Venice

Tales From Earth is a creative process that connects all forms of life—human and non-human—through shared responsibility and imagination. We use storytelling to recall that we first spoke and heard the world before seeing it. Rooted in both reality and imagination, these stories guide us toward a future grounded in Earth’s memory.
The program unfolds over a day of talks and panels, ending with a concert that unites voices and sounds from diverse cultures and ecosystems. This journey unfolds along three paths, from Venice to Riyadh:

The Tree Library, a site-specific platform, reclaims forgotten spaces as shared territories of learning, care, and ecological co-existence among all living beings.

Art and One Health explores the ties between human, animal, and environmental health. In Venice, alongside the Maqam Music Festival, we’ll revisit ancient healing traditions through maqām, where music offered both soothing and cathartic power.

Nature as Co-author challenges us to see the natural world not just as context but as creator. Artists are invited to collaborate with trees, co-producing works that honor nature’s essential role in shaping culture—not only redefining creative processes but also challenging and expanding the foundations of art history by establishing a new contract with nature as a rightful partner in our cultural heritage.






##### **Guests of honor:**
- Anna Herringer, Architect and honorary professor of the UNESCO Chair of Earthen Architecture
- Maqām Festival, Multaqā al-Mūsīqā al-Maqāmiyya

### **PROGRAM**
**11.00 am - 11.30 am 	| The Tree Library: Cultivating Collective Harmony**
- Princess Mashael Al-Shalan, Co-founder - AEON Collective
- Markus Reymann, Co-director, TBA21 

**11:30 am - 12:15 pm | Inaugural conference - Nature as Co-author of art and cultural heritage**
-  Prof. Anna Herringer, Architect and honorary professor of the UNESCO Chair of Earthen Architecture
-  Dr. Abdelkader Damani, Historian of Art and philosopher, Artistic Director at AEON Collective 

**12:30 pm - 13:30 pm | Maqām Tree of Life - Modal/Tonal Musical Tree, Neuroscience and Therapy**
- Professor Nidaa Abou Mrad (Sorbonne Université, Institut de Recherche en Musicologie, Antonine University, Maqām Festival)
- Professor Paolo Bartolomeo (Brain Institute, Sorbonne Université) and
- Professor Nicolas Meeùs (Sorbonne Université, Institut de Recherche en Musicologie)
- Moderator: Professor Viviane Naimy (Notre Dame University).

**14:30 am - 15.45 pm | Culture and Nature as one heritage for one heir**
- Princess Mashael AlShalan, AEON Collective
- Mr. Julian Mylchreest, Vice Chair, Planethon 365.
- Prof. Carlos Duarte, KAUST  

**04:00 pm - 05:00 pm | Life as a journey to beauty**
- Luca Galofaro, architect, Italy
- Dr. Diana Seganttini, Art specialist, Switzerland,
- Ahmed Mater, Artist, Saudi Arabia
- Dr. Abdelkader Damani, Artistic Director AEON Collective, Algeria

**19:00 pm - 20:00 pm | “4000 Years of Maqām Music in the Mediterranean”, Maqām Festival Ensemble**
- Nidaa Abou Mrad, conducting, kemanšē, medieval fiddle and violin
- Tarik Beshir, singing and ‘ūd
- Rafka Rizk, chanting
- Ghassan Sahhab, qānūn and lyre


Princess Mashael AlShalan 

Abdelkader Damani

Carlos M. Duarte

Anna Heringer

Professor. Paolo Bartolomeo

Professor Nidaa Abou Mrad

Professor Viviane Naïmy

Professor Nicolas Meeùs

Diana Segantini

Professor Luca Galofaro

Riyadh Sprout Program

Tales From Earth 

Dialogs

Tales From Earth

Tales From Earth