The Assembly of Writings

A collective exploration of the new relations between contemporary writing and artistic practice.

Research project (2025) with Federico Nicolao

Courses: BA FINE ARTS, MA FINE ARTS, MAC MA CI
Assistants: Valentina Parati, Alice Peach
Image: Untitled 1 (La casa delle schegge), 2025 nitro print on tissue paper, cardboard, labels 27,0 x 20,0 cm, © Alice Peach

The Assembly of Writings is a research project conducted at ECAL / University of Art and Design Lausanne, between September 2024 and October 2025. Conceived and directed by Federico Nicolao, assisted by Valentina Parati and Alice Peach, and supported by the HES-SO, the project gathered artists, writers, philosophers, and key figures from the contemporary arts scene to examine the transformations of writing and its dialogue with the arts. Through a year of encounters, workshops, and discussions, the participants explored how writing today extends beyond its literary field to intersect with visual and performative practices. The project culminated in a collective publication, bringing together more than thirty contributions in diverse formats—texts, images, conversations, fragments— each revealing a new way of perceiving and transmitting the experience of the possible synergies between arts and writings.

The Assembly of Writings positions writing as both material and gesture, an experimental field where thought and creation merge. This collective inquiry reflects ECAL’s commitment to fostering new forms of knowledge at the crossroads of art, literature, and philosophy.

Principal investigator: Federico Nicolao
Research team: Valentina Parati
Alice Peach
Lecturers and researchers: Emmanuel Alloa, Luc Andrié, Micol Assaël, Mathias Augustyniak, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha, Mariacristina Cavagnoli, Zoé Cornelius, Roberto Cuoghi, Tacita Dean, Marcelline Delbecq, Camille de Toledo, Suzanne Doppelt, Haytham El Wardany, Lucas Erin, Elein Fleiss, Linda Fregni Nagler, Mathilde Girard, Donatien Grau, Alain Guiraudie, Yannick Haenel, Koo Jeong-A, Jochen Lempert, Angèle Metzger, Stéphanie Moisdon, Gaëlle Obiegly, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Chiara Parisi, Fabienne Raphoz, Francesca Torzo, Carmen et Franco Toselli, Shirin Yousefi, Hanns Zischler
Assistants: Valentina Parati
Alice Peach
Students and alumni: Lucas Aulaigner, Francesco de Bernardi, Jean Bourgois, Lorenzo De Bellis, Francesco De Bernardi, Livia De Gumoëns, Ange Frédéric Koffi, Taleb Lacheb, Asia Lapai, Paul R. Levante, Mélody Lu, Marta Morandini, Ludovico Orombelli
Funded by: HES-SO – Haute école spécialisée de Suisse occidentale (RCDAV)
Period: 01.09.2024 – 31.10.2025

10. 12. 2024, meeting with Marcelline Delbecq, Evian, © Valentina Parati

10. 12. 2024, Marcelline Delbecq reading in Evian, Valentina Parati, Evian, © Alice Peach

07. 02. 2025, meeting with Jochen Lempert and Linda Nagler, Hambourg, © Federico Nicolao

26. 02. 2025, meeting with Gaëlle Obiegly, Lausanne, © Federico Nicolao

28. 02. 2025, meeting with Micol Assaël, Lausanne, © Valentina Parati

06. 05. 2025, dialogue between Mariacristina Cavagnoli and Roberto Cuoghi, Soresina © Alessandra Sofia

15. 05. 2025, meeting with Camille de Toledo, Lausanne, © Federico Nicolao

01. 04. 2025, dialogue between Haytham el Wardany and Alice Peach, Lausanne, © Federico Nicolao

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