From testimonies gathered in war zones to an immersive narrative shaped through audience interaction, the project offers a reflection on the concepts of proximity and distance in today’s era of real-time global communication.
This is the outcome of a creative journey developed by IED Milan students in collaboration with Emergency, resulting in the interactive installation INSIEME: COSÌ LONTANI, COSÌ VICINI.
The work will be inaugurated on March 19 at IED Madrid during the IN-Sonora festival, before traveling to Milan, where it will be on public display at Casa Emergency from March 27 to April 2, 2026.
The installation creates a dynamic space in which visitors can encounter fragments of stories from the war zones where Emergency operates. Voices, sounds and images come to life and transform according to the movements of the visitor lying within the space, gradually revealing a collective, choral and emotionally resonant composition. Because to express closeness, it is not enough simply to hear or passively receive a stimulus: participation is required — even the smallest gesture of engagement and exchange.
The authors are students from Sound Design, Animations, Media Design, Photography and Graphic Desing programmes