Our residences

Julie Semoroz

Julie Semoroz is a French-Swiss artist whose practice explores the intersections of art and science. Through immersive sound installations, experimental performances, and concerts, she investigates the physical properties of sound and its relationship to the human body and the environment. Her interdisciplinary approach draws on recent research in biology, neuroscience, philosophy, and the social sciences, exploring themes ranging from emotional and animal vocalisations to interoception, neural synchronisation, and interspecies communication. At the heart of her work lies a desire to make tangible the extraordinary network of connections that shapes our relationship with both the human and the more-than-human world.

Voice, field recordings, and noise are central to her artistic research. She develops a wide range of solo and collaborative projects presented in art institutions, performance venues, and public spaces, combining sound, visual arts, dance, and installation. Since 2015, her projects have included Sonic Amass, PROTUBOSCOPE, Cabinet Sonore, WE NEED SPACE, ENCHANTED FOREST, EL UMBRAL, IN BETWEEN, TWELVE THOUSAND TWENTY, and, more recently, Neural Noise 1 and Phonosynthesis (2025).

Since 2019, Semoroz has collaborated with Professor Didier Grandjean at the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences (CISA), University of Geneva, investigating the relationships between sound, emotion, and the body. This collaboration led to an Agora grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation and continues to inform her current research. She has also worked with Jörg Rychen of ETH Zurich on orca communication during fieldwork in Norway, with the NCCR Evolving Language, and with CNRS marine biologist Thierry Pérez on the sonification of underwater sponges. Her work has been supported by Pro Helvetia, the City and Canton of Geneva, SSA, and the Swiss National Science Foundation. In 2019, she was selected for both the Swiss Art Award and the Swiss Performance Art Award. In 2025, she completed her first Kunst am Bau commission for the City of Nyon. In 2026–2027, she presents The Living Committee and NOISE BRAIN VISCERAL COUPLING, performed by the Eklekto ensemble, alongside the release of her first solo album, MYELINE.

Since 2013, Julie Semoroz has performed and exhibited in more than 80 cities across over 25 countries, including PSA Shanghai, the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, KKL Lucerne, Aargauer Kunsthaus, mudac, Le Lieu Unique (Nantes), the Swiss Cultural Centre (Paris), the EXPERIMENTA Biennial (Grenoble), Kaserne Basel, Rote Fabrik, the Comédie de Genève, and Fundación Teatro a Mil (Santiago, Chile). Upcoming presentations include the Art Môtiers Biennial, Fondation Fiminco in Paris (France) in collaboration with Plateforme 10 (Switzerland), A4 Art Museum in Chengdu (China), Simultan Festival in Timișoara (Romania), and Avant Art Festival (Poland).

“Her almost Pythagorean harmonies overwhelm the sounds of everyday life, the sounds of the body and movement, our silent murmurs.”
— Sarah Wilson, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London