Introducing Barcelona residency artists: Tianjun and Ivana
Two amazing artists are starting their PMP artist residency right after the workshop week in Barcelona. They will work for a month in Barcelona and after that, they´ll continue their work for another 4 weeks online. Both artists will be working on a section for the PMP Toolkit as well as with their own artistic projects. Here are short introductions to the artists and their work during the residency.
Tianjun Li
Website: timjune.com
Instagram: @timjunele
Tianjun Li (b. 1999, CN/FI), also known as Timjune, is a Helsinki-based interdisciplinary and vocal-sonic artist whose practice integrates lens-based media, performance, and voice to reimagine human-nature relationships within contemporary socio-ecological contexts. Li holds an MA Degree in Visual Cultures, Curating, and Contemporary Art, with a Minor in Sound in New Media from Aalto University, Finland.
Born with synesthesia and a vocal range spanning over four octaves, Li transforms natural and social landscapes into reconstructed images, soundscapes, and vocal performances. Li’s works craft fable-like reimagined utopias on grounded realities, challenging perceptions of identity and coexistence in the Anthropocene.
Li’s work has been exhibited and performed at venues such as the Northern Photographic Centre (FI), Kotka Art Biennale (FI), Contemporary Image Museum (CN), M. Žilinskas Art Museum (LT), Kuću Legata Museum (RS) , Africa Foto Fair x MuCAT Museum (CI), Skissernas Museum (SE) and Design Museum of Barcelona (ES).
PMP Toolkit
Tianjun Li will explore how AI can expand human creativity, particularly in sound and ecological narratives. His Toolkit contribution will investigate AI’s ability to reinterpret the human voice, reshaping it to challenge artistic expression. He will also examine social media’s role in empowering underrepresented artists.
Free as Birds Project
“How can we, through human voices and machine imagination, sing birdsongs reimagined for the dispersed Anthropocene?” This question guides Free as Birds, an interdisciplinary project exploring how human voice and machine imagination can come together to address themes of migration, ecological loss, and identity. The project transforms traditional folk songs from various cultures about migration into reimagined “bird’s lyrics,” creating a space where humans, machines, and the non-human meet in a shared dialogue. During the residency, Tianjun Li would like to develop the project further by also including Spanish and Catalan culture in the research perspectives.
Ivana Tkalčić
Website: ivanatkalcic.com
Facebook: @Ivana Tkalčić
Instagram: @ivana4anavi
Ivana Tkalčić, born in 1987, is a multimedia artist and researcher. She earned degrees in economics from the Faculty of Economics and in fine arts from the Academy of Fine Arts Zagreb, University of Zagreb. Tkalčić has exhibited solo and in group events across Europe and globally. She has received numerous nominations and awards including the Radoslav Putar Award, HPB Grand Prix, and RCAA. From year 2024 she is also part of Contemporary Art Collection of European Parlament. Her art residencies span countries like Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Japan, Belgium, Norway, and the U.S.
PMP Toolkit
During the residency, Ivana will explore how emerging technologies can amplify environmental narratives, integrating speculative thinking, environmental research, and artistic practice, fostering a deeper connection between humanity and the natural world. She will also work on topics, such as:
- Critical Engagement with Digital Media: Strategies to analyze and challenge algorithmic systems and digital identity construction.
- Media Ethics and Trust: Frameworks for navigating the ethical implications of AI and digital media.
EarthSkin
Ivana Tkalčić’s artistic practice blends art, science, and technology, exploring archives, memory, and identity through interdisciplinary collaboration. During the residency she would like to develop her project, EarthSkin, further examining deeply the connection between soil and human skin, highlighting their regenerative nature. Through storytelling, performance, and video installations, she fosters emotional engagement with ecological issues, inspiring sustainable and restorative interactions with nature.
We wish both artists a fruitful residency experience!