Extra Academy is a collaboration between the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Sint Lucas Antwerp and Royal conservatory of Antwerp. They organize an open program of lectures, performances, workshops and screenings around artistic practices, reflection and research. Since September 2024 they hold there monthly meetings at Stadsform. The program is in English and open for non students also, no need to register!
Tomer Damsky is a sound artist, choral leader, and educator based in Barcelona, working in and between the worlds of early music, folk, metal, and electronic music. As a researcher, Damsky focuses on the intersections between historical sound studies, mystical literature, philosophies of listening, and the reconstruction of archive materials into new sonic formations.
Since 2011 Damsky has taught in interdisciplinary platforms worldwide. She is a professor of sound art and choral composition at the School of Visual Theater and the Musrara School of Art & Society (Jerusalem) and is currently a PhD researcher at Orpheus Institute, the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, and the Ruusbroec Institute for the History of Spirituality, collaborating with the CERCCA (Center for Aesthetics, Religion, and Contemporary Culture) at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. Her research explores the sonic world of Carmelite nuns in 16th-century Spain and its translation into contemporary vocal music.
As an active musician, Damsky has created, performed, and designed sound for theater, dance, and film, collaborating with numerous choreographers, filmmakers, and directors. She is a self-taught conductor of vocal ensembles, the director of Barcelona-based Coro Del Gallinero, and the founder of the Quantum Choir, a vocal group performing extreme interpretations of ancient texts. As a composer, Damsky has collaborated with versatile artists and ensembles, among them Chœurs de Jeunes de la Monnaie (Belgium), and Ensemble Mazì (Italy). Damsky regularly tours and records as the frontwoman of the Belgian-based Oriental Doom project Atonia and industrial audiovisual trio Wackelkontakt. She released music on labels from Spain, France, Germany, and Belgium, and performed in theaters, galleries, clubs, and festivals in Zurich, Vienna, New York, Paris, Munich, Brussels, Athens, Rome, Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belgrade, Moscow, and more.