Sahlan Momo – Concept. Librettist, director, set designer
Sahlan spent his formative years in several European countries and carried out cross-cultural fieldwork in North Africa, the Middle East and in South-East Asia (1968-1973), deepening the anthropological, spiritual, symbolic and aesthetic aspects of these civilizations.
He began his professional career as an artist in 1966 investigating the non-mimetic representation of symbols, which developed into reflections on art and the creative process. He was Associate Professor of Painting and Professor of Photography at the Fine Arts Academy (Rome, 1974-1979). In 1980 he took an interest in sustainability, the conservation of cultural heritage and the ‘book’ as an artistic expression. This led him to conceive of an innovative method of producing sustainable books and, in 1986, he founded the Semar publishing house to implement it. In 1989, he founded the international journal Conservation. Culture & Environment and remained Editor-in-Chief until 1999.
Sahlan was Professor of History of Art at the University “La Sapienza” and History of Theatre at the European Institute of Design (Rome, 1989-1993) and lectured at several congresses during this period. In 2003 he established the Semar international unit in The Hague. In 2005, increasingly drawn to ethical business, cross-culture, intercultural and interfaith dialogue, development and systemic change, he established the Spanda Foundation in the same city.
From 2016, while managing and carrying on the cultural and social work of the Foundation, he is elaborating and focusing on Meeting in the Cave his most recent artistic endeavour. In 2017, the systematization and the catalogue raisonné of his creative itinerary have begun, followed by the framing of the artist-endowed Sahlan Momo Foundation for cultural philanthropy and consciousness stewardship.
He is founder and Editor-in-Chief of Musiké. International Journal of Ethnomusicological Studies (2005 —) and of Spanda Journal (2007 —). His artistic works are in private and institutional collections (MoMA, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Frankfurt; National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome, amongst others); he has served as Chair and Member of several advisory committees for academic, research and scientific institutions; authored radio broadcasts, books and papers on art theory, spirituality, consciousness, development, and he has been the recipient of several national and international awards and honours. Website
Emanuella Amichai – Director
Emanuella is a director and choreographer living and working in Tel Aviv. Her stage work combines performance, dance and visual art in a unique style characterized by a powerful visuality and a very clear aesthetics emphasizing the physical and visual aspect of the human body and its condition.
Her works, commissioned and granted by dance and theatre institutions such as the BI Arts UK Foundation, the Israeli Culture Institute, the Rabinovich Foundation, the Move Award, the Israel Lottery Council for the Arts, the Jerusalem Culture Season, and the Israel Festival among others, have been widely presented in Israel and abroad.
Her stage works The Neighbors Grief Is Greener (2013) and Lyzistratax (2014) have been chosen by the European quality label Move Award for outstanding visual performance.
Emanuella was a member of the fringe committee and Head Artistic Producer for the Maabada theatre in Jerusalem, where she launched various events. She is teaching acting, dance theatre and performance at the Drama Department of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and is delivering independent workshops on performance, acting, and movement. She founded and is the artistic director of the creative theatre company Merchav, a Jerusalem-based multidisciplinary group involving students and graduates. Website
