CREDITS Production
€
Funding
Partners
Team
Municipality of S. Pedro do Sul CLDS - São Pedro do Sul: O Futuro é Aqui Pés na Terra University of Aveiro - Department of Communication and Arts Restaurante Salva Almas Adega Típica da Pena Civil Parish of Sul Civil Parish of Covas do Rio Civil Parish of São Martinho das Moitas Aldeias de Magaio Association School Group of Santa Cruz da Trapa Grupo de Cantares de Manhouce Ditoso Saber - Cultural Association (Manhouce) General Coordination: Luís Costa Artistic Director: Manuela Barile Architecture Coordinator: Maria Carlos Valverde Production: Carina Martins, Gisela Almeida Graphic Design: Luís Costa Video and Photo Documentation: Manuela Barile
Contacts
Binaural - Associação Cultural de Nodar Nodar - Caixa Postal Nº 119 3660-324 S. Martinho das Moitas Portugal Tel. +351 232 723 160 Email. info@binauralmedia.org
Information
http://www.binauralmedia.org
THE FESTIVAL Sound and space form an important pair in our everyday environment: no sound exists outside of space and no space is really silent. Sound and space mutually reinforce one another in our perception, the qualities of a space affect how we perceive the sound and a sound affects how we perceive space. In short, space and sound are inseparable in our experience of what is to exist in the world. Similarly, there is clear evidence of the importance of sound in ancient sacred sites, which have been documented by anthropologists. The sounds were probably an important part of rituals, by the way they affected the human body and brain function. Many of the ancient holy sites were built in stone, which, by means of their geological qualities or disposition in space, generated particular acoustic effects of reverberation or echo. These types of phenomena are studied in the field of acoustic archeology. It is fair to say that the specific case of rural areas highlights the profound connection between landscape, architecture and sound. On the one hand, the countryside is largely an anthropological and architectural landscape, transformed by a myriad of utilitarian constructions, many of them centuries-old: grain mills, olive oil mills, irrigation canals, houses, threshing floor, wells, community laundry places, granaries, mines, stone walls, chapels, churches, bandstands, streets, alleys, squares, farmlands, roads, etc..
Moreover, many of the rural buildings have an acoustic specificity, so it is possible to recognize the architectural typology by listening to these places. SOUND AND RURAL ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL will explore possible interactions between landscape, architecture and sound in the rural context of the Gralheira Mountain Range, municipality of São Pedro do Sul (Portugal). The festival will host artistic projects that will acoustically “activate” different types of rural buildings, through the creation of installations and sound sculptures in specific context, in parallel with experimental architecture projects and anthropological field work, that will all together help to understand aspects of specificity and identity associated with the built environment, and will speculate on potential uses for the local rural architecture, much of it in a state of abandonment. SOUND AND RURAL ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL will happen over the course of three weeks which is also intended to highlight the intrinsic value of art as a process. giving audiences the possbility of follwing field work activities and the mediation between artists, researchers and local people, in this way trying to palce art as close as possible to everyday life and multisensory contact (smells, tastes, colors, sounds) with these rural areas.
PROGRAMME Research Activity
Artistic Activity
Interaction with Rural Villages
1st Week: 9 - 15 April 2012 9 - 14 Apr 15 Apr
Contact with Anthropological and Architectural Field Work (1)
Manhouce, Covas do Monte
14:00 17:00
Goat and Wolf Route: Pedestrian Walk through the villages of Covas do Rio, Pena and Covas do Monte (2)
Covas do Rio, Pena and Covas do Monte
09:00 16:00
2nd Week: - 22 April 2012 Sábado, 2116 Maio 16 - 21 Apr 21 Apr
Contact with Artists’ in Residence Field Work (1) Traditional Architecture Interpretation Walk in the Village of Manhouce
Civil Parishes of Covas do Rio, 14:00 17:00 S. Martinho das Moitas and Sul Manhouce
16:00 18:00
Holy Mass in Memory of Mestre Silva from Grupo de Cantares de Manhouce
Church of Manhouce
19:00 19:45
Release Event of the CD “Mestre António Silva” by Grupo de Cantares de Manhouce
Social Centre of Manhouce
20:00 21:00
Snacks and Traditional Dance Party offered by Grupo de Cantares de Manhouce
Social Centre of Manhouce
21:00 20:00
3rd Week: 23 - 29 April 2012 28 Apr
29 Apr
Socialising Lunch with Participants and Audience
Salva Almas Restaurant, Maceira
12:30 14:30
