• Tue 01 05 – Fri 30 11 2018 •
Wild Things – sounds and narratives
Knowledge rooted in experience shapes what we value and as a consequence how we know what we know as well as how we use what we know.
bell hooks, Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom
The sound project Wild Things – sounds and narratives is dedicated to defiant and challenging sound practices and their capacity for transmitting alternative narratives that have not previously been heard. Who in our society has the right to speak, and what does one have to do to be heard? In both theory and practice, the project aims to engage with contested spaces and to explore aural strategies of self-empowerment. The participants will find ways to deal with these ideas in their individual sound projects. Fundamental to the project are two objectives: to understand listening as an act of solidarity and to discuss the correlation between shared experiences and production of knowledge, following the concepts of bell hooks. Together the participants will read various texts, listen to sound works, and visit archives; also guests will be invited for internal as well as public presentations. Through these strategies participants will trace existing (hi)stories and connect new narratives to them, ultimately producing their own sound pieces.
For this project we welcome participants who are interested in audio- and sound-based work, who would like to share their own narratives or discover forgotten (hi)stories, who recognize fiction and oral history as possibilities for and locations of utopia, and who are enthusiastic about working together and taking part in group discussions. Previous experience in creating sound pieces or audio recordings is welcome but by no means required; we will work together to learn the necessary skills for the project.
The project will be conducted in German and English.
Everyone is welcome; there are no conditions for participation.
The first workshop session takes place May 17–20, 2018, at Academyspace, Herwarthstrasse 3, 50672 Cologne.
