AnimotMUZIK
Krater
Sunday, May 5 2024
5.08 (morning), birds, Tea Vidmar, Jure Boršič and a l l j a, (live sound event) and
Krater Collective: Tea party from a raging construction pit
The concert will be broadcast online at the 11th edition of the international project Soundcamp / Reveil.
Arboretum Volčji Potok, Boljkova gallery
Saturday, May 11 2024
19.00, Katarina Radaljac: Interspecies Sound Communication (lecture)
19.45, birds, Eduardo Raon, Tea Vidmar and Jure Boršič (live sound event)
The event is free with the payment of a ticket to the Arboretum.
MGLC Plečnik auditorium, Tivoli park
Sunday, May 12 2024
5.08 (morning), birds, Eduardo Raon, Žiga Jenko and a l l j a (live sound event) and
Ana Čavić: A thread without end, Act IV (Dawn) (performance)
Loški muzej Škofja Loka
Sunday, May 12 2024
18:00, Biljana Ristić: The history of the castle garden and the Ursulines (presentation)
18:30, Katarina Radaljac: Interspecies Sound Communication (lecture)
19:00, birds, Tea Vidmar, Žiga Jenko, Jure Boršič (live sound event)
birds ● Eduardo Raon (harp) ● Tea Vidmar (vocals) ● Žiga Jenko (vocals) ● Jure Boršič (clarinet, saxophone) ● a l l j a (vocals)
Our relationship with nature is characterised by an overwhelming human supremacy and the inevitable consequences of such a balance of power. The Anthropocene view of the world is exploitative of non-human animals, plants, and the environment as a whole, hence discrimination and abuse of natural environments unambiguously precede the understanding, coexistence or interspecies cooperation advocated by a professional and informed public. For decades, the latter has emphasised the urgent need not to disregard ecological strategies as to preserving the diversity and interdependence of living organisms. Exploring the relation between the sonority of humans and our environment, sound ecology instigates an important redirection of attention to neglected areas of interest in our auditory perception. It promotes mindful listening to our surroundings. In consequence, a soundscape taken-for-granted is transformed into a complex, inclusive, and ever-changing composition of equal protagonists.
Non-human animals produce complex sounds. Scientific study most often involves from an outsider’s perspective, primarily interested in the different roles and meanings that sounding can play in animal communication. In contrast, artists engage in interspecies communication by entering the space as an equal member, simply taking part in a dialogue with other participants. One thus becomes a member of the bird chorus responding to them in harmony with the comprehensive sound spectrum. Such a creative effort is explored by interspecies sound art based on the idea of inclusive co-creation by human and non-human animals. Human participation is a conscious articulation of respect and equality, giving up its central role and feeling comfortable to give space to all involved. This process enables the establishment of a unique interspecies collaboration where the sounds of different life forms intertwine into an authentic musical experience.
As an audience, we can only fully engage in such musical exploration when realising that nature is not a backdrop for the musicians performing. Instead, a symbiotic and compassionate relation between humans and nature is being established before our eyes. Not as a one-off phenomenon, but a reflection of the constant coexistence. Such musical expression is based on improvisation. The contacts between the performers are unpredictable and the spaces-in-between offer innumerable chances. The position of the audience becomes fluid as well, as through their presence, they experience and co-create a mindful and compassionate node of a shared soundscape.
Photo: Matej Tomažin, Cona archive.
Eduardo Raon is a classically trained Portuguese harpist, composer and sound designer who lives in Ljubljana. In addition to international engagement, he also works in Slovenia. He creates contemporary and improvised music, playing with a kaleidoscope of ethno, noise, pop, retro, rock, ambient and electronic music.
Tea Vidmar creates in the field of street theater, music and vocal performances. As a vocalist, she worked with musical groups, as a soloist and in collaborations with local and foreign musicians and musicians also performs in the field of contemporary improvised and experimental music.
Žiga Jenko has been in love with music since childhood, without genre restrictions. Self-taught and an explorer of the sonic fringes.
Jure Boršič is a saxophonist and clarinetist of the younger generation, working between Ljubljana and Nova Gorica. He is active mainly in free-jazz, experimental and alternative fields, and lately also more and more often in the organization of such events.
a l l j a [Alja Petric] as a singer, pedagogue and all-round researcher, dedicates her life to researching musical art, leading individual and group audio-vocal workshops and therapeutic work with sound. She seeks inspiration for artistic creation in the soundscapes of nature and the everyday urban life of the capital.
Ana Čavić is a visual artist, performer, poet and an academic researching ‘performance publishing’ in which publishing takes place on the stage rather than the page. Her interdisciplinary practice combines the visual and performing arts and she works across different media and fields, including art, literature and theatre.
Katarina Radaljac are a master of musicology who devote their research to the music of non-human animals and interactions with them. In their work, they combines various scientific and artistic fields such as zoomusicology, applied ethnomusicology, interspecies art, human-animal studies, animal ethics and others.
The project is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the Municipality of Ljubljana, Department for Culture.
COLOPHON
Artists: birds (great tits, warblers, blackbirds, blackcaps, sparrows, finches), Eduardo Raon (harp), Tea Vidmar (vocals), Žiga Jenko (vocals), Jure Boršič (clarinet, saxophone), a l l j a [Alja Petric] (vocals).
Artist selection: Brane Zorman
Project partners: MGLC, Krater, Loški muzej Škofja Loka and Arboretum Volčji Potok
Organization: Irena Pivka, Urška Savič
Public relations, photo and video: Matej Tomažin
Production: Cona, Institute for the Processing of Contemporary Art, 2024
Thanks to Ana Monro Theatre for the rehersal space to prepare the project.
