Time to Listen 2024

A Conference on Sustainability in Contemporary Music

Time to Listen
©Node Berlin Oslo

On 1st and 2nd October, inm / field notes and the Academy of Arts welcome you to the third part of the “Time to Listen” symposium on sustainability in contemporary music. Through open discussions, artistic interventions and performances, a communal meal and lectures spanning music, politics and science, this year's focus will be on sound-aesthetic approaches to the complex of issues surrounding climate (in)justice.

The climate crisis is global and yet its consequences do not affect everyone equally: countries in the Global South bear the brunt of environmental change, which manifests itself in floods, droughts, crop failures and collapsing ecosystems. Even within different societies, population groups facing discrimination and marginalisation have fewer opportunities to adapt to the effects of climate change, which is why the climate crisis exacerbates social injustice. At the same time, it is precisely these countries and social groups that contribute the least to the climate crisis. Regardless, the voices of those most affected are rarely heard in global climate policy. Instead, countries in the Global North that are responsible for the climate crisis are the ones that set the tone.

Sound and music can play an important role in the transition of our societies to a more just and sustainable future. Through listening practices, we can gain a deeper understanding of our ever-changing environment against the backdrop of climate change and focus our ears on those human and non-human actors that have been overlooked. Sound and music can convey powerful and constructive narratives and shape a collective imagination of our future that is not only environmentally sustainable but also fair and just in a global sense. With this thematic framework, we also build a bridge to previous symposia on decolonisation and diversity in new music.

In a keynote, philosopher Eva von Redecker will present ideas from her book »Bleibefreiheit« which she describes as an essay on life, death, and swallows. In light of the raging climate crisis and wars that render entire regions uninhabitable, she encourages us to rethink the concept of freedom: as the freedom to live in a place where we could stay.

Over the course of the two-day conference, artists will present their concepts and works through open panels and participatory workshop formats (lecture performances, sound walks, listening sessions, or guided improvisations), addressing the following questions: What responsibility does art have with regard to sustainability, especially in a global context? How can we use sound to negotiate how we want to live together, and who belongs to this “we”? How can contemporary music be used to point out inequalities and raise awareness on the massive damage caused to natural and social systems? What considerations on climate ethics arise in curatorial work? What local responses do we have to global challenges? How do we empower music stakeholders who are geographically or socio-economically disadvantaged? What do sounds mean in our lives, and what can we learn from them? What knowledge and transformation potential lies in music and sound?

With Manos Tsangaris (welcome), Eva von Redecker (keynote), Peter Cusack, Jorge Zurita, Futures Of Listening, Danish Climate Network, Hany Tea & Cavid Dhen, Nico Daleman, Banu Çiçek Tülü, Beltràn Gonzalez, Claudia Von Hasselt, Nicolas Wiese, Adnan & Nina Softić, Karen Power, Suk Jun Kim, Jiyoung Yoon, Yeabon Jo, Wahyu Budiman Dasta (Walay), Van Luber Parensen, Helmi Yusron, Hafiz Rancajale, Elsa M'bala, Karen Power, Alejandra Borea, Kirsten Reese, Alexandra Nehmer, Bernhard König, Dr. Carla J. Maier, Eckhard Roelcke, Jovana Popić, Iris ter Schiphorst, Cécile Wajsbrot, Petja Ivanova, Gugulethu Duma, Marina Cyrino / Matthias Koole / Angélica Freitas, Nathan Gray, Álvaro G. Díaz Rodríguez, Ute Wassermann, Dr. Sebastian Brünger, Reimar Volker, Gregor Hotz, Sophie Aumüller, Björn Gottstein, u.a.

After the conference, a digital reader will be created from the selected contributions.

1st and 2nd October 2024
Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg

Register here.

 

Time to Listen 2023

Program and Abstracts

Hier geht es zum Programm der zweitägigen Konferenz, bei der Künstler*innen ihre Konzepte und Werke in verschiedenen interaktiven Formaten vorstellen, darunter offene Podiumsdiskussionen, partizipative Workshops, Lecture-Performances, Hörsessions und geleitete Improvisationen.