Artists in residence

Federico Arani (1995, Italy) is a London-Rome based artist whose practice encompasses sculpture, painting and site-specific installations as well as curating exhibitions and community-based projects. He studied Painting and Visual Arts at NABA in Milan and earned a MFA in Sculpture from the Slade School of Art in London in 2023. Federico is co-founder of the artist-run space and collective Porto Simpatica in Rome and the founder of Scoppio Project in Umbria, Italy. In 2021, he was a finalist for the Ducato Prize in Italy. Recent and upcoming exhibitions includes Commonage, London (2025); Akku Kunstplattform, Emmen (2025); NEST, AlULa (2025); Litografia Bulla, Rome (2025); Limbo Contemporary, Milan (2025); Salon ACME, Mexico City (2025); Hypha Studios, London (2024); Spaziomensa, Rome (2024); Split Gallery, London (2023). 

Larissa is a polyvalent artist working in a broad variety of media, such as installations, sound, light, text and photography.

Her practice focuses on creating stories about past events that have been forgotten, denied or side-lined by official narratives. Driven by research, her artworks are developed as alternative histories, that the artist reconstructs after gathering documents and belongings, investigating archives, exploring ruins and recording memories that are not included in mainstream social accounts. Between reality and fiction, she tries to discuss possible futures and unrevealed pasts using mythology and rituals.

Pianist and composer, Yakir Arbib is an internationally acclaimed improviser hailed by the press as “the king of improvisation” for his ability to create entire musical compositions on the spot. The Israeli musician tours the world inspiring crowds with his virtuosity on the piano and his own original blending of classical music and jazz. 

A Berklee College of Music alumni, Yakir Arbib has won several international prizes, including the America-Israel Cultural Foundation for young talents (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) and the Massimo Urbani International Jazz Award (2008). In July 2015, he won Second Prize at the Montreux International Piano Jazz Competition. He was declared as “the most extremely original pianist” by the jury, and was invited to perform on the international scene with renowned musicians Al Jarreau, Nils Petter Molvaer and Kurt Rosenwinkel. At age 19, he was signed by the European Philology Jazz Records (Chet Baker, Lee Konitz and Phil Woods) under which he released his first album in trio Portrait, in 2009.

Yakir Arbib currently tours the world both as a solo artist giving piano recitals, and with other groups which perform his music. He has appeared in venues such as the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington D.C.), Tanna Schulich Hall (Montreal), the Jerusalem Theater (Jerusalem), Montreux Palace Theater (Montreux), and the Teatro Vascello (Rome) among others. His compositions are commissioned by such notable ensembles as ALEA III, The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Triple Helix Piano Trio and the Stradivari String Sextet. Since June 2019, he is signed by the JMS label in France.

Yakir Arbib has been featured on radio stations worldwide such as CIBL 101.5 (Montreal, Canada), TSF Jazz (Paris, France), RTS (Switzerland), Dobop (Tel Aviv, Israel) and on Italian national tv, SKY CLASSICA and Medici tv.

Luciana Arbus-Scandiffio is a former Wallace Stegner Fellow in poetry at Stanford University. She received her MFA at the Michener Center for Writers and her BA at Bennington College. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Poetry Review, Bennington Review, Poetry Northwest, and Oxford Poetry. She has two lesbian moms and is originally from New Jersey.