Artists in residence

MUSIC
PIANO 

Born in 1992, Josquin Otal started the piano at Conservatoire régional de Lyon. In 2010, he entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse of Paris in the class of Anne Queféllec and then Denis Pascal. He has already performed chamber music, recital and in various orchestras in festivals in France and abroad. 

INTERVIEW

What changes and developments are to be noted in your work thanks to the residency at the Cité internationale des arts in Montmartre?

“Actually, my residency at the Cité internationale des arts coincides with the arrival of my child and a life together as a threesome. This arrival has, by necessity, established a different relationship on a daily basis. Probably the biggest change. In terms of creation, I was able to establish links with several partners in Île-de-France in the management of my writing project, in the artistic, scientific and dissemination fields. 

One of the most striking openings is the one to the spatial imagination, initiated with astrophysicists from the Paris-Saclay campus. I discovered – and this is only the beginning – a vertiginous universe, closely linked to my artistic aspirations. I am currently in the process of transposing the notion of vertigo into my practice in the search for life in Space through two space missions (Corot and Plato). This research leads me to collaborate with visual artists and an electroacoustic composer in the design of a series of installations and scenography for a show.”

An anecdote about your residency at the Cité internationale des arts, on the Montmartre site?

“Rather than anecdotes, it’s a very special rhythm here in Montmartre. The daily passages in front of the Nasser lodge (guardian on the Montmartre site) sometimes punctuated by coffees, the arrival of artists from the other side of the world with whom we exchange and with whom we may no longer see, the couple settled there since the re-urbanisation of the Montparnasse district in the 1960s, our son Biriam who passes from arm to arm with a smile, the daily visit of a former resident who comes to recharge her batteries between the trees in the garden, times of availability and others of withdrawal, the sounds of machines sometimes or hammered blows on the stone that make people say that someone is creating something somewhere…”

BIOGRAPHY

Musician and writer, Milan Otal regularly collaborates with ensembles to rework the ritual dimension of the concert by writing texts and booklets. 

Otse Mbida Fabrice Alan is an electronic composer, sound artist and DJ (under the name Skriim) who has carved out a unique place for himself in contemporary music and sound art. His work transforms organic and unconventional sounds into innovative compositions blending African rhythms, percussive textures and electronic synthesizers. Although he has no formal training in sound techniques, his self-taught career is a testament to his resilience and passion. These have guided his artistic evolution, earning him international recognition for his experimental and emotionally resonant sound works. With an emphasis on societal issues, Otse uses sound installations, radio art, and sound performance to connect with audiences on an instinctive level. Since 2024, his work has been presented worldwide in solo and group exhibitions such as the FredD Festival, the Longueur d’ondes Festival, the Futura Festival, Muslab and, most recently, in January 2025, the Langage Plus exhibition in Quebec. He also creates sound and music for theatre. Awarded the Goethe Discovery Prize in 2019, he continues to push boundaries, proving that creativity thrives even in difficult circumstances.