Presentation of Art Works Created by Students on Master in Contemporary Artistic Creation at the University of Aveiro
Outside of Salva Almas Restaurant, Macieira
14:30 16:00
Itinerary through Sound Installations in the Architectural Landscape of the Civil Parishes of Sul and São Martinho das Moitas
Architectural Structures of Sul and São Martinho das Moitas
16:00 19:00
Socialising Lunch with Participants and Audience
Adega Típica da Pena
12:00 14:00
Presentation and Discussion of Architecture And Anthropology Field Projects
Adega Típica da Pena
14:00 15:30
Itinerary through Sound Installations in the Architectural Landscape of the Civil Parish of Covas do Rio
Architectural Structures of Covas do Rio
15:30 18:30
(1) Mandatory Registration (Mobile: +351 918 951 857 / info@binauralmedia.org) (2) Registration Cost of 8 Euro, including local guide, insurance and lunch (aldeiasdemagaio@gmail.com)
PROJECTS James Wyness I propose a work in which specific locations (installations, architectural structures) are selected for a variety of reasons of interest, such as social, anthropological, historical, structural or conceptual. Next extensive recordings are carried out using a variety of microphones. From this working archive, edited selections will then be taken back to some or all of the original sounding spaces, to fresh locations where possible, then played back and re-recorded. The acoustic specificity of buildings and structures will be brought to the fore in an innovative fashion, enriching the listener’s experience of recognizing architectural typologies. The specific sound environments of given built spaces created by the interaction between landscape, design, structure, material and use offer up a wealth of what have been referred to as materializing sound indices. Biography: James Wyness is a freelance composer, sound artist, researcher and performer living in Southern Scotland. Currently he is working on three long term projects with a range of outcomes from installation to live performance: a digital archive of sounds from the Scottish Borders; the production of new music using various combinations of field recordings, hand made acoustic and electronic instruments; a series of free improvisations for prepared nylon string guitar. His installation work focuses on conceptual sonic art which investigates close listening by means of multi-channel sound installation. He holds a Masters degree in French Studies and a PhD in electroacoustic music composition from the University of Aberdeen.
Antonio Della Marina & Alessandra Zucchi Standing waves, moving ears (Lazy Afternoons). Sound changes when we move. Our idea is to set up an installation in a rural building where people can experience the listening of movement while lounging on a swing. Audio will be made of sine waves tuned on the resonance frequencies of the given space. Hammocks, swings and other comfortable seating, together with furnishing arrangements made on location will be the ambience for the dedicated listening. Biographies: Antonio Della Marina is an Italian electronic composer and sound artist, who for several years has focused on working with sinusoids. Clearly influenced by the minimalist avant-garde of the American east coast in the sixties and seventies, his work exploits the physical properties of sound and its relationship with human perception. Della Marina uses mathematical abstractions and custom built generators to shape his compositions which are often offered in the form of sonorous sound sculptures. Since 1998 he has been active in sound art through concerts and sound installations. Architect and media artist, Alessandra Zucchi graduated from Venice University of Architecture. Her works mainly focus on the relation between architectonic space and sensorial perception. She experiments with unusual materials and interweaving light, sound and spatial forms in unexpected combinations, suggesting us to rethink our sense of space. She has been guest of art festivals with projects, performances and videos in Europe and North America.
PROJECTS Johanna Hällsten
Perri Lynch
The project that I would like to develop arises out of an interest in the creation of space through movement and sound, with particular reference to Japanese Uguisubari (Nightingale floors), and the concept of Ma. It seeks to unpick aspects of the reciprocal relationship and performative act that the participant and the space engages in, through movement on a pavement, bridge, pathway, etc... For the residency I would like to develop temporary structures that draw attention and play with these “liminal spaces”. I would seek to make pieces that encourage a sense of playfulness yet also allow for lone contemplation. It is very much about our time signature being interlaced with the rhythms of others to create an orchestration of a dance on the pavement, for example, which creates temporary sonic spaces in-between the permanent architectural strata.
