Artist residency 2026

Maxime Heta is a Swiss multimedia artist whose practice unfolds through video, 3D, animation and installation. A degree in visual communication from HEAD – Geneva laid the foundations for an experimental approach to image-making. Moving image emerged as a privileged language for expressing what escapes words. Video became a space of layering, confusion and emotional release, a place where narration can remain open. The human body occupies a central place in his work. Initially addressed through the lens of digital abstraction, it appeared fragmented, mechanical, pixelated. Through 3D realism and digital manipulation, Maxime explored the ways in which the virtual transforms materiality, presence and temporality. The body thus becomes an object of metamorphosis, stripped of stability and reduced to a texture, a cell, a piece of data.

Over time, this approach has evolved. The body remains at the core of his research, but the focus has shifted to what it carries: heritage, memory, transmitted trauma. The body as archive, as emotional terrain, as vessel for generational echoes.

Coming from a background in graphic design, his path gradually shifted towards video, which became a field of self-taught exploration, further developed during the Master’s programme in Space and Communication at HEAD – Geneva (now Master in Installation Design). His learning of video was shaped through constant experimentation in which tools were reappropriated. This cross-disciplinary approach now nourishes a distinctive visual language located at the intersection of still and moving image.

Born in Lausanne on 2 July 1998, Amina Jendly — an ecosystem of micro-organisms, a blend of English algae, Swiss waters and Russo-Lithuanian microbes — is an artist, researcher and facilitator of philosophy practices with children.

After training in philosophy practices for children within the SEVE association and completing a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts at EDHEA in Sierre, Amina recently completed a Master’s degree in Visual Arts, CCC Option (Critical Curatorial Cybermedia) at HEAD – Genève.

Her theoretical and practical research, as well as her artistic work, explore ways in which we can develop new forms of relationships with more-than-human beings that surround us, liminal spaces and marginal practices, as well as the creation of methods and tools to foster critical thinking, creative thinking and affective thinking. Through a dissertation on philosophy practices with children through artistic means, along with workshops, installations, exhibitions, mediation projects and micro-publishing, Amina Jendly creates and archives encounters between different audiences and different species.

Embedded in the cultural and associative landscapes of Vaud and Valais, Amina has been active since 2011 in several associations and collectives working in cultural mediation for all audiences, publishing, curating and promoting access to culture.

From her first group exhibition as part of Festival Images OFF in 2016, to her residency at La Becque in La Tour-de-Peilz, to the presentation of five years of creative research on micro-organisms in a studio-gallery in Montreux, and more recently her exhibition “Motel of the Watery Beings” in Martigny, Amina Jendly cultivates artistic practices connected to the living world, to young people, and interrogates nature-cultural norms.

Reema Nubani was born in 1999 in Judeida–al-Makr, in the Upper Galilee.
Her practice moves between painting, writing, and material exploration. She works in the spaces where
weight lifts into air, where presence slips into absence, and where silence becomes a form of speech.
She returns often to concrete and zinc; materials that have built walls and checkpoints, yet also hold the
memory of homes and intimate interiors. By fragmenting, corroding, or softening these materials, she
reveals the fragility held inside structures of violence and lets matter speak in its own register.

Since 2021, she has exhibited in Palestine and Switzerland, including Black Sun (Bezalel Academy,
Jerusalem, 2022), Instant Modernism (Fondation Qattan, Ramallah, 2023), The dreams in which we’re flying
are the best we’ve ever had(Festival Les Urbaines, Lausanne, 2023), Ever Ever Expanding Waves: Flux (FMAC, Geneva, 2024), and D’abord les fraises, puis les fleurs (Forde × The Funambulist, Geneva, 2025). Her work has also appeared in The Funambulist (Issue 58: Return).

Her process often begins with fragments; writing, archives, scientific traces. Through unexpected
connections, poetry forms and questions emerge, guiding materials into movement. What drives her is a
search for how fragile gestures endure, how matter absorbs memory, and how instincts persist despite
erosion.

I am Lola Rust, an interdisciplinary designer and artist recently graduated from HEAD. My practice has been shaped by the rich visual and cultural universe of my family: my grandmother’s stories awakened my imagination, my father introduced me to 1980s cartoons and craftsmanship, my mother immersed me in fashion and galleries, and my sister’s creativity filled our home with drawings and colours. Growing up in this environment allowed the artist within me to emerge gradually.

My background as a dancer gave me a bodily language, which I gradually transformed into a formal language while continuing to tell stories. My experience as a model also immersed me in a visual and pictorial world, nourishing my sensitive approach to image, composition, and the relationship to the body.

Today, my practice sits at the intersection of sculpture, jewellery, installation, and accessory, in a constant dialogue between body, narrative, and material. Curious and experimental, I explore the crossroads of art and design, interrogating symbols, stories, and inherited forms to propose new interpretations. My work draws from myths, folktales, family memories, and everyday gestures to create sensitive objects that carry personal and collective narratives.

Through hybrid pieces — simultaneously wearable and sculptural — I seek to subvert codes, overturn stereotypes, and evoke subtle forms of emancipation. The audience occupies a central place in my practice: I aim to establish a dialogue, provoke thought, or foster an exchange between the performance of the work and those around it. Each creation thus becomes a fragment of a story, weaving meaning between the intimate and the collective, the visible and the invisible, while actively engaging the viewer’s participation.

Marc-Arthur Sohna is a Franco-Cameroonian designer and artist, recently graduated from the Master’s programme in Space and Communication at the Haute École d'Art et Design de Genève (Switzerland). He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Object and Spatial Design from the École Supérieure d’Art et Design de Saint-Étienne (France).
His work draws upon African mythologies and folktales to construct alternative worlds and reimagine contemporary narratives. Through multimedia installations and performances featuring protagonists from other realms, he explores the essence of these myths in order to question the future of marginalised identities.

He also takes inspiration from science fiction and pop culture, merging these references to address social issues within a decolonial approach. He has a strong belief in the transformative power of stories and in the crucial importance of representation as a means of reclaiming collective agency. His artistic approach seeks to create spaces for reflection where identities can be reinvented, freed from imposed frameworks.
Navigating between cultural heritage and fictional worlds, Marc-Arthur Sohna develops a design practice in which storytelling becomes an act of resistance.

My name is Mohamad Khamis and I am currently in my third year of a Master’s degree in Architecture and Urban Design at ALBA (Lebanon), as part of a dual programme. I chose this field because it allows me to leave a tangible mark on the world while drawing on imagination, creativity and human sensitivity.

During my academic journey, I completed several internships in different architecture practices, where I developed my skills in design, project management and the use of professional software. These experiences taught me to work with rigour and method, while nurturing my interest in creating functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces that meet users’ needs.

What I appreciate in architecture and urban design is the ability to create spaces that tell a story, evoke emotion and encourage interaction between people. I am particularly drawn to lively projects where functionality, aesthetics and human experience come together.

Alongside my studies, I practise drawing and fine arts, exploring oil on canvas, watercolour and realistic portraiture. This practice enhances my attention to detail and fuels my creativity.

I have also been involved in various volunteer activities, such as participating in an educational day at the Lebanese School for the blind and deaf people, supporting pupils in a public school (Citizens Lebanon), and distributing food to families in need. These experiences strengthened my sense of listening, empathy and social responsibility.

In 2025, I won a writing competition, the prize for which was a trip to Italy. There, I attended a language course and met participants from various countries, which proved to be a highly enriching cultural and human experience. I also visited several cities, each with its own identity, which further fed my curiosity, passion for travel and broadened my understanding of urban environments.