19 June 2020 - 0 Comments

How can we reconnect with the spaces we live in, especially in the wake of the corona pandemic, which has forced people all over the world into isolation? Musicians and artists of Sound of X propose answers: using sounds, noises and acoustics as the basis for their urban re-imaginations, they explored their sonic environment. The resulting video soundscapes offer a unique way to reconnect with the cities we live in. The works are freely accessible on goethe.de/soundofx and on the Goethe-Institut’s social media channels from 19 June 2020 onwards.

Sound of X was initiated by the Goethe-Institut as an international, digital project before the coronavirus crisis struck. In its first phase, artists from Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand are presenting works, which examine the ignored soundtrack of a city and how the musicality of everyday life reveals its characteristic social fabric.

We are constantly immersed in the soundscape of our urban environment; sometimes louder, sometimes softer, but ever present in its uniqueness. What is noise? What is sound? And how can we listen in a different way? These are some of the questions the artists from Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, Medan, Sydney, Manila, Tāmaki Makaurau and Yangon explore in Sound of X.

Bird song merges with the clatter of a mailbox. Bubbling and sizzling street woks join the beat of an electronic soundtrack. A bike ride becomes a visual exploration of a city, winding through the messy traffic and the cacophony of noises. These short video soundscapes reveal unusual perspectives to the familiar settings of our cities. For others, they can provide an immersive atmosphere of a place they cannot see or hear in person.

New Zealand artist collective Uniform and their work He aha e tangi te kainga rite? | What sounds like home? treat the viewer/listener to field recordings of wai | water, maunga | mountains, mana whenua | people, in Tamaki Makaurau | Auckland, with images filmed at Takaparawhau (Bastion Point). Takaparawhau, where the Ōrakei Marae is based, is steeped in history and looks out to the harbour and the greater Auckland area. Uniform affirms: “Our work understands the city to be an Indigenous living breathing place and, with our video for the Sound of X project, we aim to represent this through a cohesive structuring of images and sounds. In documenting our home city from the perspective of Takaparawhau, we seek to represent a personal view that decolonises the predominant images of Tamaki Makaurau | Auckland. For Indigenous people, the city is not just a central business district of high-rise buildings but all about the people and the land.”

Project Concept Summary

In times of closed borders and movement restrictions places become more distant, therefore it is even more meaningful to maintain access to different cultural environments, communities and artistic practices. The Goethe-Institut stays committed to continue cultural exchange and collaborations between societies, and to maintain transnational dialogues within civil and artistic communities.

“Digital culture and social media have brought a shift towards the visual. Often we are unable to establish an actual relation to what is shown. At a time in which screen culture is becoming increasingly desensitizing, the artists of Sound of X present alternative approaches to visual and acoustic perception. In the context of our urban environment, sounds can emerge from the ambient noise which, although invisible, holds many things together: the musicality of everyday life and the often ignored soundtrack of a city that reveals or reflects its characteristic social fabric” says Han-Song Hiltmann, Director of the Goethe-Institut Singapore on the concept of the project.

Goethe-Institut e. V.

The Goethe-Institut is a worldwide cultural institution of the Federal Republic of Germany. With 157 institutes in 98 countries, it promotes German language learning abroad and international cultural exchange as well as presenting an up-to-date image of current-day Germany.

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