“Sound as a Spatial Force”
Biography: Johanna Hällsten originally studied printmaking at Grafikskolan i Stockholm, Sweden before she moved to the UK and completed a PhD at Staffordshire University (2004). Her work is predominantly exhibited within public sphere and utilises sound as a key element of the interventions. Her practice/research is situated within, and tests, the boundaries between environmental aesthetics, soundscape studies, music and philosophies concerning translation, space, duration and movement. Together with exhibiting she also presents papers, write articles and have texts included in books. Further engagements include: board and curatorial committee member of AirSpace gallery in Stoke-onTrent, an Arts Council funded venue. Board member of IACSA (International Association for Cultural Studies in Architecture). Recent projects include: “It’s About Time” organized by HATCH as part of Sideshow, Nottingham Castle + Embrace Arts (2010), ANTI festival, Kuopio, Finland (2010), EV+A, Limerick, Ireland (2010)
My proposed project investigates sound as a spatial force relative to the landforms and architecture of the Gralheira Mountain Region. During my time in residence, I will gather field recordings and collaborate across disciplines with other participants to analyze and convey the “sonic signature” of this very unique place. My investigation will focus on thresholds where town meets country, public meets private, and where surface conditions yield to the subterranean. I have a particular interest in exploring the cisterns, caves, and passageways that may be present, to record the haunting melodies such spaces hold. This work will culminate in a multi-channel audio installation that will convey sound as a spatial force where one place comes to inhabit another place, the gallery setting for this work. Biography: Perri Lynch’s artwork examines the relationship between human perception and sense of place. Through combined techniques in sound, light, sculpture, and architecture, she is able to explore many attributes of a place simultaneously. Recent installations draw attention to thresholds where land meets sky, sea meets shore, and where one’s inner landscape converges with the outside world. Emphasis is placed on navigation, intuition, and physical proximity, revealing familiar contexts in a new light. In addition to her studio practice and public artworks, she performs with the Seattle Phonographers Union and install field recording-based soundscapes on a site-specific basis. Since receiving My MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2001, she has participated in the Mamori Sound Project (Amazonas), and completed Fulbright Research in South India (2008). Her favorite instrument is a handheld compass.
PROJECTS Lisa Premke
Manuela Barile
“The Aural Lookout”
"Back to work" is a and anthropological inspired project which aims at putting work ethics in the center of creative reflection and practice. Based on the distinction between "to act" (to give meaning to our actions) and to do” (to perform a task in which the only criteria of value is "well done" or “badly done”), the artist wonders to what extent are we "agents" (subject holders of our actions, able to accomplish what we do) or "acted" (impersonal subjects within a whole) in our frantic daily activities. In this society of skills that only rewards the ability to know and not to exist, we can’t forget the importance of the "virtues", in their their learning to the preservation of our identity. "Bread" is the first chapter of this series of artworks. Initially, the artist will learn the skill of making bread, to be taught by a lady of the Gralheira mountain range. In a second phase, the artist will work in an installation at an old country kitchen, which includes sound (laboring, fermentation, the lady’s voice, the artist’s voice, etc..), Video (performance), and objects of use (the oven, the mixer, etc.).
I will build a lookout on the top of a hill/mountain. The construction is covered with fabric, stretched onto the frame, similar to a canvas. I will collect materials from the surrounding area to bring it on top of the mountain. The accumulation of materials from the valley will be placed not far from the fabric ceiling of the lookout. The wind will then blow the materials continuously over the ceiling. Being in a secluded box, the visitor will hear the sounds slightly amplified, as if being in a large drum. The different materials, as well as rain, or wind from the sides, will give a condensed overview of the natural surrounding. Biography: Her work started trying to bring sound and image together, by being literal and by integrating their opposite qualities into each other. Nevertheless it is almost a distraction from the cause, not allowing each media to fulfill their briefs. Image, for her, had to be still, quiet- and the only way to do that is to flatten it, stripping it of all three- dimensionality, being only form; like the work of the late architect Louis Kahn, who was as much of an interest for me as the architects of the former Sovjet Union, such as Muther, Melnikow or Wesnin. In opposition stands the lushes, living sound. Every sound, for her, creates willingly or unwillingly a narrative. No sense is as much related to our memory as sound it- not only for prehistoric reasons of defense but also because we can only keep it in our minds, there are no photo albums for sound- we don’t store sounds anywhere else but in our minds. With her three-dimensional sound pieces She is looking for a way to single out the sound for it’s quality, volume and movement.
Biography: The artwork of Manuela Barile has been based on projects developed in specific contexts, taking into account aspects of the territory, tradition, memory, symbols, rituals and spiritual paths deposited in the soil as indelible marks. The art of Manuela Barile is an ongoing investigation about reality, about being in the world, about personal experience. Since 2006, the artist lives and works in the rural area of Gralheira Mountain Range (S. Pedro do Sul, PT) where she develops projects in close contact with local communities that combine sound and visual anthropology, performance art, vocal performance and video art. As a vocal performer Manuela Barile embarked in 2001 on a personal journey in the area of vocal experimentation applied to free improvisation through the use of "extended vocal techniques" focused on the relationship between voice, body sounds and acoustic properties of places.
