Sahlan Momo – Concept. Librettist, director, set designer
Sahlan spent his formative years in several European countries and carried out cross-cultural fieldwork in North Africa, the Middle East and in South-East Asia (1968-1973), deepening the anthropological, spiritual, symbolic and aesthetic aspects of these civilisations. He began his professional career as an artist in 1966 investigating the non-mimetic representation of symbols, which developed into reflections on art and the creative process. He was Associate Professor of Painting and Professor of Photography at the Fine Arts Academy (Rome, 1974-1979).
In 1980 he took an interest in sustainability, the conservation of cultural heritage and the ‘book’ as an artistic expression. This led him to conceive of an innovative method of producing sustainable books and, in 1986, he founded the Semar publishing house to implement it. In 1989, he founded the international journal Conservation. Culture & Environment and remained Editor-in-Chief until 1999.
Sahlan was Professor of History of Art at the University “La Sapienza” and of History of Theatre at the European Institute of Design (Rome, 1989-1993) and lectured at several congresses during this period. In 2003 he established the Semar publishing international unit in The Hague.
In 2005, increasingly drawn to ethical business, intercultural dialogue, sustainability, development and systemic change, he established the Spanda Foundation. He is founder and Editor-in-Chief of Musiké. International Journal of Ethnomusicological Studies (2005—) and of Spanda Journal (2007—).
His artistic works are in private and institutional collections (Museum of Contemporary Art, Frankfurt; MoMA, New York; National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome, amongst others); he has served as Chair and Member of a number of advisory committees for academic, research and scientific institutions; authored radio broadcasts, books and papers on art theory, spirituality, consciousness, development, and he has been the recipient of several national and international awards and honours. Website
