The Simultan Association presents in Timisoara a new edition of the project SONIC NARRATIVES. From May 26th to June 10th, artists from France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Estonia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Norway, and Romania propose types of reading of contemporary realities through their art and invite us to reflect on the diversity of the world, but especially on its fragility.
The official opening of the program takes place on Saturday, May 27th, at 3:00 PM, at the former Constructorul building on the bank of the Bega River (by the River's Tale terrace).
The third edition of the SONIC NARRATIVES takes place along a river - Bega - to talk about all rivers and privileges a sense - hearing - to open our perceptive capacity in a complex and, for most of us, surprising and exciting way. We invite the audience to prepare their tools for reading and interpretation of the real, of the environment in contexts of augmented or directed perception, through sounds, words, steps, stories, through instances of collective listening, true journeys on known routes, described by someone else or imagined. Once we perceive the "round and alive" acoustic environment that accompanies us permanently, the dialogue between natural and human sounds, and the possibilities offered by interpretive, creative or critical listening, we become aware of our place in the world and among other living beings.
Each artist and event within the SONIC NARRATIVES speaks about rivers and waters, about the quality of the acoustic environment, about ways of building the city in a sonic harmony, about resonances and soundscapes, about the potential for life of the natural environment in our cities. Artists from France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Estonia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Norway, and Romania propose types of reading of the contemporary realities through their art and invite us to reflect on the diversity of the world, but especially on its fragility. Water, rivers, and the sounds of nature are at the center of their work and demonstrate the necessity of a firm position regarding the degradation of the natural environment whose silent witnesses we are: we indulge in conveying ecological slogans, but we don't find time and resources for concrete action at the personal, social, and political level.
The SONIC NARRATIVES program is divided into four themes that meet and intertwine like the tributaries of a river, creating opportunities for dialogue with the invited artists through ideas flowing and fluid like water, floating like driftwood or steady as stones: Rivers and other waters, Cities, Further away, Resonances and Objects.
From soundwalks and events that highlight the acoustic properties of different spaces along the river, to concerts, films, and listening devices in pools and abandoned buildings on the banks of the Bega Canal, SONIC NARRATIVES sounds an alarm, demonstrates a potential, and invites to creativity in how we manage our relationship with Bega today and, especially, in the ways we can affirm its presence in the urban space of the future.
Curators:
Anamaria Pravicencu, Carsten Seiffarth
Artists:
Abby Lee Tee (AT), Maria Balabaș (RO), Elena Biserna (IT), Felix Blume (FR), Ivo Bystřičan (CZ), Caroline Claus (BE), Bogdan Demetrescu (RO), Alex Higyed (RO), Ionu & Tovarășu D. (RO), Raul Keller (EE), Jacob Kirkegaard (DK), Mirian Kolev (BG), Anna Kravets (UA), Ana Kun (RO), Makunouchi Bento (RO), Stephane Marin (FR), Antoine Richard (FR), Andreea Săsăran (RO), Nika Schmitt (NL), Ilinca Stihi (RO), Ioana Vreme Moser (RO/DE)
Sonic Future Residencies 2022: Jasmina Al-Qaisi (RO), Jeanne Debarsy (BE), Lloyd Dunn (US/CZ), pablo sanz (ES), Veronika Svobodová (CZ), Sillyconductor (RO)
Partners: SEMI SILENT, Singuhr projects, Ecluze pe Bega, FAUT - Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism Timișoara, STPT, Under the Bridge, Pelican.
Supported by: French Institute, Czech Center Bucharest, Goethe Institut, German Cultural Center in Timișoara.