The Suspended Echo: Arias for Birds Who Refused to Leave

Her work challenges perceptions of identity, the body and agency. Antolí's latest exhibition reflects on the political and ecological weight of stillness. In an era marked by forced displacement — due to war, extraction, gentrification or climate collapse. ‘The Suspended Echo: Arias for Birds That Refused to Leave’ is, in fact, the continuation of a broader work and research project, preceded by An Aria For The Mallard, which was presented earlier this year at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon. An Aria For The Mallard sought to reimagine the traditional operatic form by dedicating an aria to a more-than-human subject: the mallard duck. After years of research into the more-than-human, Rosana was invited by the European Network of Opera Academies and welcomed by the Gulbenkian Foundation to continue developing this line of research in opera. Viewing opera as a form traditionally centred on human existential drama, she sought to challenge this perspective by placing the more-than-human on stage, shifting the focus of attention from the anthropocentric dilemma to cooperation and collaboration between species. 

This exhibition is a collaboration between ArtEN (Art Embassy Network), The Florence Trust and the Instituto Cervantes in London.