy, and the realities of artistic life. The diversity of perspectives made the session particularly rich and resonant.
Later, a Radio Panel hosted by Mutant Radio offered a joyful and unconventional format. Participants were invited to cheer for whatever they found meaningful: a simple gesture that opened space for both serious discussion and shared laughter, animated brilliantly by the Georgian team, Keti and Ben.
As evening fell, bodies took over. A clubbing lesson led by Julien Grosvalet, with music by Paulette Sauvage, encouraged everyone to follow simple guidelines and, more importantly, to let go. The night continued with a powerful DJ selection by Ketevani Davitashvili (who also animated the radio panel previously), celebrating women musicians, before Vikken’s electro set carried the energy late into the night.
After this intense week, the partners gradually left Nantes, while the artists remained for one more week. They entered a quieter time dedicated to their residency work, beginning to shape their artistic and musical practices within the framework of the project, with the idea of transition at its core. In that spirit, on Tuesday morning they participated in a workshop with students from the design school, which invited them to reflect on tools to follow their residency process, and opened a thoughtful conversation about how to document and transmit artistic experimentation.
The final goodbye took place the following Wednesday evening in a warm, intimate gathering at Chloé’s place, together with Coralie, Julien and Louis from the design school, the artists, and myself as communication and reporting support for Trempo. Over a very French selection of cheeses, conversations flowed easily, emotions surfaced, and everyone left with both tenderness and determination: the strong wish to keep this small community alive, and already the promise of visiting one another and continuing to build connections beyond the project.
By the end of this deep collective sequence, one feeling was shared by all: our heads were full of ideas, and our hearts were full of joy.
Photos : Margaux Martin’s
