Acoustic Cities: London-Beirut
In a city in which noise can often be all-encompassing, how can we find ways to listen to things that are hidden, stories that are unheard, and forms of life at risk of disappearing?
Join us for the London launch of an edition of sound pieces that sound out the spatial traces of memories, cultures, and bodies ingrained into the physical fabric of two cities: Beirut and London.
Acoustic Cities: London-Beirut is a collection of works by artists and scholars from Lebanon and the UK. A digital collection will be exhibited online and at events in both countries.
As part of the Bartlett 100 Centenary events series, we are excited to launch this Optophono edition, that sounds out the spatial traces of memories, cultures, and bodies ingrained into the physical fabric of Beirut and London.
Following an immersive programme of works from the edition, Omaya Malaeb, Nathalie Harb, Joan Baz and Merijn Royaards will discuss their pieces.
Each of the work encodes a methodology for listening and making audible things that have otherwise been hidden or silent – whether through activating spaces acoustically, listening technologically beyond the surface of the daily lifeworld, or asking for testimonies otherwise unspoken.
The works offer listeners ways of hearing the richness of their acoustic environments and language to challenge its problems. In doing so, they help to frame sound as a shared concern and a shared resource to design and to benefit from.
Other artists in this edition include: Chrissy Stirling, Nadim Mishlawi, Mhamad Safa, Youmna Saba, John Bingham-Hall, Gerard Gormley, and Gascia Ouzounian.