PUBLIC EVENT | 12 December, 2024 | Wereldmuseum Leiden
The Professional Doctorate Arts + Creative and Research Center for Material Culture organised the event Sounding – Listening: Artistic Research as Resistance and Reverberation. The central interest of this event was in exploring how listening, and concepts emerging from sonic experience, enrich artistic research. Listening involves becoming aware of ways we vibrate with the spaces and beings around us. Such listening has meaning, influencing how we and others live. But what are we not hearing or noticing? What are we silencing, and what is being muted? By tuning in to alternative sensory modalities we aim to open up more nuanced, reciprocal relationships with our environments, and those rendered invisible or inaudible by dominant power structures.
Image credit: Feli Navarro, edited by Chino Chan.
The day started with a deep listening workshop in the morning. This was followed by three presentations in the afternoon by artist researchers who are working with sound, music and movement, and their broad resonances in the world. After each presentation, several Professional Doctorate Arts + Creative candidates engaged in thoughtful dialogues with the presenters and the audience, posing questions that delved deeper into the methodologies and implications of the work discussed.
The program
Deep Listening Workshop by Feli Navarro
Afternoon Presentations:
- 'Reverberation and Ecological Listening in Performance' by Feli Navarro
- 'Heterophony, Feminist Activism, and the Oud' by Prof. Rachel Beckles Willson
- 'Afro Sonic Mapping and Unmuting African Knowledge' by Satch Hoyt
Deep Listening Workshop by Feli Navarro
The day began with a Deep Listening Workshop led by Feli Navarro, and focused on somatic and ecological co-creation. In the face of the multiple ecological crises of the Anthropocene, we often encounter a crisis of imagination. This workshop invited participants to “auralize” instead, as a means of sonically exploring new possibilities through listening. Led by Deep Listening practitioner Feli Navarro, the workshop combined listening exercises with movement and developed collective responses to text scores by Pauline Oliveros. Building on these experiences, participants co-created their own text scores to share and perform with the group. This opening session set a reflective tone for the day, encouraging attendees to reconsider how sound mediates interactions with the environment and one another.
Afternoon Presentations
The afternoon started with a welcome by Prof. Wayne Modest and Prof. Rachel Beckles Willson.
'Reverberation and Ecological Listening in Performance' by Feli Navarro
Building on the Deep Listening workshop, Feli Navarro presented his project Lithic Choreographies. He explored the dynamic interactions between humans and stones, using these as a lens to consider performance, materiality, and ecological listening. His presentation invited attendees to reflect on how sound and listening practices can illuminate human-nature relationships.
Q&A led by Stefan Schäfer and Carlo de Gaetano
'Heterophony, Feminist Activism, and the Oud' by Prof. Rachel Beckles Willson
Prof. Rachel Beckles Willson shared an engaging reflection on her personal journey of adopting the oud, an instrument deeply rooted in another culture and tradition. Her discussion included references to feminist activism and heterophony, proposing artistic research as a way to engage with the past. Her presentation underscored the importance of intercultural exchange in fostering new perspectives within artistic practices.
Q&A led by Philippine Hoegen
'Afro Sonic Mapping and Unmuting African Knowledge' by Satch Hoyt
Satch Hoyt presented Afro Sonic Mapping, a practice of "unmuting" African knowledge and aesthetics. Hoyt illustrated how sound can serve as a medium to reclaim and reinterpret the histories of the African diaspora, particularly through sonic restitution of artifacts in museum collections.
Q&A led by Sophia Bardoutsou and Risk Hazekamp
The event concluded with a closing conversation followed by a networking session, providing an opportunity for attendees to connect and discuss insights from the day's sessions. The event offered an enriching opportunity to engage with the methodologies and implications of sound and listening in artistic research. Through thoughtful discussions and collaborative activities, participants explored how these practices can contribute to meaningful engagements with historical, social, and ecological concerns.
A big thank you to all speakers, participants, and partners who contributed to the event.
All event pictures are taken by Barbara Medo