PROJECTS Luís Costa
UVBA Collective
“In Memoriam Gentis Nostrae #2: Sá, 1800-2000”
“Santo” (”Saint”)
"In Memoriam Gente Nostrae" ("In Memory of Our People") binds directly to the author's family history, specifically to the rural villages of the Gralheira mountain range, villages of origin of their ancestors to the sixth generation, who lived since the late eighteenth century. The project relates geographical-architecturaltemporal aspects of the memory of a family, including villages like Nodar, Sequeiros, Meã, Sa, Rompecilha, São Martinho das Moitas, Parada de Ester, etc. The second chapter of the project entitled "Sá: 1800-2000", is the reactivation of the old family house in the village of Sá (parish of São Martinho das Moitas), a house that has exists since the beginning of the nineteenth century and that will be made to "speak" through a series of interviews with Norberto Gomes da Costa, who has been thoroughly investigating facts of many of the family members, and subtle sound actions to be undertaken in various rooms of the now practically empty house, which together form what could be called micro-historical soundscape.
Our reflection will be centered on the history of two chapels (separated by a few hundred meters) that are part of the cult to the same saint – Saint Macário (São Pedro do Sul County). We want to experience them, measure them, mark them, pray in them and build relations between the two hermitages, their narratives and the communities that use them. What will be presented at the end of the residency, resulting from that experience, is still completely open-ended.
Biography: Luis Costa is a sound art curator, producer, researcher and archiver. He is a founding member and current president of Binaural / Nodar, a cultural organization that since 2006 manages Nodar Rural Art Lab, a space dedicated to media arts in the rural context of the Gralheira Mountain Range. Luis Costa curated dozens of exhibitions related to the creative work held in Nodar Rural Art Lab. Since 2008 he coordinates "Aldeias Sonoras", an educational programme that consists in the sound mapping of Portuguese rural areas. In 2011 he directed "Where is the Source of my Paiva?", a sound / video experiment documentary about the river Paiva. In the same year he released a field recordings CD at Edições Nodar, along with Jez riley French titled "Sonata for clarinet and Nodar" and co-edited the retrospective book and double CD "Three Years in Nodar: Context-Specific Art Practices in Rural Portugal".
Biographies: The UVBA Collective, descendent from the Communication and Art Department of the University of Aveiro, incorporates a group of artists from different areas but with common interests: performance, video, architecture, land art, social networks and urbanism and that decided to join to develop projects, talk, study, have dinner and drinks together and to discuss, not necessarily by that order. The collective seeks to investigate and reflect upon different issues regarding live, contemporary artistic practice and everything else. João Vilnei (Brazil) is a Master (2009) in Contemporary Artistic Creation by the University of Aveiro – Portugal and graduate (2006) in Media and Advertisement by the Federal University of Ceará. He is a visual artist and performer and is part of the Research Lab in Body, Communication and Art at LICCA. Pedro Pais Correia (Portugal) is a Master in Contemporary Artistic Creation by the University of Aveiro and a public school teacher. Pedro Silva (Oliveira de Frades, 1974) is graduated in architecture by Universidade Lusíada in 1997. As a young collaborator of Alexandre Marques Pereira, Philip Cabau and Manuel Taínha, at the Chiado Atelier, he participated in national and international bids and a few projects. In Oliveira de Frades, in 2007, he opened his own atelier (psaa arquitectura), where he has been developing architecture, planning and design works.
PROJECTS AMSZ Ana Costa | Maria Carlos Valverde | Sílvia Jorge | Zoraima de Figueiredo (Re)Rural is a project centered on analysis of three distinct aspects of the transformation processes happening in the rural world: the habitat, the uses, and the daily practices. The reading of these processes will cover three space-time scales, interconnecting the space (the habitat and the typologies associated with the uses and practices of daily life) and time (past, present and future), starting from different generations (grandparents, parents and children). This starting point directed the case study to the village of Manhouce, the only one with an active primary school in the Aldeias de Magaio region. The object of study will be this territory and the live stores of its population, starting from a sample of 4th. grade students of the Manhouce Primary School. Biographies: Ana Costa Graduated in Architecture by the Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Lisbon (FAUTL). Her professional career is based on the areas of architecture and translation. She has a particular interest in the rehabilitation of architectural sites and by UNESCO World Heritage cities and attended a Masters program in these fields at FAUTL. She is currently involved in a research project about National Monuments with the support for the Portuguese chapter of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). Her interest in the transdisciplinarity in architecture leads her to get involved in several parallel projects within the scientific, research and artistic realms and to recently co-found an international platform, platform[az], focusing on architecture and the connection between it and other areas of knowledge and arts.
