© Lucas van der Rhee
Sébastien Robert (b. 1993, Nantes, FR) is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher working at the intersection of visual and sound art, technology, science, and ethnography. His projects mostly unfold within a long-term research cycle titled You’re no Bird of Paradise, through which he explores disappearing sonic rituals and cosmologies.
Beyond simple documentation—but distinct from a formal ethnographic archiving approach—his work seeks to translate these immaterial resources into long-lasting, tangible artworks. These are shaped using materials that resonate with the traditions of the communities he encounters and the geo-specificities of the territories he explores.
Through this practice, Sébastien aims to foster an engaged and evolving dialogue between non-Western epistemologies and contemporary technology—challenging dominant ways of perceiving the world and foregrounding its pluralistic, often overlooked, knowledge systems.
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As an integral part of his research practice, Sébastien has taken part in several artist residencies, including Artica (Longyearbyen, NO), Iméra (Marseille, FR) and Valley of the Possible (Curacautin, CL) and he gave lectures at institutions such as the Mucem (Marseille, FR), the ITMO University (Saint Petersburg, RU) and the HEAD (Geneva, CH).
His work has recently been exhibited at venues including Kunstfort (Vijhuizen, NL), Light Art Museum (Budapest, HU) and Scopitone (Nantes, FR) and has performed at various internationally recognised events such as Rewire (The Hague, NL), Chroniques (Marseille, FR) and Organik (Hualien, TW). Sébastien graduated with honours in 2020 from the ArtScience Master between the KABK - Royal Academy of Art and KC - Royal Conservatory of The Hague, where he is currently based.