TACTUS Radio Festival 2025

War radio, peace radio

The University of the Republic of San Marino, through Usmaradio – Research Centre for Radio, presents the second edition of TACTUS Radio Festival, to be held from 12 to 14 December 2025 in the main hall of the Ancient Monastery of Santa Chiara. The central theme of the edition is “War Radio, Peace Radio”: a journey of reflection and practice on contemporary radio, podcasting, and the forms of sonic communication that today participate in processes of conflict, resistance, and peacebuilding.

The project is carried out in collaboration with ORF Kunstradio and Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and edited by Andrea Borgnino, Roberto Paci Dalò, Nathalie Singer ed Elisabeth ZimmermannThe initiative is part of the University's annual program dedicated to peace, promoted by the Rector Conrad Petrocelli and shared by the university community.

Maurine Mercier: Live from Ukraine

One of the most powerful moments of the festival will be the intervention of the journalist Maurine Mercier, correspondent in Ukraine for the RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse), which will connect December 12th directly from UkraineMercier is the author of the popular podcast Ukrainian Cards, in which, through voice notes, he documents the daily life of the conflict, giving voice to intimate stories often overlooked by traditional reportage.

His field experience is widely recognized: he has been living in Kiev since 2022 and has received numerous international awards, including the Bayeux-Calvados War Correspondents Prize.

Mercier's participation in the festival is not only symbolic: during the input session on December 12th (“Ukrainian Cards (Presentation with Q&A), the audience will be able to engage directly with her, ask questions, and discuss the war narrative. This remote connection will offer a unique perspective on what it means to do radio from inside a conflict.

The festival offers live performances, frontal sessions by the curators on the theme of the use of radio in war theatres (among the interventions: “The enemy is always listening” by Borgnino and “Sonic Warfare” by Paci Dalò) and, above all, free workshops open to the public which will take place throughout the three days. The workshops are designed to allow anyone—students, professionals, enthusiasts, and the general public—to experiment with radio-making practices, broadcast device construction, and collective sound design.

The workshop sessions

In the heart of TACTUS – War radio, peace radioThe three-day workshop offers an immersive journey dedicated to listening, broadcasting, and collective planning. Activities led by Nathalie Singer, Elisabeth Zimmermann, and Andrea Borgnino offer participants the opportunity to explore radio not only as a technical medium, but as a cultural and social practice. Dyaden-Exercise, which trains deep and relational listening through a structured dialogue in pairs, Blind Walk, which will take place in the vicinity of the University and in the historic center of Titano, which invites us to perceive space exclusively through sound and trust in others, the workshop fosters a new sensitivity towards what is "felt" rather than what is "seen".

Alongside these practices, the session Radio Waves as a Common takes participants on a journey through the electromagnetic spectrum, thanks to Usmaradio's new KIWI SDR receiving station*, revealing signals and soundscapes that are usually invisible. The journey concludes on Sunday morning with the World Café, a moment of collective discussion where we share insights, connections, and visions to imagine the "radio of the future." A workshop that combines experience, listening, and experimentation, transforming radio into a shared space for research and participation.

This year's guest artists, who will perform live at the end of the second day (Saturday at 19:30 PM), are: The Empire of Light e Andrei Rublev.

The activities will be held in English and Italian.

PROGRAM

Friday 12

16:00 Welcome and introduction

17:30 – 18:30 Introductory session War Radio / Peace Radio

• “Sonic Warfare” by Roberto Paci Dalò
• “Listening with the Third Ear” – Radio Resistance, by Nathalie Singer

Discussion with all participants

18:30 – 19:30 “Carnets d'Ukraine” by Maurine Mercier (online presentation with Q&A)

21:30 DJ-SET with Andrea Borgnino aka DJ Armeno
Location: Coop. Il Macello

Saturday 13

9:30 – 11:30 Dyaden Exercise with Nathalie Singer

11:30 – 12:30 Second session War Radio / Peace Radio

• “The enemy is always listening” by Andrea Borgnino
• “Radio Art Projects in Times of War and Conflict” by Elisabeth Zimmermann

Discussion with all participants

14:00 – 16:00 “Electric Forests” — An Electromagnetic Sound Walk with The Empire of Light
“Blind Walk” with Nathalie Singer

- break -

16:30 – 19:30 Transmission tools and devices

• Input: “Radio Waves as a Common” by Andrea Borgnino
• “Alternative Radio-Transmission Tools” curated by the curators

Feedback and summary

19:30 – 20:30 Performance of The Empire of Light and Andrei Rublev

Sunday 14th of

9:30 – 11:30 Open laboratory — World Café with Nathalie Singer & Elisabeth Zimmermann
“Prototyping the radio of the future”

11:30 – 12:30 Final session and feedback

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Some festival activities are reserved for workshop participants.
To apply for the workshop, please send a short motivational letter to tactus@usmaradio.org

The Slaughterhouse is located in front of the Ancient Monastery of Santa Chiara, Contrada delle Mura 43, City of San Marino.