Maria Carlos Valverde She graduated in Architecture and Urban Planning by the Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Lisbon (FAUTL) in 2005. She was an intern at the Gabinete Técnico Local (GTL) in Trancoso (Portuguese Historical Village) and collaborated with a multidisciplinary team, where she developed architecture projects with different scales and with guidance by Prof. Isabel Raposo (2006-2007). She is currently attending the Masters program in Rehabilitation of Architecture and Urban Centers at FAUTL and writing her theses “rural heritage as a factor of local development – participation of the population between spaces of representation and living spaces – Cogula and Aldeias de Magaio”, with guidance by Prof. Margarida Moreira and Prof. Isabel Raposo. Sílvia Branco Jorge She is an architect and Master in Rehabilitation of Architecture and Urban Centers at the Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Lisbon (FAUTL) and received a research scholarship by the Foundation for Science and Technology, with the project “Reconversion and reinsertion of neighborhoods with an illegal origin”, coordinated by Prof. Isabel Raposo. Recently, she collaborated with the Center of Studies and Development of Habitat, in Maputo, Mozambique, as a receiver of the Inov-Art scholarship, and currently is part of the team for the research/action project “Participatory workshops and development of techniques and processes of participatory planning in the south side of Odivelas County, coordinated by Prof. Isabela Raposo, taking place at the Center of Investigation on Architecture, Urbanism and Design at FAUTL. Zoraima de Figueiredo She is graduated by the Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Lisbon (FAUTL) and has been working as an architect for the last ten years, accumulating experience in every project area and accompanying of construction works.She is interested in the arts, photography in particular, and has dedicated the latest years to photographing architectural structures as well as other themes. She has been part of collective exhibitions and has see her work published in several magazines and websites. She recently co-founded, platform[az], an international platform which main objective is to integrate architecture with other areas of knowledge and arts.
PROJECTS Ana Saraiva In the context of the doctorate in anthropology at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Ana Saraiva is currently developing research on the theme of "expressions of popular architecture: practices and discourses of identity representation." During the Sound and Rural Architecture festival, she will carry out field work in several villages of the Gralheira mountain range, simultaneously following the work of the several artists and architects, thus contributing to the thinking that underpins the multidisciplinary philosophy of the festival. Biography: She graduated in Anthropology (1998) by Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL). In 2007 she finished the Masters program in Museology and Heritage by UNL, with a major in Programming and Management of Museums and Historical Sites. In 2007 she concluded the High Studies in Anthropology (UNL) and currently she is a PhD student in Anthropology (UNL) where she is developing the research Project “Expressions of popular architecture and the identity representation processes”. In 1999 she work as an anthropologist at the Góis Municipal Council, studying the communitarian practices of the mountain villages of that county. In 2000 she was part of the pluridisciplinary team of the Local Action Plan and of the Detailed Safeguard Plan of the Belver historical district, Gavião municipality. Since 2001 she is the director of the local Municipal Museum. She has been developing an participating in study and programming projects on the areas of anthropology and museology, with several published texts about discourses of cultural representation.
Pedro Silva As an architect, Pedro Silva will follow the work of artists in residence, contributing to the choice, study and contextualization of traditional architectural structures to be subject to creative intervention. Biography: Pedro Silva (Oliveira de Frades, 1974) is graduated in architecture by Universidade Lusíada in 1997. As a young collaborator of Alexandre Marques Pereira, Philip Cabau and Manuel Taínha, at the Chiado Atelier, he participated in national and international bids and a few projects. In Oliveira de Frades, in 2007, he opens his own atelier (psaa arquitectura), where he has been developing architecture, planning and design works. In parallel, he has been a public school teacher and more recently (2012) he is an invited teacher of the architecture program at the Catholic University of Viseu. Between 2007 and 2012 he attended the Masters Program in Contemporary Artistic Creation of the University of Aveiro. In this context, he is currently part of the “uvba collective”, with which he recently participated in the international competition “Performance Architecture” for the European Culture Capital Guimarães 2012.
PARALLEL ACTIVITIES