Sirr al-'Asrâr
Skander Ben Yahia is a musician and an innovation project manager based in Paris. He primarily works on electronic music production and performances. Skander's passion for music has led to diverse and impactful realizations: from codirecting collectives to creating an album and several EPs passing by the development of live performances, he has cultivated a rich and dynamic musical landscape. He has been involved in the music industry since 2015, exploring its multifaceted aspects while pursuing academic education in technology and innovation management, specializing in innovation creativity from Université Paris-Dauphine.
Skander is currently involved in diverse artistic initiatives. He is producing his second album under the Near Stoic alias. Concurrently, he is actively engaged in refining the live audio-visual experience for Sirr al-'Asrâr, a collaborative project involving Skander Jaïbi and Zohra Mrad, aimed at delivering immersive and impactful performances.
Additionally, he is in the process of launching a music hub, in partnership with Skander Jaïbi and Zohra Mrad, dedicated to providing a platform for artists from the MENA region to express their artistic visions and to share their knowledge with their audience.
Skander Jaïbi is a Tunisian and Dutch audiovisual artist and philosopher of science, holding a position as a lecturer and researcher at the University of Applied Sciences in Amsterdam. He graduated as a physicist in 2017 and as a philosopher of physics in 2020. Skander has developed as a sound designer, experimental musician, and audiovisual artist, with a strong focus on the use of field recordings, archival material and scenographic design. His work includes compositions for dance, visual reinterpretations of Van Gogh's paintings, and various audiovisual performances.
In 2016, he co-founded Uncloud, a festival and organization for interdisciplinary and experimental arts, which has played a crucial role in his personal and artistic development. His practice bridges genres and disciplines and mirrors his various interests in form and content, with the goal of making inaccessible concepts, whether cultural, philosophical or scientific, understandable and tangible. Recently, he embarked on a journey where he connects his practice of calligraphy with audiovisual and scenographic design.
Zohra Mrad is a Tunisian-Luxembourgish visual artist and interaction designer based in Luxembourg. Her work invites a dialogue between the human experience and technology, exploring the intersections between open-source media and manual techniques like stop-motion, engraving, and painting. Zohra’s focus on interactive installations and generative, textured and contrasted visuals challenges viewers to transform from passive observers to active creators. She collaborates with artists from diverse backgrounds to create immersive experiences that consider sustainability, inclusion, and movement. Her abstract and highly contrasted visuals, adapted to various mediums, are a reflection of her deep interest in the human sensory system, neuroscience, and traditional printing methods. Zohra is currently exploring how immersive performances and interactive installations can help us cope with the world around us.
As a member of the artists collectives B-Saad and Zolei, Zohra has been nominated for the Luxembourg Design Awards 2023 and exhibited her work online, and in Europe and Tunisia. She currently organises and curates a serie of artistic residencies in Luxembourg called Vivid Echoes. She has a BA in graphic design and digital communication from ESAIG, Paris (Ecole supérieure des Arts et Industries Graphiques) and graduated from The Gobelins School, Paris with a BA in Interactive Design and a MA in Design & management of interactive innovations.