As part of the Inner Landscape Festival at the Fondation des États-Unis, Saudade – Memory and Traces is an immersive concert and live art installation exploring nostalgia, longing, and the emotional traces left by memory. Inspired by the Portuguese concept of saudade — a melancholic yearning for someone, somewhere, or something beloved — the project reflects the shared experience of international residents living far from their native cultures and communities.
Led by cellist Lily Stern in collaboration with visual artist Katya Vaz, the performance features original works by residents of the Fondation, including Dayton Hares, alongside composers from diverse cultural backgrounds. Each composition offers an intimate musical glimpse into a different personal and cultural perspective, inviting audiences into a collective space of reflection and cross-cultural encounter.
During the concert, artworks will be created live through the physical vibrations of the music itself. Nichrome wires attached to the instruments will transform sound vibrations into heat, marking carbon and thermal paper in real time and allowing the music to quite literally draw itself into existence. These visual traces become both evidence and memory of the performance — preserving fleeting sonic moments in physical form. In this way, the project explores music as a living archive: a medium through which emotion can be remembered, transformed, and revisited over time.
Following the performance, the artworks generated during the concert will remain on exhibition throughout the festival, from June 13 to June 25, turning the space into a site of memory where audiences may return to relive the experience through its visual remnants.
The project is supported by the Fond initiatives résidents de la Cité internationale and developed in collaboration with the Fondation des États-Unis, Maison des étudiants canadiens, Maison de Norvège, and Maison du Portugal.
