26 & 27.10.26 THE SIRENIC — FOLLOW THE WATER FOLLOW THE SOUND

What connects Venice, alarm sirens, and the mythological sirens?

The book

The Sirenic – Follow the Water Follow the Sound (DIAPHANES), edited by Fabienne Liptay and Giuseppe Di Salvatore, brings together essays by artists, curators, and scholars on sirens from a variety of perspectives – from sound studies to ecological thinking, from contemporary feminism to expanded cinema.

The volume revives ancient and new mythologies through a transcultural approach that focuses on the recent reappropriation of sirens as agents of transformation and fluid identities.

Following the thematic paths that connect sirens with water and sound, the book also investigates the relations between alarm sirens and mythological sirens, between the imperative of warning sounds and the exhortation of the sirens’ song.

The Venice event

The city of Venice – a space of confluence between alarm sirens and mythological sirens – will provide the setting for the launch of the book The Sirenic – Follow the Water Follow the Sound (DIAPHANES), with a double event welcoming the book’s authors.

On October 26, 2026, at 6 pm, the bookstore bruno will host the book launch (held in English and Italian), with contributions by the book’s editors and authors.

On October 27, 2026, at 5 pm, the event starts from the Ugo and Olga Levi Foundation in Palazzo Giustinian with a soundwalk led by the artist Ruth Baettig. For the book, the artist developed a “sirenic” composition in collaboration with soprano Johanna Greulich and composer Joëlle Nager, which transforms and resonates with Giovanni Fusco’s vocalise in Michelangelo Antonioni’s film Il deserto rosso. The soundwalk will guide participants from the Fondazione Ugo e Olga Levi – which preserves and promotes the Fusco Collection – to Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, where the composition will be presented.

On October 27, 2026, at 6 pm, the Listening Session (held in English and Italian), will begin in the salon of Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, where the book’s editors and authors will present a series of sound experiences and readings resonating with notions of the sirenic.

An aperitif will conclude the event.

Curation

The double event is curated by Fabienne Liptay and Giuseppe Di Salvatore with contributions by Ruth Baettig, Dalida Maria Benfield, Lidia Gasperoni, Ute Holl, Roberta Ioli, Gabriel Paiuk, Alice Sartori, Davide Tolfo.

A cooperation of the University of Zurich, the platform FILMEXPLORER and the Institute for Performance and Film Expanded. With the patronage of the Consulate of Switzerland in Venice and in collaboration with the Fondazione Ugo e Olga Levi and the bookstore bruno.